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NASA 2006 SBIR Phase 1 Solicitation

PROPOSAL NUMBER:	06-I A1.01-9056
SUBTOPIC TITLE:	Vehicle-Centric 4D Trajectory and Mission Management
PROPOSAL TITLE:	MILP-Based 4D Trajectory Planning for Tactical Trajectory Management

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Paduano
jpaduano@aurora.aero
One Broadway, 14th Floor
Cambridge,  MA 02142-1187

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop specialized algorithms and software decision-aiding tools for four-dimensional (4D) vehicle-centric, tactical trajectory management (TTM), derived from algorithms developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to perform similar functions in military scenarios. These algorithms, based on the concept of receding horizon mixed-integer linear programming (RH-MILP), will be specifically tailored to the problem of optimizing the trades between multiple 4D trajectories (4DTs) in the dynamic airspace environment. In particular, the innovation that Aurora proposes is to model and address the stochastic nature of weather and associated airspace and resource restrictions in the flight path, respecting the fact that the time horizon over which sufficiently accurate weather estimates are available may be short compared to the overall TTM request-assign-update cycle (as envisioned by planners of the Next Generation Air Transportation System). The general problem of increasing uncertainty as planning horizons increase will be a central focus of algorithm development. This innovation addresses the needs for rapidly accommodating dynamic changes in aircraft tactical situations and responding to detected external hazards, for introducing any-time planning algorithms, and for generation and specification of 4D trajectories. Currently algorithms that directly address these needs in the context of the NGATS concept of operations (CONOPS) are in the early development stages; technology transition from related military approaches as described herein will therefore greatly benefit the state of the art in national airspace system (NA) operational tools.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary application for our TTM decision-aiding software is the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Aurora also expects the software to be developed, or derivatives thereof, to have capabilities in the area of vehicle management in the NAS, which will lead to other applications within NASA. Given Aurora's specialization in UAV systems, applications of specific interest will include situations involving ferrying and/or operate UAVs in the NAS. This vision is consistent with Aurora's strategic plan to continue to evolve from a company that primarily provides unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to one that provides unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). Increased levels of autonomy in our vehicles, as well as increased levels of operability in the NAS, is focus for future UAVs, which will benefit from the algorithms that Aurora will develop here.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Other applications for MILP-based planning tools abound. Multi-vehicle planning in experimental, fire response, and homeland security applications will benefit from some of the core algorithms to be brought to bear in this program. Aurora also foresees the opportunity to play a role in flight-deck automation. Since the current proposal is focused on 4DT generation and assignation from the perspective of air traffic management, the focus is on the multi-vehicle problem. Understanding how this problem is posed and solved will provide insight into the best methods for creating and updating flight plans on the flight deck. This is important when vehicles are performing autonomous (a.k.a. 'free flight') operations, and will also streamline NGATS operations, because of compatibilities on the flight deck versus centralized TTM planners.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal describes a system for detecting upset conditions and providing the corresponding control recovery actions to maintain flight integrity for general application to aircraft. To maintain and improve aircraft safety as air capacity grows as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS), it is necessary to address the primary causes leading to in-flight loss of control accidents, including aircraft upsets, degraded flight operations, and environmental disturbance effects. A model-based upset detection and recovery control architecture is proposed that combines fault detection algorithms to identify the onset of an upset condition with optimal and near-optimal control responses. On-line parameter identification algorithms are used to adapt the core detection and recovery algorithms for degraded flight operations and/or modeling uncertainties. Distributed MEMS-based sensing and SMA-driven control effectors are used to augment the installed aircraft state measurements and control capability for rapid detection of and recovery from upset conditions. During Phase I, preliminary system design and application to a small unmanned aircraft will be performed, including flight test demonstration of the upset detection and control algorithms and hardware. This work will form the foundation for subsequent development of a family of aircraft upset mitigation systems for both manned and unmanned aircraft.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary outcome of this research and development will be control algorithms and flight hardware that will provide for the detection and mitigation of aircraft upset conditions. Aircraft upsets, which may occur due to degraded flight conditions, aerodynamic disturbances, and environmental effects, are a common cause of in-flight loss-of-control accidents. Potential NASA applications of this technology include development of an aircraft upset warning system, flight director, or flight control law, which will address NASA goals of improving safety attributes of new and legacy air vehicles, in particular key metrics such as fatal aircraft accident rates. Applications will also be found in supporting NASA unmanned aircraft operations by enhancing reliability and expanding science mission capability.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to improving safety of existing and future manned aircraft, the results of this research and development will also benefit unmanned aviation. Detection and mitigation of upset conditions for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) will directly impact military operations in which UAV accident rates are one to two orders of magnitude greater than for manned aircraft. Furthermore, by decreasing the susceptibility of UAVs to upset-induced losses through increased autonomy, a significant hurdle impeding public acceptance of UAV operations in the civil airspace will be overcome, opening the door for commercial and civil applications of unmanned aircraft systems.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nastec, Inc.
5310 West 161st Street , Suite G
Brook Park, OH 44142-1610

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Klein
dickc123@earthlink.net
5310 West 161st Street , suite G
Brook Park,  OH 44142-1610

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
It is proposed to develop an accurate in-service aircraft engine life monitor system for the prediction of remaining component and system life for aircraft engines. Once proven in the aircraft engine environment, this life monitoring system will be used in a wide variety of airborne and land-based air-breathing engine systems. The aircraft engine life monitoring system will include three separate algorithms: an in-flight service monitoring algorithm, a pre-flight and post flight engine analysis algorithm, and a component-life tallying algorithm. The in-flight service monitor will treat the engine as a whole in response to sampling data of torque, speed, temperature and time. The engine analysis algorithm will determine the engines' operation parameters from those of its components. It also will determine the life and reliability of individual components based on the service monitoring algorithm's output. The component-life algorithm will accumulate life and reliability tables. The Phase I effort will develop the life-monitoring and supporting life-estimation and reliability algorithms. In Phase II effort, the full life-estimating system will be specifically tailored, assembled and tested with a commercial aircraft engine.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The work is in support of NASA's aircraft long-range goals. It impacts every aspect of safety and integrated resilient aircraft control. The successful completion of this project can improve aviation safety, reliability, and mitigation of failure. It will affect cost-effective design and manufacturing for new production engines and can reduce life cycle and maintenance costs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The cost-effective, reliable use of expansive aerospace and land-based air-breathing engine systems can be extended with more accurate knowledge of the remaining component and system fatigue life. By improving the in-service life estimation associated with these devices, longer reliable service life can be obtained. The high cost associated with surprise failures and unscheduled emergency maintenance procedures can be reduced substantially with the use of an in-service life monitor such as one proposed herein.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Database Development and Interfacing
Expert Systems
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville, VA 22901-0807

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed SBIR Phase I plan of research seeks to develop and demonstrate an integrated architecture designed to compensate for combined propulsion, airframe, effector, and structural damage caused by catastrophic system failure or an intentionally hostile act. Whereas prior damage-adaptive control work focused on reconfiguring from unforeseen aerodynamic changes (e.g., effector or airframe damage), the proposed damage-adaptive control approach also accounts for the current health of the propulsion systems and key structural elements. The integrated controller merges available system identification and diagnostic information to compute a new "safe" operating envelope for the vehicle that accounts for identified changes in structural integrity/dynamics. Once this envelope is computed, the controller then proceeds to compute (1) an achievable flight path for landing the aircraft, and (2) a set of inceptor (or effector) and propulsion commands that will track the computed achievable reference trajectory in a decoupled way – all the while assuring that, if physically possible, the aircraft will not excite dangerous structural modes or create structural loads that would risk further damage. The research will also investigate advisory and retrofit implementations of the proposed approach that will enable early V&V and implementation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology directly addresses the IRAC element of the NASA Aviation Safety Program. Additionally, by integrating structural health monitoring with inner- and outer-loop control, the approaches developed here would also be suitable for life extending control (i.e., using effector redundancy to minimize wear on key structural elements). Finally, the technology is directly applicable to NASA's space exploration mission in that it provides trajectory generation and control algorithms that are capable of compensating for unforeseen failures or massive uncertainties in atmospheric conditions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The immediate Non-NASA application is algorithms, software, and tools for the civil aviation industry. Additionally, the technology is well suited for high-level autonomous operations of unmanned vehicles (air and otherwise). The proposer has an excellent track record transitioning algorithms of this nature for industry for use in commercial and defense-related applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
RHAMM Technologies, LLC
332 Skyland Drive
Bellbrook, OH 45305-8717

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ronald Hinrichsen
Hinrichsen@RHAMM.com
332 Skyland Drive
Bellbrook,  OH 45305-8717

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA's Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) Project, Preliminary Technical Plan Summary identifies several causal and contributing factors that can lead to loss of aircraft control. Among these are adverse conditions and uncommanded motions which may be the result of vehicle or propulsion system failures or damage. One possible source of projectile damage is uncontained engine debris. This proposal focuses on development of a robust methodology for predicting the damage to aircraft structures from uncontained engine debris. The two objectives of this phase of the work proposed are: 1. Development of rigorous criteria and methodology for determining projectile sizes, shapes, velocities, and weights resulting from uncontained engine debris. 2. Research and development of techniques to predict realistic damage sizes and shapes resulting from projectile impacts on aircraft structure. The Phase I SBIR is intended to be a proof of concept and demonstration of the feasibility of interfacing UEDDAM with LSDYNA. One of the main products of the effort will be to well prepared plan for proceeding to Phase II. Whereas the Phase I product will be a proof of concept, it will not be ready for commercialization. It will be a prototype that does not have the user-friendly features such as graphical user interface (GUI). Nor will it have the ability to account for composite materials in the target. Thus the Phase II effort will focus on these two issues.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This product has direct application to NASA's Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) Project. As the IRAC project evolves, RHAMM feels that realistic damage states will be critical to the success of the overall program, since simulation will necessarily be a large part of it. Furthermore, as wind tunnel testing is being planned and executed, these realistic damage states and sizes will be important in bounding the problem and in leading the fabrication of experimental models. The UEDDAM-LSDYNA interface will be an integral part of the IRAC modeling and simulation effort. RHAMM also believes that the UEDDAM-LSDYNA interface could contribute greatly to NASA's Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Program. Specifically, we believe that it would have application on the objective that states: "Diagnose coupled degradation/malfunction/failure/hazard conditions and predict their effects on vehicle safety" and the approach that states: "Couple state awareness data with physics-based and data-driven models to diagnose degradation and damage caused by environmental hazards and electro/thermo/mechanical failures."

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Upon successful completion of the Phase II SBIR, we will have a stand alone UEDDAM-LSDYNA interface code that we will offer to International (if approved), Commercial, FAA, DHS, and DoD (and their contractors) for use in damage effects modeling of aircraft structures. Strategies for penetrating these markets will be tailored to their specific needs. We envision generating a CD-ROM with specific examples of how the product can benefit potential customers in both commercial and government applications. Military, commercial, and dual use implementation will be highlighted and used as a strong selling point.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Structural Modeling and Tools

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Andrew Washabaugh
jentek@shore.net
110-1 Clematis Avenue
Waltham,  MA 02453-7013

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposed program will focus on life management needs for new and emerging composite material systems and built-up structures in "young" aircraft. Both wide area inspection of fuselage and wing structures and characterization of adhesive bonds in built-up structures are addressed. JENTEK will develop both (1) hybrid methods in which spatially registered, digital images, produced by two or more sensing modalities are combined, and (2) a new method called Magneto-Thermography, invented by JENTEK, which offers both wide area inspection advantages and potential for characterization of adhesive bonds in built-up composite and metal structures. In one implementation of a hybrid method for graphite fiber/epoxy composites, the MWM-Array could sense and locate fiber damage and fiber movement under loads, while thermography could sense both fiber and matrix damage, allowing discrimination between fiber breakage, fiber/matrix disbonding, matrix cracking, and disbonding in built-up structures. Magneto-Thermography will use the demonstrated capability of the MWM-Array to monitor temperatures of buried fibers and to monitor temperatures at buried interfaces to replace IR cameras with MWM-Arrays in thermographic methods. This will enable both wide area inspection of thick composites and enhanced characterization of adhesive bonds in built-up structures, for foam layers, and other aerospace and space applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Magneto-thermography and hybrid methods have the potential to provide revolutionary capabilities for condition assessment and life management of composite components and adhesive bonds. Composite components and adhesive bonds will play an increasingly important role in aircraft and spacecraft. Effective life management will require advances in nondestructive test methods to provide information on composite component health and usage states. Magneto-thermography and the hybrid methods proposed here have the potential to enable significant advances in life management for composites for both aircraft and spacecraft, reducing life cycle costs and increasing safety margins.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Advanced life management tools for composite aircraft components will play a major role in fleet life cycle management practices. These will include advances in (1) sensing material condition, (2) modeling material behavior and predicting future behavior, and (3) decision support tools. Magneto-Thermography and Hybrid Methods can provide a more complete picture of composite condition. Both commercial and military fleets will require advanced inspection and life management tools for controlling life cycle costs and maintaining safety margins. We consider the commercial potential to be significant and expect it to increase substantially as composite aircraft components and structures continue to displace metallic components and structures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Integran Technologies USA, Inc.
2541 Appletree Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15241-2587

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Virgil Provenzano
virgil.provenzano@integranusa.com
6610 Tranford Drive
Cethesda,  MD 20810-4853

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Integran Technologies USA Inc.(Pittsburgh, PA) is pleased to provide this proposal in response to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Request for Proposal (RFP) (#A1.03), "Aircraft Aging and Durability". A material characterization technology is proposed that is based on grain boundary structure-property relationship to improve prediction of component life for nickel based superalloys. Since it has been well documented that the resistance to intergranular degradation is a function of the special (i.e., structurally ordered low- grain boundaries) grain boundary content in the material, the improvement in bulk material performance can be achieved through careful manipulation of the processing parameters to increase the presence of these special interfaces. The proposed program builds upon results of previous proprietary developments by the applicant in the areas of the microstructural optimization via metallurgical thermo-mechanical processing and the developed modeling concept based on grain boundary structure assessment. The program will involve material synthesis, testing and characterization activities with a specific emphasis on correlating the materials performance with respect to the grain boundary microstructure. The objective for this phase I program is to establish the inter-relationship amongst material processing, grain boundary character distribution, corrosion and deformation behaviour of the material. As a result of significant advances already made in the development of grain boundary engineering, the program proposed herein is expected to have a high probability of success and can potentially lead to a cost-effective technology for mitigating the susceptibility to microstructural instability and corrosion associated with Ni-based superalloys. This program is expected to require six (6) months for completion at a total cost of $100,000.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Enhancement of super alloys currently employed in aerostructures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Application of the proposed GBE technology beyond that specified in this proposal include circumstances where superior corrosion resistance in required when the materials fail through a intergranular corrosion mechanism. Industries that may benefit from this technology which will alleviate and mitigate these intergranular degradation concerns include: •Nuclear plant components (Intergranular corrosion, intergranular stress corrosion cracking) •Pulp and paper recovery boiler components (thermal fatigue and environmental-assisted stress corrosion cracking) •Lead acid battery industry (intergranular corrosion, intergranular stress corrosion cracking) •Industrial power and energy plant components (sulfidation resistance)

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Nuclear (Adv Fission, Fusion, Anti-Matter, Exotic Nuclear)
Airframe
Composites
Metallics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NextGen Aeronautics, Inc.
2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 400
Torrance, CA 90505-7519

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Shiv Joshi
sjoshi@nextgenaero.com
2780 Skypark, Suite 400
Torrance,  CA 90505-7519

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NextGen is proposing a simple yet powerful damage identification technique for advanced composite structures. We propose to develop a damage index based on vibration signature comparison with original signatures of the structure. Our approach is to autonomously perform damage detection as well as identification of non-service loading events by minimum number of sensors. We will start with the preliminary work done by Dr. Mal at UCLA and improve upon it to achieve the objective of cradle-to-grave degradation monitoring. The overall goal of the program is to develop an accurate, rapid, inexpensive method for detection of composite internal damage including bonds strength in built-up structures. The objective of the Phase I program is to develop and demonstrate that the proposed technique is accurate and reliable. We will achieve TRL of 2 in Phase I and subsequent technology transition to TRL of 4 in Phase II. NextGen's strength lies in related prior work, an in-depth understanding of damage modes in advanced composite structures, and comprehensive knowledge of damage detection techniques. Dr. Ajit Mal of the Mechanical Engineering Department at UCLA has an exceptional background in structural health monitoring built on decades of cutting edge research in NDE

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to the direct application of health monitoring system to new aircraft using substantial advanced composite materials, other NASA health monitoring applications of the proposed system include X-37 demonstrator, space shuttle, international space station, and the orbital space plane programs. When attached to fuel tanks or other critical structure, this system would provide a lightweight, inexpensive VHM system that would reduce launch turn-around time, increase probability of launch success, minimize life cycle costs, and increase the crew return mission success.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The life cycle cost of new aircraft and aerospace structures can be reduced significantly if continuous and autonomous condition based structural health monitoring systems can be integrated into their design. In addition to aircraft applications, commercial applications of NextGen's health monitoring system include long-term monitoring of nuclear waste storage, pressure vessels, storage tanks, and piping, automated inspection of nuclear power plants, Navy surface ships and submarines, critical engineering structures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Structural Modeling and Tools
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02472-4699

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Timothy Tiernan
TTiernan@RMDInc.com
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., 44 Hunt Street
Watertown,  MA 02472-4699

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
New technology is needed for sensing and characterizing incipient defects, and assessing the effects of aging in aerospace components. Next generation materials, including nickel-based superalloys that are exceedingly difficult to inspect with existing technology are being adopted by designers and manufacturers. The ability to ascertain the remaining life of a spacecraft component, and develop mitigation procedures to improve safety and reliability, are critical. RMD proposes a revolutionary new imaging technology based on microscopic, solid-state sensors, magnetic imaging and "eddy current mapping". The new nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology will be used to detect, map and characterize nano-scale cracks and corrosion in superalloys and metallic components. The data will be used to develop an accurate model for the prediction of defect propagation resulting from aging. The NDE technology will improve spacecraft integrity and safety, reduce the cost and complexity of inspection, and characterize incipient defects and defect propagation. It can be used during materials selection and testing and for evaluating components in the field as they age. The technology taxonomy areas addressed by this proposal include: avionics and astrionics, information, materials, sensors and sources, structures, and verification and validation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology will fill a gap in the NDE capabilities available to NASA, permitting the inspection of minute defects and aging effects in advanced metal alloys that cannot be inspected with existing NDE technology. The proposed NDE technology will be useful for inspecting flight surfaces, engine casings, titanium castings, hydraulic lines and other components that are made of standard or advanced metallic materials. The technology will permit inspection of thick components in 3-D. For materials testing and development, incipient defects can be detected and their propagation monitored and analyzed during aging. Since the technology can be used to improve manufacturing and the selection of materials, and to test finished components and aging systems, it will have a broad impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of NASA missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The advanced magnetic imaging technologies proposed here would enable inspectors to detect extremely small defects with a simple to operate and interpret NDE technology. Eddy current testing is the most widely used NDE technique in the $600M/year NDE market. The proposed NDE system could take two forms: 1. a stand alone turnkey imaging system for inspecting parts; 2. a module that can be retrofitted into existing ECT equipment to enhance the abilities of that equipment without the need for an entirely new instrument. Some of the market areas where the new technology has promise include: spacecraft, aircraft, ship and other transport vehicle inspection, jet engine inspection, pipeline inspection and manufacturing and QA of metallic components. In addition to NASA, branches of the DOD, specifically NAVAIR and the Air Force, are interested in new NDE technology for both modern and aging aeronautic and weapons systems. For example, NAVAIR has expressed interest to RMD for use of advanced NDE technology for the V-22 Osprey and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Structural Modeling and Tools
Tankage
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Database Development and Interfacing
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Metallics

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steven Fritz
steven.fritz@comcast.net
6106 Hour Hand Court
Columbia,  MD 21044-4702

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed SBIR project will develop OZ, an innovative primary flight display for aircraft. The OZ display, designed from "first principles" of vision science, cognition, and Human-Centered Computing, brings all cockpit information required for flight together into a single, unified display that uses a common frame of reference employing both the focal and ambient channels of human visual processing. This proposal addresses Topic A1.05 Crew Systems Technologies for Improved Aviation Safety. It specifically addresses the goals of ensuring appropriate situation awareness and facilitating and extending human perception, information interpretation, and response planning and selection. Its primary focus is in the SBIR topical areas of interest in Data fusion technologies for real-time integration and integrity checking of single source information streams of varying spatial and temporal resolution; and Human-centered technologies to improve the access and performance of less-experienced operators and pilots from special population groups. Previous experimentation has shown that OZ provides significantly better performance for pilots than conventional flight instrumentation. The proposal will test the feasibility of using OZ to provide situational awareness superior to that provided by both conventional instrumentation and commercially available electronic primary flight displays. Phase I will show that OZ is also superior to existing electronic primary flight displays that display conventional flight instrumentation on an electronic display and will develop and demonstrate a prototype OZ system in a general aviation aircraft. In Phase II the prototype system will be flight tested against competing electronic flight information systems and a DO-178B compliant OZ system will be developed and flight tested to determine its suitability for FAA certification for general aviation aircraft.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed project will develop a primary flight display (PFD) system for general aviation aircraft. The proposed PFD has potential applications in any NASA aircraft or winged spacecraft. It also has potential application in air transport aircraft, rotorcraft and military aircraft, some of which are used by NASA in its operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed primary flight display (PFD) to be developed under this project is primarily intended for use in general aviation aircraft. It will provide significantly superior situational awareness with considerably less complexity than commercially available PFD systems. The PFD system will be suitable for general aviation aircraft ranging from Light Sport Aircraft to business jets, including a newly certified generation of Very Light Jets currently being introduced to the market. The superior performance of OZ will affect situational awareness and thus safety during flight in instrument meteorological (IMC) conditions, especially single-pilot IMC flight. OZ also has the potential to provide superior performance to current generation "glass cockpit" (i.e. PFD) systems used in air transport aircraft, and in rotorcraft.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Attitude Determination and Control
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
RL Associates, Inc.
1450 Edgmont Avenue, Suite 230
Chester, PA 19013-3934

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mary Ludwig
mludwig@rlassociatesinc.com
4 Tanglewood Dr.
Langhorne,  PA 19047-5729

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
RL Associates, Inc. proposes to conduct research leading to the development of a shortwave infrared (SWIR) range-gated LIDAR system for use in detecting external obscurants and hazards. Working in conjunction with a database of optical properties for known obscurants, the system will be capable of identifying the type and severity of the hazard. While several different LIDAR ranging techniques are currently employed for airborne detection applications, the RL Associates Inc. hazard detection and mitigation system is based upon our patented range-gated technique used in our FireLidar system. This technique allows not only detection of obscurants, but can also be used to image through obscurants and thus mitigate the hazard. RL Associates Inc. is currently leading the industry in shortwave infrared (1.5 um) active imaging systems and plans to use that technology in developing the SWIR LIDAR Hazard Detection System. This system will be compact and lightweight and will operate around 1.5 um, which is safe to the human eye.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA has a stated need to improve current hazard detection systems, automate more of the pilots workload as it relates to hazard analysis, and combine and simplify the many available detection techniques for different types of hazards. The RL Associates, Inc. SWIR LIDAR system will identify airborne or ground hazards in the form of hard targets/obstacles or obscurant media, and provide feedback on the hazard type to the pilot. This technology will fill NASA needs in programs requiring atmospheric hazard detection, surveillance, hazard assessment and imaging through obscurants.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology will benefit government agencies including the Missile Defense Agency, for missile guidance systems, NavAir, for both airborne reconnaissance Lidar applications and targeting systems, and Homeland Security, for in-port or aerial surveillance systems. Private sector applications include detection systems for commercial airlines and weather stations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Optical
Photonics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Global Technology Connection Inc
2839 Paces Ferry Road, Suite 1160
Atlanta, GA 30339-5770

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Nicholas Propes
athakker@globaltechinc.com
2839 Paces Ferry Road, Suite 1160
Atlanta,  GA 30339-5770

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Global Technology Connection, Inc., in collaboration with Georgia Tech (Center for Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies) and our industrial partner, Eagle Pichers, proposes to develop and test the feasibility of a Battery Diagnostics and Prognostics System for space exploration applications. The architecture couples neural network, support vector machine, and fusion algorithms to yield battery remaining useful life predictions taking into account battery usage patterns and detected failure modes to increase the reliability of NASA's electrical power systems. This improved high fidelity architecture will be applied to fault detection and life prediction of both Lead Acid and Lithium-Ion Batteries for several space applications like MER, CEV, CLV, ISS, etc. A multi-disciplinary team with a collaborative approach has been assembled for successful development and demonstration of Battery Life Prediction. Cycle testing of representative cells and batteries will be conducted at the Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop and validate remaining capacity and cycle life models for feasibility. Existing work by GTC on Li-Ion battery deep discharge models and data from our industrial and research partners will be leveraged for development of commercial software that can enhance and monitor battery health and accurately predict remaining useful life. Aggressive commercialization and technology transition plans will be pursued with our industrial team partners.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA requires lightweight rechargeable batteries for future missions to Mars and other outer planets that are capable of operating over a wide range of temperatures with high specific energy and energy densities. The proposed system can be used to monitor the batteries for a wide range of space structures like Mars Exploration Vehicles (MER), CEV, CLV, ISS, GEO, MEO, and LEO etc. The developed and validated Battery Health Monitoring System (BHMS) architecture will reduce repair and maintenance costs through automated diagnostics and prognostics that supports the current readiness, future readiness and quality of service requirements of NASA. The specific benefits are: (1) increased mission readiness (2) reduced total ownership costs (3) reduced battery maintenance parts and planning. The BHMS system will be a valuable technology to improve the safety of future space explorations including manned and unmanned missions to the Moon, the Mars, and other space missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A validated Battery Health Monitoring System (BHMS) would have broad applications to batteries used by DoD systems and vehicles, hybrid vehicles, commercial aviation, road transportation, telecommunications, medical equipment, computer laptop, UPS systems, etc. BHMS can be integrated into the vehicle or system level health management system using this open modular software framework.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Power Management and Distribution

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of the project is the development of an open architecture, computational toolbox for design and implementation of diagnostic and prognostic algorithms for aircraft electrical power systems. The management of typical failure modes of the electrical system can have substantial returns in the overall availability, safety and operating cost of aircraft. We propose several innovative techniques for monitoring specific components of the power system such as generators, converters, and batteries. The integrated architecture using general purpose symbolic processing, numerical tools and data logging makes this project especially attractive and will bring advances in diagnostics and prognostics to engineering practice. The toolbox will include code generation tools resulting in the ability to seamlessly integrate the designed algorithms by automating several key steps for the implementation phase. In Phase I we will demonstrate the approach using experimental test beds. The successful completion of this phase of the project will provide not only a prototype health monitoring system but establish a framework to integrate new algorithms allowing the rapid packaging of advanced health management techniques for validation and verification, flight certification and final system integration and evaluation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary application would be in prognostics and diagnostics for health management of next generation air and space vehicles. General purpose tools for evaluating newly developed prognostic and diagnostic model and data based algorithms. Lead to an integrated toolbox for the implementation of health management strategies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Power System Management for air, sea and land vehicles is increasingly becoming important as critical systems rely on electrical and electronic systems to operate without failures. Techno-Sciences, Inc (TSi) has ongoing funded research for shipboard power systems management and aviation safety. By leveraging these efforts we will develop diagnostic and prognostic capability for use in the health monitoring system for commercial aircraft. The proposed techniques and technology have a wide applicability for commercial users as well; these include commercial aircraft manufacturers and airlines, electric power generation systems, other sea and land vehicles, and applications where distributed power generation is being used as a primary source or to supplement the grid power.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Database Development and Interfacing
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Software Development Environments
Power Management and Distribution

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Roemer
mike.roemer@impact-tek.com
200 Canal View Boulevard
Rochester,  NY 14464-2893

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Impact Technologies, with support from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Honeywell, propose to develop and demonstrate a suite of real-time Fault Contingency Management (FCM) algorithms for application within an Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) system. The proposed FCM software will implement a novel vehicle subsystem fault accommodation approach based on a seamless integration between real-time system health identification and adaptive controller techniques. Specifically, the continuous health assessment algorithms include a real-time adaptive recursive system identification algorithm and an enhanced real-time moving horizon estimation (MHE) algorithm that will be developed and implemented on a prototype embedded system. The proposed FCM software hierarchy will act from the subsystems level up through the vehicle level and will implement fault-accommodating control, health management, and contingency management to accomplish its goal. The significant technology advancement proposed herein is based on the use of dynamic simulation models in a real-time computing environment to not only update health status predictions, but also to determine "on the fly" how accommodate for them. At the conclusion of Phase I, the project team will deliver a proof-of-concept demonstration of the proposed techniques running on an embedded platform using high fidelity propulsion and aircraft simulation models.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The real-time Fault Contingency Management technologies will be directly applicable to Propulsion IVHM, Crew Exploration Vehicle, Reusable Launch Vehicles, Unmanned Air Vehicles and future generation general aviation platforms. It will lead to benefits in the form of improved reliability, maintainability, and survivability of safety-critical aerospace systems.

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

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville, VA 22901-0807

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jason Burkholder
burkholder@bainet.com
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville,  VA 22901-2496

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Model-based machinery diagnostic and prognostic techniques depend upon high-quality mathematical models of the plant. Modeling uncertainties and errors decrease system sensitivity to faults and decrease the accuracy of failure prognoses. However, the behavior of many physical systems changes slowly over time as the system ages. These changes may be perfectly normal and not indicative of impending fail-ures; however, if a static a priori model is used, modeling errors may increase over time, which can ad-versely effect health monitoring system performance. Clearly, one method to address this problem is to employ a model that adapts to system changes over time. The risk in using data-driven models that learn online to support model-based diagnostics is that the models may ``adapt'' to a system failure, thus ren-dering it undetectable by the diagnostic algorithms. An inherent trade-off exists between accurately track-ing normal variations in system dynamics and potentially obscuring slow-onset failures by adapting to failure precursors that would be evident using static models. Barron Associates, Inc. and the University of Virginia propose an innovative solution that brings together Barron Associates' proven model-based diagnostic and prognostic algorithms with adaptive system identi-fication algorithms enhanced specifically for health monitoring applications that would benefit from online learning.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research effort clearly offers the potential for a significant leap in vehicle performance, op-eration, safety, cost, and capability. The technology will require a demonstration in an actual-flight envi-ronment to fully characterize and validate the performance that is predicted in simulation and demon-strated in wind tunnel experiments. The research is particularly relevant to NASA's Intelligent Flight Con-trol System (IFCS), which has the objective of enabling a pilot to land an aircraft that has suffered a major systems failure or combat damage, and also to the Single Aircraft Accident Prevention thrust of the Avia-tion Safety Program in which Barron Associates has participated for a number of years.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Prognostic and health management systems are becoming increasingly common in aviation, marine, and industrial applications due to the potential operational improvements and cost savings. The generic, open-architecture modeling, diagnostic, and prognostic software developed under this research program will be suitable for many military and commercial applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc.
3292 E Hemisphere Loop
Tucson, AZ 85706-5103

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ranji Vaidyanathan
rkv@acrtucson.com
3292 E Hemisphere Loop
Tucson,  AZ 85706-5103

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In this phase I SBIR program, a team led by Advanced Ceramics Research Inc. (ACR) propose a novel, low-cost manufacturing process for multi-functional polymer composite components with improved lightning strike mitigation and EMI shielding capabilities. The proposed program will develop and demonstrate a process for manufacturing complex-geometry composite parts with tailored lightning strike mitigation capability based on design requirements. This process is a natural extension of the ACR water-soluble tooling process for fabricating complex-geometry polymer composite parts as well as filament wound composite tanks. For the proposed phase I program, the ACR-led team will use a novel process to create a highly conductive surface capable of providing the necessary lightning strike protection and EMI shielding. The ACR team will evaluate the new approach with two different space qualified matrix polymers with graphite fibers and compare the surface conductivity with baseline composite systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The process could be used for making large-scale composites requiring enhanced lightning strike mitigation and EMI shielding capabilities for space and satellite structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology could be used by commercial aircraft manufacturers as well as military contractors.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Powdermet, Inc.
24112 Rockwell Drive
Euclid, OH 44117-1252

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Doud
bpdoud@powdermetinc.com
24112 Rockwell Drive
Euclid,  OH 44117-1252

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed Phase I SBIR proposes a low density (0.75-1.2g/cc)syntactic aluminum foam energy absorber co-manufactured inside a composite fan case for turbine engines. Metal syntactic foams provide more energy absorption than any type other metal or non metallic foam on a volumetric basis (80-150J/cm^3). This will provide a lower weight alternative to hard wall fan casings and a smaller wall alternative to soft walled fan casings. The phase I program will test Syntactic aluminum foam and integrated carbon fiber aluminum syntactic foam panels under high strain rate conditions and under a blade failure ballistic test.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA commercial applications include turbine blade containment, ballistic energy absorption, micro-meteor impact mitigation, lightweight aero frame components, and thermal management materials.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA Commercial applications include both military and commercial. Military uses include lightweight aero frame components, laser framing components, thermal insulation, and composite armor. Commercial applications include automotive crash absorption, sporting equipment, lightweight structures, and turbine engine safety applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Thermal Insulating Materials
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Composites
Metallics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Technova Corporation
1232 Mizzen Drive
Okemos, MI 48864-3480

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Anagi Balachandra
tchnv@aol.com
1232 Mizzen Drive
Okemos,  MI 48864-3480

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A versatile class of high-performance structural joints is proposed where massive interatomic bonds over the large surface areas of nanostructured surfaces constitutes the primary joining mechanism. The new nano-engineered joints embody nanomaterials which are self-assembled and anchored onto the joining surfaces. Compatible functionalization of nanomaterials on opposite surfaces creates favorable energetic conditions for their effective engagement and joining via massive primary (chemical) bond formation. Complementary self-assembly techniques will be used for rapid, low-cost, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly processing and anchorage of nanomaterials upon substrate surfaces. Various nanomaterials and anchorage conditions can be used for different substrates (ceramics, metals, polymers, composites) and service requirements. The length of nanomateials would be selected to compensate for the surface roughness. The proposed joints can be engineered to provide broad ranges of mechanical performance, accommodate various material incompatibilities (e.g., thermal expansion mismatch), and different functionalities (e.g., thermal/thermal conductivity, or reversibility). The proposed Phase I research will establish the theoretical potential of the proposed nano-engineered joints, and will develop and characterize a precursor joint system embodying the proposed joining principles in order to verify the technical merits of the technology and its commercial potential.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Major developments in advanced materials over the past few decades have not been matched by corresponding developments in joining technologies. Hence, the distinct features of advanced materials tend to be compromised once they are assembled into hybrid, complex structural systems via conventional joining techniques (adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening, welding, and their derivatives/combinations). The proposed nano-engineered joints promise the high performance attributes, multi-functionality and versatility needed to meet the growing demands on joint performance in today's hybrid, complex structures. An example application, which is subject of our planning efforts with Boeing, focuses on joints within and between (ceramic) thermal protection systems and (composite) structures in reentry vehicles. As a versatile class of high-performance and multi-functional joints, the proposed technology promises to replace traditional joining (adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening and welding) techniques in a variety of applications in NASA's aerospace vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Joints are inherent elements of practically all aerospace systems, since such systems are rarely made of a single piece. Joints formed via adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening and welding (or their derivatives/combinations) are thus key constituents of aircraft structures. The rapid progress in development of advanced materials, and the growing trend towards design of hybrid structures for optimum use of various advanced materials have placed growing demands on joint performance. The developments in joining technology, however, have not offered options to effectively meet such growing demands. As a result, joints increasingly constitute weak links within structural systems, which define the limits on their performance and service life. The proposed joining technology promises to offer solutions to the growing joining problems in aircraft structures, and also in automotive and industrial structures employing advanced materials. The multi-functional features of the proposed nano-engineered joints could eventually expand their applications into electrical systems (as replacement for soldering) and also into thermal management systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hyper-Therm High-Temperature Composites
18411 Gothard Street, Units B&C
Huntington Beach, CA 92648-1208

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Wayne Steffier
wayne.steffier@htcomposites.com
18411 Gothard St Units B&C
Huntington Beach,  CA 92648-1208

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Hot structures fabricated from ceramic composite materials are an attractive design option for components of future high-speed aircraft, re-entry vehicles and propulsion systems to reduce weight and increase performance. One important detail in the design of such structures is that of joining and attachment. Large-area hot structures will likely be fabricated by mechanically joining smaller component sub-assemblies. Conventional metallic fasteners and fastening techniques do not provide structurally tight joints over a wide temperature range. A metallic fastener, which is snug at room temperature, will loosen at elevated temperature due to its relatively high thermal expansion. Excessive preloading at room temperature to maintain a tight joint at elevated temperature may be detrimental to the structural integrity of the joint. Ceramic composite fasteners on the other hand can be designed with near-perfect thermo-elastic compatibility with the adherends, however their prohibitively high cost to produce severely restricts their utility. The objective of this proposed program is to demonstrate the feasibility of a unique, cost-effective thermal stress-free ceramic composite mechanical fastener system suitable for assembly of high-temperature ceramic composite structures. The innovative fastener design facilitates joining load-bearing hot structural assemblies and can be produced at a cost much lower then other competing designs and methods. Ceramic composite fasteners will be produced and experimentally evaluated to determine the shear and tensile properties of the fasteners both individually and of respective lap-joined ceramic composite assemblies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites are recognized an enabling class of materials for a variety of high-temperature applications in chemical rocket engine throat inserts, combustion chambers and nozzles; aero-engine combustors, turbines and exhaust nozzles; hypersonic airframe hot structure and thermal protection systems; spacecraft re-entry heatshields; and a variety of industrial power generation radiant burner and heat exchanger tubes. One of the most important details in the design of high-temperature ceramic composite structures is that of joining and attachment. This proposal offers a high-temperature fastener that guarantees the lowest possible manufacturing cost and highest production rate over all other competing fastener designs and production methods.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Viable near-term applications for ceramic composites include expendable chemical rocket thrusters for orbital insertion, attitude control system and/or divert thrust chamber components for commercial and military communication spacecraft and/or various ballistic missile defense KE intercept weapons. Opportunities for retrofit application in turbine engine augmentors (e.g., converging/diverging exhaust nozzle flaps and seals) for military aero-propulsion systems also exist. Applications for ceramic composites in advanced airbreathing combined-cycle propulsion systems and control surfaces for reusable hypervelocity and exo/transatmospheric aerospace vehicles are currently being addressed. However, the issues of durability, survivability and maintainability are major concerns. For nuclear (e.g., fission and fusion) energy systems, SiC-matrix composites have been identified as enabling materials for heat exchangers, moderators, first wall plasma containment, liner, and diverter component applications. Similar requirements for high-temperature materials exist for commercial/industrial applications as well. Although less aggressive than the aerospace/defense and nuclear energy-related initiatives, programs are in place for evaluating reinforced ceramics for land-based turbine components, catathermal combustion devices, heat exchangers and radiant burners, which represent opportunities in energy and pollution abatement technologies that may mature over the next 10 or so years.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Reuseable
Ceramics
Composites
Aircraft Engines
Aerobrake

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Digital Fusion
5030 Bradford Drive, Suite 210
Huntsville, AL 35805-1923

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Stalnaker
jstalnaker@digitalfusion.com
5030 Bradford Drive
Huntsville,  AL 35805-1923

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The innovation proposed here is to provide a multi-physics modeling tool for materials damage assessment for application to future aircraft design. The software compute engine is based on an existing state-of-art multi-physics solver using first principles of mechanical engineering. Phase I will solve two significant NASA cases using this solver: 1) Coupled fluid-structure simulation of an aircraft wing with aeroelastic behavior and possible fragmentation of the wing, and 2) Simulation of a fuel tank rupture at a ground test facility including trajectory computation of the large fragments. Upon successful demonstration on these two problems, Phase II will proceed to enhance the Multi-Physics, fluid-structure-thermal, compute engine with: 1) a Graphical User Interface (GUI) wrapper to control the simulation, 2) The addition of continuum damage models, 3) a library of models for current NASA materials damage assessment cases, and 4) documentation of the GUI, delivery of the software and on-site training classes. The GUI will allow non-expert users to import existing models from commercial CAD packages and Finite Element codes. Using a desktop Personal Computer, engineers can quickly make accurate and reliable damage assessment decisions for future aircraft structures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications include subsonic fixed wing, rotary wing, supersonic / hypersonic aircraft, test facility explosions and safety, space debris impact on orbiting vehicles, future outer space missions for probability of crashes in space, crew survival analysis for deep space missions to Mars with the possibility of micrometeoroid impact, and even flight deck mishaps involving collision and damage.. Plans for future space vehicles, at all NASA centers, including the Crew Exploration Vehicle, are now underway and it's important to learn from the Shuttle experiences in the early design phase. In this regard, NASA has established the "Design for Minimum Risk" criteria. An important element of these criteria is the analysis of component hazards and failure modes to determine the effect on the full system hazards and risks. With these current and future vehicle designs, the existing empirical methodologies used for evaluating hazards and assigning risk will not be adequate to determine the potential outcomes from a particular initiating event. There is a risk that a critical sequence of events may be overlooked and that a potentially fatal outcome missed. Therefore, risk management for blast, impact and fragmentation assessment is a top priority. Digital Fusion, Inc submits this SBIR proposal to provide NASA with state-of-the-art computer software for direct and immediate application to these concerns.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The multi-physics modeling tool will directly apply to DoD Missile Defense Agency (MDA) programs, specifically tactical missiles for defensive interceptor systems which involve blast dynamics, impact and fragmentation. The U.S. Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) can directly use the software tool to analyze foreign missile concepts and threats. The fluid-structure-thermal interaction software will find commercial application in simulating car crashes, train accidents, ground shock propagation, aircraft-engine interactions with foreign debris, metal forming, component design for cars, aircraft, and watercraft. Additional materials damage applications include safety analysis of bridges, highways, and explosions in buildings including terrorists' investigations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Computational Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hyper-Therm High-Temperature Composites
18411 Gothard Street, Units B&C
Huntington Beach, CA 92648-1208

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Wayne Steffier
wayne.steffier@htcomposites.com
18411 Gothard St Units B&C
Huntington Beach,  CA 92648-1208

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposed effort is to demonstrate the promise of advanced C/SiC and SiC/SiC composites having improved environmental durability and longer life at higher allowable stress levels without using problematic external barrier coatings. Both oxidation inhibited C/SiC and SiC/SiC composite material systems are proposed for this effort on the basis that: (1) C/SiC offers the highest use temperature and lowest cost of all currently available refractory composite systems, and (2) SiC/SiC offers the highest durability and longest life. Each material system offers unique performance/cost benefits and limitations, and each has been identified as a viable candidate for advanced propulsion and thermal protection system component applications. Oxidation resistant C/SiC and SiC/SiC composite plates will be fabricated incorporating a recently developed, 2nd generation oxidation inhibited matrix produced by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI). Test samples from each material system will be prepared and experimentally evaluated in high-temperature tensile stress oxidation environments. The tensile stress rupture results will be compared to "baseline" uninhibited C/SiC and SiC/SiC composites to establish the performance benefits of the proposed approach.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are a number of NASA, DoD and DoE programs in progress or being planned that are targeting advanced ceramic composites as viable high-temperature material candidates. While possessing high specific strength and toughness at elevated temperatures, the utility of current state-of-the-art ceramic composites for satisfying these demanding requirements are severely limited by their susceptibility to oxidation embrittlement and strength degradation. The development of ceramic composite materials with superior performance and long-term durability over currently available materials could directly support and possibly impact future programs, such as: Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT), Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET), Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines (VAATE) Program, and a number of other enabling aerospace programs in need of materials capable of reliable load-bearing operation up to and beyond 3000<SUP>o</SUP>F (1650<SUP>o</SUP>C). The utility of current state-of-the-art ceramic composites for satisfying life, cost and performance requirements are limited by their susceptibility to oxidation embrittlement and severe strength degradation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Viable near-term applications for ceramic composites include expendable chemical rocket thrusters for orbital insertion, on-orbit attitude control system and/or divert thrust chamber components for commercial and military communication spacecraft and/or various ballistic missile defense KE intercept weapons. Opportunities for retrofit application in turbine engine augmentors (converging/diverging exhaust nozzle flaps and seals) for military aero-propulsion systems also exist, however the issues of long-term durability and damage tolerance are key barriers against insertion. Applications for ceramic composites in advanced airbreathing and rocket propulsion systems and control surfaces for reusable hypervelocity and exo/transatmospheric aerospace vehicles are currently being addressed, however the issues of durability, survivability and maintainability are major concerns. Although less aggressive than the aerospace/defense and nuclear energy-related initiatives, programs are in place for evaluating reinforced ceramics for land-based turbine components, catathermal combustion devices, heat exchangers and radiant burners, which represent opportunities in energy and pollution abatement technologies that may mature over the next 10 or so years.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Ceramics
Composites
Nuclear Conversion
Thermoelectric Conversion
Aircraft Engines
Aerobrake

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Hreha
hrehard@crgrp.net
2750 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG) proposes to design and develop a space-qualifiable cyanate ester elastomer for application in self-deployable space structures and future aircraft systems. Having already demonstrated the feasibility of the current cyanate ester shape memory polymer (SMP) as a space-qualifiable material, CRG proposes to refine its existing cyanate ester SMP to provide the flexibility necessary for self-deployable space structures. Working extensively on deployable structure systems for NASA and DoD projects (see section 5.2), CRG has demonstrated the feasibility of self-deploying structures by using surrogate styrene-based systems. CRG now proposes to develop new cyanate ester resins, incorporating the siloxane moiety in the monomer or polymer network, to provide NASA with a material combining the flexibility of siloxanes with CRG's space-qualifiable cyanate ester SMP. CRG's work with DoD and commercial aerospace customers has also helped to identify the proposed material as a durable, lightweight alternative to current state-of-the-art aircraft systems. CRG's innovative approach to the development of space-qualifiable cyanate ester elastomer will provide NASA with a low-cost, space-durable, and flexible material for application in self-deployable space structures and future aircraft systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Supporting NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, this project's technologies directly address requirements for lightweight, multifunctional, durable, highly flexible, and shape memory materials for self-deployable space structures, future aircraft systems, and exoatmospheric space seals. This project's technologies offer a wide range of operational temperatures for application in both low temperature and high temperature systems, and will provide the limited outgassing and durability of a space-qualifiable material.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This project's technologies developed for NASA systems would directly apply to systems operated by other government and commercial enterprises. Government systems that would derive the same benefits would include but not be limited to future fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft systems, high temperature flight vehicles, and inflatable systems such as parachutes and inflatable habitats operated by the Department of Defense. This technology's attributes for deployable structures should yield a high potential for private sector commercialization for communications satellites.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Inflatable
Kinematic-Deployable
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Avant Analysis Technology
39 Hickory Circle
Ithaca, NY 14850-9610

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yu Mukherjee
xieyu9@hotmail.com
39 Hickory Circle
Ithaca,  NY 14850-9610

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Hypersonic aircraft are subjected to extreme conditions with respect to mechanical thermal and acoustic loads. Materials with complex microstructure, such as Functionally Graded (FGM) and honeycomb, are expected to play a key role in such vehicles. Detailed numerical stress and thermal analysis of such materials, with conventional Finite Element Methods (FEM), is extremely difficult. The Fast Multipole Boundary Element Method (FMBEM) is a very promising candidate for carrying out such calculations efficiently and accurately. This is an O(N) method (where N is the size of a problem) with respect to both matrix formulation and solution of linear systems. It is proposed that two user-friendly software packages based on the FMBEM, to be called AvantFGM and AvantHoneycomb, will be developed in this proposed Phase I project. These packages will be used to carry out mechanical and thermal characterization of these complex materials. The output of these packages will deliver material properties as functions of spatial coordinates, which can then be used to carry out conventional FEM analyses of aircraft components of complex geometrical shape. Plans for Phase II call for development of fully functioning commercial software capable of analyzing many realistic situations pertaining to hypersonic aircraft. Phase III will be concerned with further development of the software to include damage accumulation (due to, for example, mechanical, creep and thermo-acoustic fatigue) and risk analysis.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary objective of the AvantFGM and AvantHoneycomb software, to be developed during the Phase I project, is to demonstrate the feasibility of the FMBEM approach to carry out thermal and mechanical characterization of materials with complex microstructure, of interest to NASA. Functionally Graded and honeycomb are examples of such materials that are expected to play key roles in hypersonic vehicles. Such materials are required in order to survive the extreme mechanical, thermal and acoustic conditions that prevail in and around hypersonic vehicles. This software will help NASA in developing new materials systems, structural concepts, and manufacturing/fabrication technologies for such vehicles. The Phase II project will continue further development of the Phase I software and address details of issues such as combinations of extreme loads, normal and reentry flights and dynamic effects; and help NASA understand the effects of microstructure on structural response. Plans for Phase III include a study of damage accumulation and risk analysis of hypersonic vehicles from a structural viewpoint.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Fast Multipole Boundary Element Method is a very exciting and powerful method for solving detailed problems with complex microstructure. Meshing is much easier than the FEM due to the reduction of dimension by one, thanks to the BEM. Both matrix computation and solution of linear systems scales as O(N), where N is the size of a problem. The results are accurate and efficient. This method has already been applied to problems of composites, fabricated scaffolds, fuel cells, micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) and (ongoing work) blood flow. It has huge potential applications in a variety of problems in diverse areas such as mechanical and aerospace (composites, diesel filters), semiconductor (MEMS), power generation (fuel cells), bioengineering (study of bone, soft tissue and blood flow) – for characterization of heterogeneous materials with complex microstructure – either man-made or natural. Once the behavior (typically thermal or mechanical) of such materials is characterized by the FMBEM, the results can be used in conventional FEM analyses of structural elements of complex geometrical shape composed of these materials.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Structural Modeling and Tools
Ceramics
Composites
Computational Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Materials Resources International
811 West 5th Street, Unit 2
Lansdale, PA 19446-2283

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ronald Smith
rsmith@materialsresources.com
811 West 5th Street, Unit 2
Lansdale,  PA 19446-2283

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Smart materials control of aero-surfaces based on shape memory alloys (SMA) is seeing increased use for improving of future subsonic fixed wing aircraft aero-surface controls. Such SMA actuators have the potential of lowering weight and increasing reliability through direct control. The binary NiTi system has been a preferred system but these alloys have austenite finish Af transition temperature in a reported range of 90 - 100ºC, which is too low for many applications. Therefore, there is strong interest in developing a class of ternary and/or quaternary alloys that incorporate Pd and/or other elemental additions. MRi is proposing to develop NiTiPd and NiTiPd+ X alloys that are capable of being directly formed via vacuum plasma spray (VPS) processing. These alloys have been shown to increase Af transformation temperature to over 350ºC, however, these alloys are also significantly less ductile and more prone to casting segregation. The proposed innovation has the potential to eliminate the typical cast/rolling/extrusion procedures typically used with NiTi alloys with a near-net vacuum plasma spray (VPS) forming process. If successful, the alloy and process development work to be conducted on the Phase I investigation would enable the VPS process to directly form shapes from NiTiPd-X alloys. The proposed Phase I research would be aimed at developing specific NiTiPd+X where X could be Hf, Zr and even B. The development work would focus on developing as –deposited structures that would yield Af transition temperature from 130 - 300ºC. If successful, the development would enable the cost effective manufacture of higher temperature shape memory alloy actuators for use as remote actuation of aero-control surface and engine controls.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA application for VPS formed SMA devices includes a range of remotely controlled actuation devcies to open and close doors and release systems for manned or unmanned vehicles that could be used in NASA spacecraft and probes where remote releases are now being explosively activated. SMA release actuation would be much safer and recallable.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Other applications for VPS formed high temperature shape memory alloys include military and civilian uses such as torque and beam actuators for controling aero-surfaces, releases and door and hatch openings where higher power is needed and larger devices must be remotely controlled. Higher temperature acutuation temperature devices will also enble more reliable SMA aircraft engine controls.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Prime Research LC
1750 Kraft Drive, Suite 1000
Blacksburg, VA 24060-6376

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Russell May
rmay@primephotonics.com
1750 Kraft Drive
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6376

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Routine installation and use of high-temperature optical sensors for characterization of advanced materials critical to NASA hypersonic programs are difficult due to the fundamental difficulties of integrating very diverse materials into a reliable, manufacturable sensor. Sensors based on high-temperature optical fibers (including sapphire fibers) have been developed through extensive research; however, little advancement has been made with regard to achieving cost-effective sensors that can be employed in large numbers. Currently, the materials of the mounting site, the materials of the sensor coupon, the fiber itself, sensor assembly methods and the optical interrogation methods have limited compatibility, resulting in each application becoming a custom installation. Recent demonstrations at Virginia Tech, under NASA hypersonic program funding, of advanced Fracture-Release coupon structures, novel connectorization techniques, and improved assembly methods have enabled more rapid fabrication of high-temperature sapphire fiber sensors well-suited to instrumentation of advance materials in hypersonic research. Prime Research, teaming with Virginia Tech, proposes to leverage these previous demonstrations to improve the manufacturability and ease-of-use of sapphire fiber strain gages, and to modify the assembly methods to permit their use with Prime Research's patented spinel-clad sapphire fibers, which have improved optical properties over unclad sapphire fibers.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A key research goal for NASA is the advancement of hypersonic flight. It is a stated NASA objective to advance knowledge in the application advanced materials (e.g. carbon-carbon, carbon SiC, etc.) and test & diagnostic capabilities to further hypersonic research. Particularly important to this objective is the requirement for high-temperature sensors (including strain, temperature, pressure, mechanical properties, etc.) applicable to supporting advances in the state of the art in hypersonic research, in addition to other flight regimes. The proposed program has specific relevance to NASA strategic sub-goals 3E.3 and 3E.1 as stated in the 2006 NASA Strategic Plan, in that a capability to measure flight mechanical, structural, and material parameters is required for research extensions of fundamental flight performance and mechanics, and operational performance monitoring functions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The product that will emerge following successful conclusion of the proposed SBIR program will satisfy a need in a small but important market. High-temperature strain gages that are currently available suffer from a number of drawbacks that prohibit their use for gas turbine instrumentation. Electrical strain gages are prone to electromagnetic interference and are limited to uses below 1000&#61616;C. Commercially-available optical fiber strain gages are limited to temperatures below about 800&#61616;C by dopant diffusion and glass devitrification. The sapphire fiber strain gage being developed through this SBIR program will be the first practical strain gage for direct measurement of strain in the hot sections of gas turbine engines. Immediate customers are likely to be the gas turbine engine manufacturers, as well as government test and evaluation labs. While this represents a small overall market, it is a viable market that will support sensor system manufacturing and sales.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Control Instrumentation
Testing Facilities
Optical
Ceramics
Optical & Photonic Materials
Aircraft Engines

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Manish Gupta
m.gupta@lgrinc.com
67 East Evelyn Avenue, Suite 3
Mountain View,  CA 94041-1518

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In this SBIR effort, Los Gatos Research (LGR) proposes to develop a suite of laser-based diagnostics for the study of reactive and non-reactive hypersonic flows. These sensors will include both in situ and line-of-sight measurements of several critical parameters including gas temperature, velocity, and composition. Both established near-infrared and emerging mid-infrared laser sources will be utilized to make highly-accurate measurements via tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry. The SBIR instrument will be the first system capable of providing real-time, rapid quantification of these important combustion parameters in NASA's hypersonic wind tunnels. Such quantification is essential to the development of improved reactive CFD models and subsequent hypersonic propulsion systems for future aerospace vehicles.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In order to develop next-generation hypersonic vehicles, NASA researchers rely heavily on ground test facilities and complex numerical simulations. These models require a series of assumptions regarding important chemical species and the nature of turbulent flow to become tractable. Due to the complexity of these models and their parameters sensitivities, current CFD calculations lack sufficient predictive capabilities. In order to validate and refine these models, it is necessary to equip ground test engines with diagnostics that are capable of accurately measuring the gas temperature, gas velocity, and concentrations of key chemical species at several points within the turbulent flow field. By comparing the diagnostic results directly to numerical simulations, the modeling of compressible, turbulent flow can be greatly improved, enabling the production of next-generation propulsion systems

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Besides its application to NASA, a laser-based gas analyzer also has significant commercial application. Through a series of strategic partnerships, LGR is developing a suite of analytical instrumentation to measure trace gases for industrial process control monitoring and petrochemical applications. The proposed work is essential in making these instruments more compact, rugged, and cost competitive, and will thus enlarge the potential market size significantly.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sun Valley Technology
26700 Renaissance Parkway, Unit 4
Warrensville Heights, OH 44128-5764

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Frank Sun
svtfrank@sbcglobal.net
26700 Renaissance Parkway, Unit 4
WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS,  OH 44128-5764

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to develop a Multi-Element Lean Direct Injection, ME-LDI, Combustion concept with the following innovative features: 1. Independent, mini burning zones created by containing the flame in a cylinder downstream of each fuel injector/swirler element in a multiple fuel injector array, see figure 1. The independent burning zones will enable fuel staging the fuel injectors (turning off fuel to selected fuel injectors) to cover the operating cycle, such that at each point of the operating cycle the combustor will have high combustion efficiency (>99%) and low NOx emissions. At high power conditions the combustion efficiency should be greater than 99.9%. 2. A low flow number, "Butterfly" fuel injector will be incorporated into ME-LDI that is low cost and simple to manufacture but a highly effective atomizer. The term "Butterfly" derives from the butterfly shape of the spray. The shape of the spray is formed by two diametrically opposed slots cut through a closed end fuel tube, see figure 2. The fuel flow through each slot forms a fan spray. The slot width can be varied to control drop-sizes within the spray.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In the course of the development of the concept it is planned to use laser diagnostics to measure droplet sizes from the fuel injector, fuel distribution, air and fuel droplet velocities and turbulence levels. This data would be made available to NASA for computer model development.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We propose that the initial application would be for small business and personal jets and regional jet aircraft gas turbine engines. The proposed concept would provide a low emissions combustor that would be economical to build and low cost to maintain. Small engines are particularly sensitive to cost and this concept should appeal to small engine manufacturers. It is a developing market and should be receptive to new ideas.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Micro Thrusters
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Pentalim Corporation
1800 Dakota Drive
Findlay , OH 45840-1763

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dave Hiscock
dhiscock@pentalim.com
1800 Dakota Drive
Findlay ,  OH 45840-1763

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Pentalim Inc. is developing a new sensor for the measurement of chemiluninescence of air breathing engine combustion. The sensor will be wireless and incorporate optical power scavenging technology that will increase its effective transmission range. The sensor will also incorporate Silicon Carbide electronic materials to enable in situ monitoring of combustion. This sensor will be applicable to both future propulsion systems as well as legacy and helicopter engines and will enable improved combustion instability, pattern factor and emissions control.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The sensor will help enable active combustion control for air breathing engines. As a result, this sensor will be directly applicable to NASA milestones in combustion, controls and Intelligent Health Management research and development as part of its ongoing aeronautics research program. Additional development of the sensor would also enable it to be applice to rocket engine combustion research and development.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The sensor will be applicable to help enable the requirement This sensor will be applicable to both to both commercial and military air breathing engines in future propulsion systems as well as legacy and helicopter engines and will enable improved combustion instability, pattern factor and emissions control. Additionally, this sensor will be applicable to ground based turbine systems which also have stringent emissions and perforance requirements.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical
Photonics
Optical & Photonic Materials
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Flow Parametrics, LLC
208 West Water Street
Dover, DE 19904-6741

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Andreja Brankovic
brankov@flowparametrics.com
208 West Water Street
Dover,  DE 19904-6741

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective is to develop and demonstrate the use of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for computations of gas turbine combustor flow and transport processes, using the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations on Cartesian grids with local mesh refinement and multigrid acceleration. The basic software for the coupled multigrid algorithm will be developed and demonstrated on simple flows. A Cartesian grid generator, capable of converting complex geometry into an unstructured Cartesian mesh, will be developed. These LES and numerical methods will then be applied to representative gas turbine combustor flows.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The major outcome of the SBIR research program will be an advanced, high performance LES code that will enable detailed studies of combustor performance, with particular emphasis on combustor emissions prediction and reduction. Strong demand by the aircraft engine and power generation turbine industries is anticipated, due to the inevitable reductions in pollutant emissions for these products. This will support NASA's aeronautics programs in many aspects of simulation for aerodynamic and reacting flows.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Outside the aircraft engine and power turbine industries, a wide variety of flow aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, and combustion modeling problems will be simulated using the new code. In particular, unsteady flows in bio-medical devices, automotive flows, alternate propulsion systems such as rocket, ramjets and scramjets, combustion system components such as augmentors, and pollutant dispersal are a few of the types of problems that can be solved through use of the new LES solver.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Cooling
Aircraft Engines

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sivaram Gogineni
sivaram.gogineni@wpafb.af.mil
2766 Indian Ripple Rd
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The research team at The Ohio State University has been developing technologies to suppress jet noise using localized arc filament plasma actuators and are in the process of demonstrating this type of technology at NATR facility at NASA Glenn Research Center. The localized arc filament plasma actuators developed at OSU are the only actuators that can be used currently for active control of flow and noise in high Reynolds number and high-speed flows, such as jets, mixing layers, combustors, cavity, etc. However, the lack of availability of appropriate plasma generator has been a hindrance to this technology development. One of the challenges is designing and developing a power supply which can derive up to 64 actuators. The current Phase I SBIR program will explore some new technologies for the design of such a power supply. The research team will focus on building the power supply for NASA during the Phase II program and also will make significant efforts in commercializing this product by making it much more energy sufficient, user friendly, and compact.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Feasibility tests of the proposed concept of multi-channel, energy efficient, lightweight, high voltage pulsed plasma generator with independent channel control (Phase I), as well as testing and optimization of a working prototype powering up to 64 plasma actuators (Phase II) would make possible its use for large-scale, high-speed flow control and noise control applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The most likely commercial application of the proposed technology would be its use for jet engine noise reduction, with a possibility of retrofitting jet engines already in operation. Associated instrumentation, hardware, and software from this technology has the potential for government, industrial, and academic organizations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
MHD
Testing Facilities
MHD and Related Conversion
Aircraft Engines

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Geng Zhang
gengzhang@miengsrv.com
2890 Carpenter Road, Suite 1900
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-1100

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The structural design during the early development of an aircraft focuses on strength, fatigue, corrosion, maintenance, inspection, and manufacturing. Usually the acoustic requirements are met after the design of the fuselage structure has been completed. Ideally the structural-acoustic concerns should enter the design cycle early and they should be considered along with other main design disciplines within a Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) environment. The proposing firm is uniquely positioned for developing technology which will bring structural-acoustic simulations early in the airframe design process because of their Energy Finite Element Analysis (EFEA) product for structural-acoustic simulations of large systems, and their development of a general purpose code for Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization under Uncertainty (MDO-U). The proposed Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of including structural-acoustic simulations in early airframe design. An adjoint sensitivity formulation will be implemented in the EFEA for enabling the utilization of the EFEA within a design optimization environment. In a case study a representative airframe structure will be optimized simultaneously for two different disciplines, using common design variables. An impact type of concern (representative of impact applications for rotorcraft and aircraft, and of shock applications for launch vehicle dynamics) and a structural-acoustic performance due to structure-borne and air-borne excitations (representative to aircraft, rotorcraft, and launch vehicle applications) will be considered. The MDO-U and the EFEA codes will be utilized in the case study, which will demonstrate the feasibility and the value of bringing structural-acoustics early in the design cycle.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Structural-acoustic concerns are present in aircraft structures, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, since they are directly related with occupant comfort, and noise induced vibration on payloads and electronic equipment. In all of these areas simulations are utilized during design. Currently, structural-acoustic concerns are typically addressed late in the design cycle when the structural configuration has been finalized. Therefore bringing structural acoustic simulations early in the design cycle will offer cost and weight savings. Therefore, the proposed developments will be useful to all NASA groups interested in reducing weight and cost when designing aircraft, launch vehicles, and spacecraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Structural-acoustic concerns are present in the shipbuilding, the automotive, the military ground vehicle, and heavy construction equipment industries since structural-acoustic performance is directly related with the perceived product quality, acoustic signatures, occupant comfort, and noise regulations. In all of these areas simulations are utilized during design. Currently, structural-acoustic concerns are typically addressed late in the design cycle when the structural configuration has been finalized. Therefore bringing structural acoustic simulations early in the design cycle will offer cost and weight savings. Thus, there is a great market potential for the outcome of this SBIR.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NextGen Aeronautics, Inc.
2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 400
Torrance, CA 90505-7519

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gerald Andersen
gandersen@nextgenaero.com
2780 Skypark, Ste 490
Torrance,  CA 90505-7519

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NextGen proposes an approach to significantly enhance aeroelastic analysis capabilities over what is commonly available in linear analysis environments such as NASTANTM The approach to accomplish this builds upon an existing software framework that allows the integration of varying-fidelity aerodynamic modeling capability with varying videlit structural models. The approach utilizes inherently nonlinear aerodynamic predictions schemes that are incorporated into the aeroelastic solution strategy. Potentially large (geometrically nonlinear) structural deflections under the influence of nonlinear aerodynamic can be analyzed using the approach. Hierarchical levels of analysis capabilities are included, ranging from simple yet powerful empirical approaches to the complete coupling of high-order CFD codes and nonlinear structural models. An aeroservoelastic solution framework will be developed in Phase I resulting in a prototype nonlinear aeroelasticity method suitable for a proof-of-concept demonstration. The developed methods will be demonstrated on test cases of recent research interest, such as the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) F/A-18 aircraft.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This software product will benefit NASA commercialization potential by providing a more accurate and capable aeroelastic analysis methodology. The development and subsequent use of these new capabilities will result in more efficient design cycles yielding more effective designs that perform as they were intended. Common use of high-fidelity nonlinear aerodynamics will decrease the cost of producing aerospace vehicles as the risk of encountering a major design flaw late in the development process will be reduced. The expenses of a flight test program may even eventually be lessened as confidence is gained in simulation techniques to validate vehicle designs. For these reasons, transition from NASA research projects to the commercial sector will be facilitated.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The capabilities developed in this effort will significantly benefit general commercial applications because tools will be introduced that greatly simplify the aeroelastic analysis procedure. User-friendly interface modules will be introduced that will allow much faster problem definition and analysis set-up. The intent of this effort is to eventually offer the practicing engineer aeroelastic data relevant to the design process. To accommodate this, automated procedures will be implemented to perform pressure load integration over desired areas, thereby yielding quantities of practical interest, such as forces on aircraft components, hinge moments, and stability and control derivatives.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Simulation Modeling Environment

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Dynamics, Inc.
4488 Snowmass Court
Salt Lake City, UT 84124-2681

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick Hu
patrick.g.hu@gmail.com
4488 Snowmass Court
Salt Lake City,  UT 84124-2681

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed research program aims at developing a variable-fidelity software tool set for aeroservothermoelastic-propulsive (ASTE-P) modeling that can be routinely applied to the design of aerospace vehicles. The tool set can be applied to conventional vehicle types as well as hypersonic vehicles. The major issues involved in ASTE-P modeling and simulation will be significantly and extensively investigated in this project, which include full coupling between fluid/structure/control dynamics, the aeroservothermoelastic-propulsive instability, the viscous/turbulent effects, shock and shock-boundary layer interaction, as well as the large unsteady and highly nonlinear aerothermal dynamic loading on structure of vehicles. The interface of the structure/control surface dynamic vibration modes with flows will be modeled using particle-based material point method (MPM) in an integrated dynamic fluid-structure interaction environment. The MPM is essentially a particle-based method which avoids dealing with the time-varying mesh distortions and boundary variations due to structure/control surface deformations and/or motions (i.e. wing flutters, FCS/structural mode interaction, PSD turbulence response), thus being significantly more robust and computationally efficient than the traditional finite element methods that must utilize moving-boundary and mesh-regeneration. Phase I will build and demonstrate the initial capability; the end software in Phase II will be fully capable of ASTE-P analysis and evaluation for aerospace vehicles.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of variable-fidelity aeroservothermoelastic-propulsive analysis and modeling capability will benefit the testing and clearance of aerospace vehicles in NASA Centers by providing an essential design tool that is not currently available. The end software will be applicable to various aerospace vehicles from conventional types to spacecrafts, and would greatly increase the safety and efficiency of flight testing and clearance. The benefit in terms of improved specification, design and operational performance for diverse aerospace vehicles will potentially lead to savings in project time and cost, and increase the US space mission effectiveness.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The resulting methods and software ability will, of course, benefit other DoD components, such as Army, Navy and Air Force. The US aerospace industries, including Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Textron, and others, will be the major non-military potential customers. Moreover, improvement of computational accuracy and efficiency is common interest in CFD/CSD community, thus is highly demanded. The aerospace industries in Europe, China and Japan represent another large potential marketing of the resulting methods and software. Advanced Dynamics will promote the international sales through resale partners of local companies abroad. Therefore, the methods and software abilities gained from this SBIR project will be additional to Advanced Dynamics' existing commercial offerings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Ablatives
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Software Development Environments
Thermodynamic Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scientific Simulations, LLC
1582 Inca
Laramie, WY 82072-5007

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dimitri Mavriplis
mavripl@infionline.net
1582 Inca
Laramie,  WY 82072-5007

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposal is the development of a next-generation computational aeroelasticity code, suitable for real-world complex geometries, and incorporating error-control for superior reliability and efficiency, and sensitivity analysis for aeroelastic design problems. The principal enabling innovation for achieving these goals involves the development of adjoint methods for time-dependent coupled aeroelastic simulations. The use of adjoint techniques has become widespread for steady-state aerodynamic design, and the potential of adjoint methods for controlling spatial error has been well documented. However, the extension of these methods to unsteady problems and coupled aero-structural problems has generally been lacking. Using a consistent and modular adjoint formulation, the proposed project will result in the incorporation of an adjoint methodology into an existing three-dimensional unstructured mesh aeroelastic simulation capability. The adjoint methodology will enable revolutionary advances in efficiency and reliability for computational aeroelasticity, by providing the means of controlling temporal error through time-step control for relevant engineering outputs, such as the determination of flutter boundaries. Sensitivity analysis will also be enabled, providing the means for performing aerodynamic shape optimization, structural modifications, as well as valuable information for guiding the placement, location and properties of flow control devices, actuators, and smart material technologies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
On the one hand, an aeroelasticity simulation package with robust error control will dramatically reduce the computational requirements and enhance the reliability of aeroelastic simulations. This will enable NASA projects to combine wind-tunnel testing and simulation in a more effective manner. On the other hand, a capability for performing sensitivity analysis within an aeroelastic simulation will enable NASA to determine novel solutions to aeroelastic problems through shape optimization, or through structural modifications and/or the design and placement of active or passive flow control devices. The developed software may be used in the design of novel subsonic and supersonic aircraft configurations, as well as in the design and validation of future access to space transportation architectures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The developed software package will be based on an existing steady-state analysis and design aerodynamics code currently marketed and supported by Scientific Simulations LLC. The proposed work will extend the capabilities of the current commercial software product to include aeroelastic effects including analysis and design, representing an innovative capability which will be unique in the marketplace. This capability will be marketed to existing Scientific Simulations customers in the fixed wing aircraft industry, as well as to new customers in other industries where aeroelasticity is of importance such as the rotorcraft industry, and the wind turbine industry.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Desktop Aeronautics, Inc.
1900 Embarcadero Road, Suite 101
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3310

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Rodriguez
dlr@desktopaero.com
1900 Embarcadero Rd, Suite 101
Palo Alto,  CA 94303-3310

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To enhance aerodynamic design capabilities, Desktop Aeronautics proposes to combine a new sweep/taper integrated-boundary-layer (IBL) code that includes transition prediction with a Cartesian Euler solver developed at NASA. This combined solver will play an important role in the preliminary design of both conventional and unconventional aerospace vehicles traveling at subsonic, transonic, and supersonic speeds. Complex aircraft configurations may be easily analyzed with the practically automated surface intersection and Cartesian mesh generation of the Euler solver. The proposed design-oriented approach to transition prediction will permit rapid assessment of aircraft that exploit natural laminar flow to reduce drag. To facilitate design and numerical optimization using the new aerodynamic analysis, a parameterized geometry engine that can quickly model complex aircraft configurations will be interfaced with the Euler/IBL solver. Desktop Aeronautics will also develop a set of optimization tools well-suited to use with the geometry engine and aerodynamic analysis. This set of tools will permit aerodynamic shape optimization and multidisciplinary design at earlier stages in the vehicle development process.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aerodynamic shape optimization with an Euler solver and integrated boundary layer method is used by all major aircraft manufacturers and certainly at NASA centers. The advantage of the proposed application is the time required to complete a design problem. Because the Cartesian Euler solver is virtually automatic, extremely robust, and time-efficient, and because the integrated boundary layer method allows the Euler solver to be useful in many flight regimes, this application could be used on virtually all aerospace vehicles. The addition of a transition model provides a new and unique capability to design aircraft that exploit natural laminar flow.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed project would generate an innovative commercial application that would address the needs of virtually every major and even some minor companies that design aircraft. The specific applications are identical to those listed in the "NASA Applications" and therefore are not repeated here. Note that the proposed application would also be marketable abroad since the Cartesian Euler solver can be licensed internationally.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Software Development Environments
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
FlexSys, Inc.
2006 Hogback Road, Suite 7
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-9750

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Anne Marsan
amarsan@flxsys.com
2006 Hogback Rd. Suite 7
Ann Arbor,  MI 48105-9750

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Active flow control to prevent or delay boundary layer separation dramatically improves the performance of air vehicles in critical regions of the flight envelope. FlexSys Inc. has designed a compact, efficient, electromechanical High-Frequency Micro-Vortex Generator system (HiMVG) and tested it a subsonic speeds, proving that, when tuned to the boundary layer, it is as effective at promoting flow attachment as that of the best oscillatory pneumatic systems but is light-weight and energy-efficient, consuming a maximum 6 watts of power per actuator. We propose to enhance the HiMVG system by further reducing its power consumption, increasing its maximum oscillating frequency, and demonstrating its effectiveness at transonic speeds. The proposed system will have a tunable natural frequency, so that as the flow velocity changes, we can adjust the HiMVG system's natural frequency to match the optimal vortex generator frequency, allowing us to maintain nearly constant, ultra-low-power consumption. This will allow effective flow control for diverse flight conditions. The system will consume very little power - less than one watt per actuator - allowing large arrays to operate using light-weight, compact power supplies. These improvements will make the HiMVG system feasible for a wide variety of situations where active flow control is necessary, from subsonic through transonic conditions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Robust, light-weight, energy-efficient active flow control devices can be applied to a wide variety of aircraft on wings, fuselages, at inlet ports of turbine engines, etc. Potential NASA customers for our HiMVG system include the Fundamental Aeronautics Program within the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Robust, light-weight, energy-efficient active flow control devices can be applied to a wide variety of aircraft on wings, fuselages, at inlet ports of turbine engines, etc. Potential Non-NASA customers for our HiMVG system include all branches of the military, and all of the major aircraft and jet engine manufacturers.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Ultra-High Density/Low Power

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The goal of this Project is to develop a high-fidelity computational tool for accurate prediction of aerothermal environment on transatmospheric vehicles. This computational tool will be based on the Unified Flow Solver (UFS) developed at CFDRC for hybrid simulations of rarefied, transitional and continuum flows. In this Project, the UFS will be enhanced with advanced non-equilibrium chemistry coupled to radiation transport and plasma capabilities. The enhanced UFS will include Boltzmann/continuum solvers for gas species and plasma electrons, state-to-state vibrational kinetics of molecules, advanced non-equilibrium chemistry coupled to radiation transport with real gas effects, and charged particle transport and chemistry. Our two strong points are (i) master equations coupled with nonequilibrium chemistry in a multidimensional code, and (ii) Boltzmann solvers for charges and neutral particles providing the capability of using the code both for reentry flows and for the low-temperature plasma flows. Phase I will be devoted to evaluation of physical models, initial implementation and demonstration of new capabilities. In Phase II, these capabilities will be fully developed, validated and demonstrated for selected benchmark problems. The availability of the proposed tool will bring the fidelity of modeling high speed flows of molecular gases to a next level and enable computational investigation of innovative concepts of plasma technologies for different applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This project will result in a high-fidelity non-equilibrium reentry code with predictive capabilities. The code will find direct and immediate application in a multitude of NASA technology development programs under Project Constellation and the New Millennium Program. Ascent and descent aerothermodynamic effects on Crew Exploration Vehicle components such as crew capsules and landers, RCS plume impact during orbital maneuvering, and plume environments during landing operations near planetary outpost habitat structures will present operational risks. The accurate modeling of aerothermal environments is essential for protecting space vehicles and insuring crew safety and overall mission success. The code will be used as a design tool for development of new generation reentry vehicles (such as Crew Exploration Vehicle) and components of future hypersonic vehicles. The code will be also used for plasma flow control for subsonic and supersonic aerospace applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Technology applications beyond NASA include Theater and National Missile Defense vehicles performing exo-atmospheric missile intercept, interceptor divert thruster plume interaction, and the generation of target missile plume signatures. Advanced space propulsion systems such as arcjets, ion thrusters, and plasma thrusters must be evaluated for their installed performance and environmental impact. The Air Force is actively pursuing development of high-speed, long-range, scramjet-powered strike aircraft that will operate at high altitudes presenting complex propulsion airframe interaction issues. The software will find numerous commercial and research applications in material processing (Chemical Vapor Deposition and dry etching), semiconductor manufacturing, microelectronics, microsystems, MEMS, etc.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Spectral Sciences, Inc.
4 Fourth Avenue
Burlington, MA 01803-3304

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fritz Bien
fritz@spectral.com
4 Fourth Avenue
Burlington,  MA 01803-3304

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The modeling of NLTE hypersonic flows combines several disciplines: chemistry, kinetics, radiation transport, fluid mechanics, and surface science. No single code or model has been able to capture, with high fidelity, all the complex effects that come into play, especially at higher velocities. Spectral Sciences, Inc. proposes to create an innovative software tool to develop and demonstrate high-fidelity chemistry, radiation, and flow models for NLTE hypersonic flows that will address all the important effects in a unified way. SSI will demonstrate an end-to-end capability to simulate the kinetics and radiation transport for NLTE hypersonic flows through the development of prototype software and demonstration for a candidate hypersonic flow scenario. The software will be designed to be modular, in order that they can be used by other codes and other applications. Testing and validation will include studies of the interaction of gases in the shock layer with the ablating material making up the thermal protection system of the vehicle as well as an assessment of other available codes. It is intended that the software tool be used as a benchmark to test lower-fidelity models, or as an inexpensive substitute for laboratory or field tests.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA applications include the accurate prediction of NLTE, hypersonic aerothermal environments near spacecraft. The software developed from this effort will have applications to spacecraft design and development for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and aerocapture missions to Titan, Neptune, and Venus. The software will potentially avoid the need for expensive measurements and/or complement existing measurements of hypersonic flow properties. The software tool will provide benchmark results to help assess NASA flow models that may be less computationally expensive, but perhaps more flexible to the geometry of the actual problem or in the ability to explore a large parameter space of trajectories and conditions. The NLTE kinetics and radiation transport portion of the model will be modular and general in order to be easily adapted for other potential uses involving other NASA hypersonic, NLTE flows, or flow-solvers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed software tool will have wide application for Earth atmosphere hypersonic flow problems, including the development of military hypersonic vehicles and military applications involving the modeling of re-entry flows for missile defense. Other important military applications include the modeling and analysis of missile base heating, and modeling associated with the radiation signature of flows near missile bodies in rarefied, hypersonic flow regimes. The radiation signature due to NLTE flows near the missile body will be critical for development of missile defense sensors and associated algorithms. In addition, the proposed software could supplement existing commercial continuum fluid dynamics software, providing high-fidelity, NLTE physics capability.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
D&P LLC
3409 N. 42nd Place
Phoenix, AZ 85018-5961

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lei Tang
tangl69@hotmail.com
3409 N. 42nd Pl.
Phoenix,  AZ 85018-5961

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR project proposes to develop a gas-kinetic Navier-Stokes solver for simulation of hypersonic flows in thermal and chemical non-equilibrium. The Navier-Stokes solvers adopted in current hypersonic CFD codes like LAURA and GASP use Riemann solver for the convection part and central scheme for the diffusion part. As a result, their integration with DSMC in the transitional and rarefied flow regimes may cause an artificial flow across the interface between CFD/DSMC zones because of the inconsistency in the estimated fluxes. On the other hand, the proposed gas-kinetic BGK solver for the Navier-Stokes equations (BGK-NS) computes the inviscid and viscous fluxes as a single entity, consistent with the DSMC approach. Furthermore, this BGK-NS solver has been demonstrated very accurate for hypersonic heat transfer prediction. The approach has also been successfully extended for solution of the Burnett equations whereas the macroscopic Burnett approach has some numerical difficulties. This SBIR project will further extend this BGK-NS solver to hypersonic flows in thermal and chemical non-equilibrium. In Phase I, a prototype non-equilibrium BGK-NS solver will be developed for the nitrogen shock dissociation cases and then in Phase II, a gas-kinetic CFD counterpart of LAURA will be fully developed and well validated.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA current mission focuses on human lunar and martian exploration. The design of crew exploration vehicles requires a computational tool, which is able to accurately predict hypersonic flows in thermal and chemical non-equilibrium. Compared with the macroscopic CFD approach, the proposed gas-kinetic CFD approach is more suitable for simulation of high-temperature non-equilibrium processes. It is not only accurate for prediction of shock stand-off distances, peaks in thermal loads, skin friction drag, forces and moments on the vehicles, but also ready for extension beyond the continuum flow regime. Such a computational tool can be used for accurate prediction of wake heating, single/multiple rocket plume effects on the vehicle aerodynamics and heating.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Except Exa's Powerflow code, current commercial CFD software in the market is based on the macroscopic CFD approach, which is not well suited for simulation of non-equilibrium flows. On the other hand, Exa's Powerflow code only works for incompressible flows. The developed gas-kinetic computational algorithm can satisfy people's desire of accurate simulation of high-speed non-equilibrium flows. It can significantly enhance the capability of aerospace industry for accurate prediction of the aerothermal loads on a space vehicle, and can be used to analyze aerobrake systems, to predict leakage flows past seal teeth in gas turbine engines, etc. Such a computational tool is currently lacking in the market.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
MIGA Motor Company
1250 Addison Street, Studio 208
Berkeley, CA 94702-1713

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mark Gummin
mark@migamotors.com
1250 Addison Street, Studio 208
Berkeley,  CA 94702-1713

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are metal alloys (Nickel-Titanium, for example) that change shape when heated. When drawn and processed in wire form, the shape change is an aggressive contraction with useable lifetimes of millions of cycles. Despite this fact, SMAs have largely been a scientific curiosity, finding very little commercial use as actuators since their discovery over 30 years ago. The apparent lack of practical application may be due to their low recoverable strain (~4% of total wire length). MIGA Motor Company has numerous international patents covering Displacement Multiplication (DM) techniques that allow us to package strokes of over 1 inch in highly compact, lightweight packages. Our current commercially available linear actuators provide 1/2" of stroke with 4.5 pounds of output force. We propose to develop several high force variants of the DM designs, allowing up to 45 pounds of force in a device weighing less than 2 ounces. The manufacturing techniques that we have developed in manufacturing the DM actuators have paved the way to expansion into the high force realm: high reliability wire attachment methods, use of high temperature thermoplastics, Teflon-coated or over-molded precision chemically-etched stainless-steel motive elements, and various load-sharing techniques have enabled the design of these actuators to finally become a reality.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are numerous applications for high-force linear electric actuators in the aerospace industry including latch-release devices, telescope and instrument door and aperture mechanisms, thermal management louver and thruster control actuators, aircraft control surface actuators, and remotely operated vehicles. Robotic manipulators, rovers, and other exploration technologies can benefit significantly from these lightweight, high-force actuators with an extremely high force/weight ratio (over 360:1). MIGA actuators are compatible with ultra-high vacuum: made entirely out of high-temperature thermoplastics, Nickel-Titanium, and stainless steel (or titanium). There are no lubricants. The total part count is very low, enhancing reliability on orbit or in any other application. Also owing to their low weight, they are nearly immune to high-g loads.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The medical industry represents the most urgent need for modern, high force, linear electric actuators. The miniaturization of electronic components has fueled the desire for more portable equipment, and much of the diagnostic equipment in the medical industry today relies on motors, solenoids, and pneumatic actuators to move, latch, squeeze, etc, samples and subjects -in ever diminishing package sizes. There is a huge pent-up demand for assisted medical devices: those which require a human input, but also demand higher forces than can be applied by a single technician, or for long periods of time. The defense industry is another important market, requesting efficient electric actuators that can open and close weather-station doors in harsh environments across the world, for instance. Security is becoming an increasingly important business sector, and there are numerous demands for integrated security solutions, including electronic latching, dead-bolting, assisted entry systems, and use as redundant mechanisms in biometric security systems. Each of these applications requires higher forces than the current MIGA actuators can provide.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Electromagnetic Thrusters
Micro Thrusters
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Mobility
Manipulation
Perception/Sensing
Teleoperation
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Erectable
Electrostatic Thrusters
Attitude Determination and Control
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Tools
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Axis Engineering Technologies
One Broadway, 14th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02412-4244

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Eric Prechtl
eric@axisetech.com
One Broadway, 14th Floor
Cambridge,  MA 02412-4244

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Axis Engineering Technologies proposes a revolutionary new technology that can provide performance levels, in terms of output power, bandwidth and mass, previously unmet in current commercially available actuation platforms. The approach features a new hybrid pump, which is powered by active material stacks, and produces fluidic power to directly power hydraulic actuators. The compact, sealed unit eliminates external hydraulic components, such as accumulators, reservoirs, and, especially, long hydraulic tubing runs. By increasing system efficiency, reducing system mass and exploiting the unique characteristics of active materials, we expect to get a significant performance improvement in representative applications. This is in contrast with many commercially available actuation systems, composed of either traditional hydraulic or electromechanical mechanisms. Each of these systems is limited due to either excessive mass or limited bandwidth, or both. And yet these technologies have been adopted across a wide spectrum of applications, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), high performance fighter aircraft, active automotive suspension systems and mobile robotic systems. Each of these applications would benefit greatly from the introduction of an actuation system that can provide mass-savings and bandwidth improvements, simultaneously.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The actuator proposed is suitable for a wide range of actuation scenarios across a number of NASA missions. Fundamentally, we propose to deliver a higher mass efficient actuation system than currently available commercially. In Aeronautics, the use of high performance actuators could enable advanced flight control of experimental aircraft. In Aerospace, they could be used to actuate thrusters on satellites, position payloads on orbital platforms or provide efficient control for planetary exploration on-board NASA rovers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The non-NASA applications are numerous. In addition to uses similar to those described for NASA, the system can also be used to enable high performance UAV flight control in battlefield applications, and actuation on war-fighting robotic platforms. It would also be enabling for advanced systems, such as wearable robotic exo-skeletons, and morphing aircraft. The most notable civilian application is for automotive active suspensions. In this program, our goal is to demonstrate the technology on a representative application, while pursuing ways to transition the technology to other platforms.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Mobility
Manipulation
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Pilot Support Systems
Manned-Manuvering Units

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dario Baldelli
dario@zonatech.com
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale,  AZ 85258-4578

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes a R&D effort to develop a Unified Nonlinear Flight Dynamics and Aeroelastic Simulator (UNFDAS) Tool that will combine proven simulation and visualization techniques to accurately match in-flight recorded dynamic behavior of an air vehicle. ZONA proposes to develop the UNFDAS Tool through a blend of state-of-the-art aerodynamic model updating and control-oriented techniques. It blends mathematically sound flight dynamics and aeroelastic modeling approaches with CFD, wind-tunnel or flight-test data. The end product is a nonlinear dynamic tool capable of simulating the key aeroelastic coupling mechanism between structural modes and unsteady aerodynamic effects with classical rigid-body dynamics. Feasibility studies are proposed to validate the UNFDAS Tool using a suite of actual data from flying qualities and flutter flight tests. This enabling technology will be invaluable to the flight test community by accurately simulating the air vehicle responses to different input commands, and then identifying the critical flying conditions before actual flights are performed. Marketing the resulting software package will be simplified by taking advantage of ZONA's current extensive customer list. ZONA Technology's reputation and track record in supporting the aerospace industry and government with ZONA codes can assure the success of the commercialization plan.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A nonlinear flight dynamics simulator tool with an added-on aeroelastic solver is still not available. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and NASA Langley Research Center have been working for many years towards achieving a software package that would accurately predict the interaction between flight dynamics considering airframe structural flexibility in closed-loop with flight control laws. The proposed UNFDAS Tool is aimed at providing an expedient multidisciplinary nonlinear flight simulator tool to perform an efficient flaw debugging for advanced control laws as well as to promote physical understanding of the in-flight observed dynamic behaviors due to evolutionary designs. It also will assist to predict the onset of instabilities prior to envelope expansion programs. The toolbox will be especially valuable during NASA's current and next generation UAV's flying qualities and envelope expansion programs, the ERAST aircraft which is highly flexible and even future RevCon projects that will introduce distributed control from active materials.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
ZONA's business plan for this toolbox will follow ZONA's flagship software called: ZAERO product/service sales strategy. The added capabilities developed in the UNFDAS Tool will strengthen ZONA's market position in the aerospace industry. The toolbox will be marketed towards the flight test applications on a wide class of aerospace vehicles such as: (a) USAF's F-22 and F-35 aircrafts at Edwards AFB, (b) UASF's Hilda, sensorcraft as well as stealth and morphing UAV/UCAV, (c) DARPA's Morphing Aerostructure (MAS) and Oblique Flying Wing (OFW) Programs, (d) Boeing 7E7 and future executive jet designs of Cessna, Raytheon, etc. The proposed toolbox can also be applied to validate health management strategies specifically designed for aircraft designs with prominent aeroelastic characteristics.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
M4 Engineering, Inc.
2161 Gundry Avenue
Signal Hill, CA 90755-3517

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Myles Baker
myles.baker@m4-engineering.com
2161 Gundry Avenue
Signal Hill,  CA 90755-3517

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The development of a library of Common MDO Objects is proposed, in which the software objects will automate a variety of recurring problems in the development of MDO systems. The focus of the Phase I project is development of MDO objects to implement multi-fidelity modeling and simulation within MDO systems, and to implement general inter-disciplinary mapping/coupling algorithms that can apply to disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, and thermal. These modules will make it much easier to develop MDO applications, as the common issues can be solved by simply selecting the appropriate "MDO Object".

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The first NASA applications are the BWB-LSV and CEV programs. This effort is also expected to be directly applicable to the research projects planned in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). The multidisciplinary nature of the technology makes it an ideal candidate for use any time a very high performance vehicle is designed, where interactions between components and disciplines is important. Examples include future high efficiency subsonic aircraft, quiet supersonic aircraft, high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, hypersonic aircraft, and next-generation launch vehicles (either airbreathing or rocket powered).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed software is expected to find wide application to many aerospace and non-aerospace products, as any type of multidisciplinary analysis and optimization can be performed. Examples include the medical engineering field, automotive, aerospace/defense, and alternative energy applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nielsen Engineering & Research, Inc.
605 Ellis Street, Suite 200
Mountain View, CA 94043-2241

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick Reisenthel
phr@nearinc.com
605 Ellis Street, Suite 200
Mountain View,  CA 94043-2241

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Future adaptive, smart air vehicles will continually tune themselves using sophisticated on-board health management and on-the-fly optimization of performance parameters. To support these dynamic, complex/nonlinear, and multidisciplinary optimization tasks requires novel methodologies. These new methodologies must be capable of assimilating data from disparate (heterogeneous) sources in a potentially high-dimensional parameter space, yet provide robust and updatable predictions. Recent progress in cumulative metamodel technology suggests new optimization methodologies capable of combining a priori mathematical models, numerical predictions, and noisy experimental data. The resulting representations can be constructed on-the-fly and are cumulatively enriched as more data become available. Nielsen Engineering & Research (NEAR) proposes to investigate the use of Cumulative Global Metamodels (CGM) in novel optimization techniques for conceptual design of highly integrated flight vehicle and air space concepts. The Phase I will investigate the feasibility of an orders-of-magnitude acceleration in nonlinear multidimensional design by combining existing search techniques with adaptive CGMs. A special emphasis of the work will be to capitalize on NEAR's CGM uncertainty estimation capabilities to monitor the quality of the metamodel and provide confidence estimates which can be used to guide optimization in a rational and systematic way.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NEAR's CGM module for formulating and communicating metamodel information, including the visualization of uncertainty in multiple dimensions, will support decision making in complex multidisciplinary environments. The proposed CGM technology is innovative and has the potential to accelerate future design methods, particularly when the number of design variable is large. This reduction in time and cost will result in the designer's ability to handle larger problems or increase the scope of parametric studies. This technology will help NASA's mission by reducing risk and incorporating high-fidelity analyses early in conceptual design of highly-integrated flight and space vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In the aerospace field, the uncertainty-enhanced CGM technology will benefit reusable launch vehicles, UAVs, commercial aircraft, military aircraft, missiles and armaments. The commercial benefits of developing the CGM technology reach far beyond the defense and aerospace sectors, however. Numerous technical activities in the automotive, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries stand to benefit from the proposed innovation. Banks, the insurance industry, and the Department of Homeland Security are also potential customers for this technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Control Instrumentation
Airframe
Inflatable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Database Development and Interfacing
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Aircraft Engines
Aerobrake

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Phoenix Integration
1715 Pratt
Blacksburg, VA 24060-6472

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scott Ragon
sragon@phoenix-int.com
1715 Pratt
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6472

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Phoenix Integration will develop a collaborative simulation and design environment that will seamlessly integrate the people, data, and tools required for analyzing and designing complete vehicle systems. This next generation environment will help NASA to accurately assess and trade-off competing air vehicle concepts early in the design process. Working within the environment, geographically distributed team members will be able to easily construct large multi-disciplinary multi-fidelity system simulations from a custom library of reusable analysis components. A key feature of the environment will be "numerical zooming", i.e. the ability to incorporate numerical analyses of varying levels of fidelity in the simulation. Interfaces and tools will be provided that will allow users to configure the system simulation and securely execute it using heterogeneous computing resources. A simulation data library will allow users to share models, results, and conclusions with one another, and will serve as a searchable information repository. The expected results of the Phase I research will be a working prototype that will demonstrate key aspects of the proposed design environment. The Phase II program will result in a comprehensive framework environment that will help NASA achieve Fundamental Aeronautics Program goals for a broad range of air vehicles.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
To achieve the Fundamental Aeronautics Program goals, NASA needs a design environment that will allow early stage designers to accurately assess and trade-off competing concepts for a wide range of air vehicles. Key needs include (1) the ability to construct large multi-disciplinary multi-fidelity system simulations from diverse analysis tools, (2) the ability to bring in more accurate higher fidelity tools early in the design process, (3) the ability to deploy and securely execute the system simulation, (4) the ability to archive, share, and understand the resulting data. Phoenix Integration's proposed design environment will meet all of these needs in a cost-effective and timely manner. Because the environment will be built using an open architecture, a wide range of NASA centers and projects will benefit from the framework. Other potential applications include propulsion, operations, and mission designs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Beyond NASA, the target market for the innovation is any organization involved with complex system design problems. Sectors that could benefit immediately from the proposed design environment include aerospace and defense, automotive, electronics, heavy machinery, shipbuilding, and oil and gas. More diverse, future applications may emerge in areas such as financial modeling, medical research, and disaster modeling. Industries in all of these sectors are looking to modeling and simulation design software to reduce design time, achieve more successful designs, and to reduce the costs of goods and services. The proposed design environment will allow firms with a wide range of analysis interests, staff capabilities, and computer resources to benefit from advanced modeling and simulation capablities.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Database Development and Interfacing
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NextGen Aeronautics, Inc.
2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 400
Torrance, CA 90505-7519

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Adarsh Pun
apun@nextgenaero.com
2780 Skypark, Suite 400
Torrance,  CA 90505-7519

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Preliminary design of aircraft structures is multidisciplinary, involving knowledge of structural mechanics, aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, structural dynamics and design concepts. Even though analysis tools and computing resources have improved significantly, very little attention is being paid to the required data exchange and seamless interoperability for true multi-disciplinary analysis. Indeed there is a lot to be gained in performing multi-disciplinary analysis up front in the design cycle during the conceptual design phase as changes during mid or tail end of the design process are often expensive and difficult to implement. The net result is increased cost and performance limiting weight penalties on the air vehicle. It is essential to consider the impact of several design disciplines simultaneously to arrive at a satisfactory design where generated data for each discipline is seamlessly generated or available to each design discipline.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Traditional build and test procedures for developing conceptual prototype designs are costly and there is a need to perform computer simulations to rapidly evaluate multiple design configurations. The proposed software framework with advanced workbenches for multiple design disciplines and unique data management capabilities for interoperability between the various design disciplines has tremendous commercialization potential NASA airframe development applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Traditional build and test procedures for developing conceptual prototype designs are costly and there is a need to perform computer simulations to rapidly evaluate multiple design configurations. The proposed software framework with advanced workbenches for multiple design disciplines and unique data management capabilities for interoperability between the various design disciplines has tremendous commercialization potential Non-NASA applications in the automotive, marine and civil industry sectors that currently employ the costly traditional build and test for conceptual design.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Simulation Modeling Environment
Modular Interconnects
Structural Modeling and Tools
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Powdermet, Inc.
24112 Rockwell Drive
Euclid, OH 44117-1252

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jun Nable
jnable@powdermetinc.com
24112 Rockwell Dr
Euclid,  OH 44060-1252

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Phase I SBIR program will demonstrate the use of wear resistant high strength nanocomposites in the turbine engine repair and refurbishment process. The metallic nanocomposite will be applied using laser additive remanufacturing to worn turbine blades. This would provide greatly increased erosion resistance for rotorcraft turbine engines, extending their life and reducing fuel consumption by 15-20% over the life of the engine. Powdermet will develop composite feedstocks optimized for laser additive manufacturing, and is teamed with Flight Support International, and FAA certified repair shop certified for T64 engine repairs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Currently, some rotorcraft operating in severe ground environments such as firefighting, deserts, and dusty urban enviroments need rebuilding in as little as 100-200 hours of operation due to erosion of compressor blades. As the blades wear, engine efficiency and power are reduced until the rotorcraft becomes unsafe. The proposed technology would result in a ten-fold improvement in rotorcraft engine life while providing new materials options for laser additive manufacturing and remanufactring of NASA parts including propellant valves, thrusters, bearing races, rotating seals, and other high wear components.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This program will develop a domestic manufacturing base providing 15-30 micron composite powders to support the emerging manufacturing processes of laser additive manufacturing and cold spray. Powder feedstock design and optimization for laser additive manufacturing would be carried out, enabing low cost powder production of virtually any alloy or composite for this rapidly growing manufacturing technique. Currently, only costly nickel and titanium based powders are available in the desired 20 micron particle size, this program would develop a range of wear resistant, higher strength, and tailorable metallic nanocomposites to expand laser additive applications into additional markets.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Aircraft Engines

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Patz Materials and Technologies proposes to develop a unique structural cellular core material to improve mechanical performance, reduce platform weight and lower the production costs for rotorcraft platforms. The performance of any rotorcraft will be inherently dependent on the flight weight of that structure. The goal of Patz Materials and Technologies is to combine their experience of resin/fiber reinforced composite materials with their core fabrication technology to create a new and novel cellular core material for the advancement of the rotorcraft industry. To achieve this goal Patz Materials and Technologies proposes to work directly with a rotorcraft producer, Bell Helicopter, to quantify the specific physical requirements of cellular core structures applied to rotorcraft platforms. The outcome of this partnership will allow Patz Materials and Technologies to develop a unique structural prepreg based cellular core to optimize performance versus weight. A small amount of the core will be fabricate and physically tested to validate its significance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Rotorcraft industry: One of the primary goals of NASA is to improve the state of the art technologies available to the aerospace industry. This is the main focus of this proposal. Space Platforms: The cost per weight of material placed into space is astronomical. The creation of stronger lighter core materials could significantly reduce the weight of a structure, sub structure and even the launch vehicle enabling higher payload capacities less fuel consumed and less overall cost to produce the structure. Mars Unmanned Rotorcraft Vehicle: The reduction of weight on an unmanned rotorcraft vehicle for the purpose of exploring Mars is an immediate application in which saving even a few pounds of weight will yield immense savings in associate launch costs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Structures such as military and commercial aircraft, ground vehicles and marine vessels have the potential to utilize a new cellular core material to increase strength while reducing weight. The new cellular core material could also be utilized in numerous sporting goods, optical benches and even cargo containers.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Composites

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Todd Quackenbush
todd@continuum-dynamics.com
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing,  NJ 08618-2302

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Recent R&D associated with designing high speed rotorcraft has been greatly hampered by a lack of test data and confidence in predictions for rotors operating above advance ratio 1.0. This proposal outlines a plan for addressing this situation through a series of rotor tests and analytical enhancements. The three-pillared approach begins with a model rotor test in Phase I that will obtain essential data on autorotation characteristics of rotors operating at high advance ratio. The second pillar will involve analytical enhancements for comprehensive rotorcraft analyses featuring an improved yawed flow correction and an improved lifting surface blade model that will properly shed wake off the "leading edge" of blades operating as reverse velocity rotors. The third pillar will focus on improving grid generation methods for CFD solutions to appropriately model reverse and spanwise flow regions. Phase II will see additional rotor tests and model improvements followed by incorporation of new technology into a software module suitable for immediate implementation in rotorcraft analysis and flight simulation software. The new software module will provide a hierarchy of methods capable of modeling high speed rotorcraft blade aerodynamics for a broad spectrum of fidelity/speed requirements ranging from real-time flight simulation to high resolution CFD.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed effort directly responds to NASA's SBIR solicitation goal of developing validated physics-based multidisciplinary computational tools applicable for the design, analysis and optimization of rotorcraft in the area of aerodynamics. The proposed effort will provide invaluable test data and analysis enhancements for the aerodynamic design of high speed rotorcraft, particularly any V/STOL aircraft utilizing a slowed-rotor system. The Phase I and Phase II test programs will provide important experimental data on aerodynamic characteristics of high speed rotors including Reverse Velocity Rotors. This test data will be invaluable in the evaluation of future concepts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is currently high interest at the DOD in High Speed rotorcraft. Several ambitious and high risk projects are being funded, such as the Sikorsky X2 co-axial rotor and the Groen Brothers slowed-rotor heliplane. The test data and analytical enhancements proposed here would provide invaluable support in the design and evaluation of these concepts. The analysis and test data would also facilitate design and assessment of other compound aircraft and unmanned vehicle concepts utilizing slowed rotors to reduce noise and improve cruise performance while maintaining a hovering capability.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gang Wang
wangg@technosci.com
11750 Beltsville Drive
Beltsville,  MD 20705-3941

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Experimental measurements of rotor blades are important for understanding the aerodynamics and dynamics of a rotorcraft. This understanding can help in solving on-blade problems as well as in designing and optimizing the blade profiles for improved aerodynamics and noise attenuation in the next generation rotorcraft. Therefore, a Wireless Optical Pressure/Strain Sensor (WOPSS) system for helicopter on-blade pressure and strain measurement is proposed to utilize the benefits of low coherence interferometry system to create an innovative real-time pressure and strain measurement technique. Leveraging past and current experiences with fiber optic sensor development, a proof-of-concept of optical pressure/strain sensor system with wireless data acquisition and transfer capability will be demonstrated at the end of Phase I. The distributed optical pressure/strain sensor measurements will be used to obtain real-time dynamic pressure fields and mode shapes and displacements by integrating strain data for the helicopter rotor blade. Phase I efforts will conduct optical pressure and strain sensor design analysis to meet on-blade pressure and strain measurement requirements and demonstrate a proof-of-concept prototyped wireless optical pressure and strain sensor package.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Throughout the Phase I effort, we will work in concert with NASA sponsors and our industry to ensure that the WOPSS technology can be seamless integrated with rotor blade systems. To facilitate technology transfer, we will work in Phase I to address top-level hardware and software integration issues from a systems engineering perspective. Issues such as hardware and control electronics, software architectures, hardware interfaces, manufacturability, ruggedness, and reliability will be considered in Phase I and implemented in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The WOPSS technology will be applicable to a wide range of end-users in the defense, commercial, and industry sectors. TSi's WOPSS will be an integrated software/hardware product that can be licensed for manufacture to our strategic manufacturing partner, or a similar rotorcraft producer, depending on the market being addressed. Because TSi already enjoys market share of adaptive materials for precision control of structures, noise, weapons effectiveness, etc., through our existing customers, we plan to leverage these marketing outlets and offer WOPSS systems for enhanced performance where conventional sensors have not been successful from performance and cost perspective. TSi will finalize a formal partnership with a strategic manufacturing partner, who will produce the WOPSS systems specific to commercial rotorcraft. TSi will partner with an OEM manufacturer in an appropriate field of use (e.g., electro-optics manufacturer, weapons systems integrator, aircraft OEM, etc.) to modify the WOPSS as a generic sensor. We will perform final systems integration of the WOPSS systems and conduct direct marketing and sales of the product to the end-use through our internal resources.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Curt Kothera
kotherac@technosci.com
11750 Beltsville Drive
Beltsville,  MD 20705-3941

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Rotor blades adapted for vibration control have the added benefit of extended blade and rotor life, as well as improved passenger comfort. Approaches that have been explored for on-blade active control or individual blade control include control surface actuation, such as trailing edge flaps, and integrated blade manipulation, such as controllable twist. For retro-fit and upgrade purposes, the advanced rotor system needs an actuation scheme with appropriate force, deflection, and bandwidth, without detrimentally increasing on-blade mass. Research in this area has been conducted with potential solutions employing various conventional active material actuator configurations, but these systems have typically suffered from inherent disadvantages. Due to these limitations, Techno-Sciences, Inc. proposes the use of pneumatic artificial muscles to actuate a trailing edge flap device for management of rotorcraft vibration. The proposed actuators are constructed of passive materials that are very mass efficient and low cost, while maintaining adequate force, stroke, and bandwidth. Oriented along the blade span and located within the airfoil contour near the blade root, the antagonistic configuration of actuators offers bi-directional flap deflection and operation under a low centrifugal field. A lightweight mechanism accompanies the actuators, running along the span, to transfer and tailor the mechanical work from the actuators to the span station of the flap. The proposed research plan will work to properly size and scale the actuators and mechanism for the desired response, and construct a prototype device that demonstrates the feasibility of the concept on the bench-top and in a rotating environment at full-scale loading.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Throughout the Phase I effort, Techno-Sciences, Inc. will work in concert with NASA sponsors to ensure that the proposed trailing edge flap device operated with pneumatic artificial muscles can be seamlessly integrated with existing rotor blade systems and future vertical flight technologies currently in development. These include single or multiple passenger vehicles for transportation, search and rescue operations, and package delivery, in addition to unmanned vehicles for meteorological and atmospheric measurements, operations in hazardous environments, and traffic control. To facilitate technology transfer, we will work in Phase I to address top-level hardware and software integration issues from a systems engineering perspective. Issues such as control electronics, software architectures, hardware interfaces, manufacturability, ruggedness, and reliability will be considered in Phase I and implemented in Phase II of the program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The pneumatically actuated, trailing edge flap device for rotorcraft vibration control will be applicable to a wide range of end-users in the defense, commercial, and industry sectors. Its broad applicability is enabled by the scalability of the pneumatic artificial muscles for the entire range of small unmanned vehicles to larger transport vehicles. In addition to the noted NASA applications, vibration control in vertical take-off and landing systems is attractive to the military for tasks such as mine detection, troop insertion and extraction, and biochemical weapons cleanup; and commercial and industry tasks such as construction in hazardous terrain, maintenance of bridges and buildings, and storm tracking. The proposed flap technology will be an integrated hardware/software product that can be licensed for manufacture. Techno-Sciences, Inc. already enjoys market share of related technologies through our existing customers, and we plan to leverage these marketing outlets and offer pneumatic artificial muscle flap systems for advanced rotor upgrade packages.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
JMSI, Inc. dba Intelligent Light
301 Rt. 17N - 7th Floor
Rutherford, NJ 07070-2580

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Earl Duque
epd@ilight.com
301 Rt. 17N - 7th Floor
Rutherford,  NJ 07070-2580

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Intelligent Light, the makers of the FIELDVIEW CFD post-processing software, in response to NASA SBIR Phase 1 solicitation, proposes an effort that addresses A2.10 Rotorcraft-Acoustics. The proposed work shall result in a specialized prototype post-processing system designed for large rotorcraft acoustics problems. This system is designated as RCAAPS – Rotorcraft Computational Aero-Acoustics Post-processing System. It is designed to expedite the exploration of large transient datasets that result from multi-physics based (i.e. Large-Eddy Simulation with aeroelasticity and acoustics) simulations as it pertains to rotorcraft performance predictions especially maneuver. It consists of specially configured hardware, flow solver, acoustics and post-processing software enhanced to take advantage of contemporary SMP computer clusters during both compute and I/O. The prototype system developed under this SBIR will revolutionize the way investigators explore large datasets and allows for more complete and thorough use of the complete CFD and acoustics data.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
RCAAPS has two potential benefits to NASA: as a highly effective tool to advance the usefulness of rotorcraft simulation and as a post-processing tool to support all types of unsteady design and analysis tools. RCAAPS primary focus is aeroacoustics, which has application in environmental noise reduction for rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft in high-lift configurations. The fundamental technologies (integrated high-performance parallel I/O, high performance CFD-specific numerical methods, 'point and click' interrogation of large unsteady runs) will be applied to the software products that the offeror currently markets, such as FIELDVIEW and FIELDVIEW eXtreme (for Virtual Reality environments), along with next-generation tools currently under development.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aero-acoustic analysis is of high importance to manufacturers of both fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft. A system such as RCAAPS will significantly advance the tools available to US industry for the design and analysis of environmental noise from such machines - this is becoming more and more of a priority today, both in combat and commercial operations. Companies such as Sikorsky, Boeing and Bell are among those who have expressed interest in this capability. Aircraft engine manufacturers such as GE, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce are beginning to utilize 3D unsteady simulations in an effort to reduce the acoustic signature of their products. RCAAPS would become a critical capability to them and to automotive manufacturers as well. Any application of large unsteady CFD is a potential user of these technologies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Optimal Synthesis, Inc.
868 San Antonio Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303-4622

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Padmanabhan Menon
menon@optisyn.com
868 San Antonio Road
Palo Alto,  CA 94303-4622

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Next generation air traffic management systems will be based to a greater degree on predicted trajectories of aircraft. Due to the iterative nature of future air traffic management computations, the success of these systems will depend strongly on the ability to rapidly generate trajectory predictions. This proposal advances the development of a computational appliance for rapid prediction of aircraft trajectories (CARPAT) that combines the capabilities of the NASA-FACET software with the fast computing capabilities of the emerging field programmable gate array technology. By integrating the FACET software components on commercial, off-the-shelf high-speed computing technology, the proposed research will demonstrate high trajectory prediction speeds at modest cost. Phase I research will demonstrate the feasibility of developing the trajectory prediction appliance using off-the-shelf hardware. High-speed trajectory predictions will be demonstrated under realistic traffic scenarios. A complete version of the system will be developed and provided to NASA during the Phase II work. The trajectory prediction appliance will commercialized during the Phase III work.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
By enabling very fast trajectory predictions, the proposed system will contribute towards the NASA-NGATS research program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The CARPATsystem developed under the proposed research will contribute towards the development of next-generation air traffic management technologies. The computational appliance and its architecture have several applications in flight simulation, space vehicle and UAV guidance, and in real-time signal processing.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Computer System Architectures
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mosaic ATM, Inc.
1190 Hawling Place
Leesburg, VA 20175-5084

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lara Cook
cook@mosaicatm.com
1190 Hawling Pl SW
Leesburg,  VA 20175-5084

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Airspace Flow Program (AFP) is a new Traffic Flow Management (TFM) control technique that has entered operation in 2006. AFPs use two existing technologies, Ground Delay Programs (GDPs) and Flow Constrained Areas (FCAs), to reduce demand on constrained areas of the airspace by issuing delays to be applied pre-departure. The operational use of AFPs during the 2006 severe weather season was received positively by the TFM community. However, there are significant aspects of AFP operational characteristics that differ from the previous airport-based GDPs. NASA's FACET model has already contributed significantly to the research and evaluation of TFM concepts. As the JPDO continues to refine its vision for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, additional capabilities in FACET will support its use as a critical tool for further NASA research. The development of an AFP model for FACET is an essential addition to support research and analysis of both current and future TFM operations. Mosaic ATM proposes to conduct detailed analysis of AFP operations and to develop an AFP model for FACET.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The analysis of AFP operations and development of a FACET AFP model as proposed herein will support NASA's advanced research into TFM operations and decision support tools. The proposed FACET AFP model will provide the infrastructure and capability necessary for NASA researchers and other industry analysts to achieve deep insight into TFM operations. NASA will also benefit from the work to be conducted in this effort, through the transfer of the AFP model into the ACES modeling system.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Universities and other government agencies, including the FAA and JPDO, that conduct research on air traffic management could benefit from the use of the FACET AFP model. There are currently many research and operational users of FACET. The addition of an AFP model will provide added capability and benefit for all users of the system.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Expert Systems
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2785

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vikram Manikonda
vikram@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  MD 20855-2737

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The key innovation proposed in this effort is the development of a model composition toolkit that will enable NASA Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) users to design and compose agents, activities, and models to meet specific design requirements. Our technical approach builds on recent advances in formal agent specification, role composition and model composers. The toolkit will allow end-users to use a graphical editor and templates/property sheets to load, create, configure and interconnect agents, activities and domain models.. In addition to composing agent and models, a key feature provided by this toolkit is a family of "physical language specific adaptors" that will allow users to import domain models written Matlab<SUP>REG</SUP>. The toolkit will also provide capabilities to export ACED LDC data to tools such as Matlab for post analysis and graphing. The primary focus of the Phase I effort will focus on demonstrating the feasibility and capability of this toolkit for the ACES Terminal Area Plant. We propose to demonstrate this capability by developing showing how an end-user, not experienced with Java, can easily add a C2 agent to perform runway balancing and replace the current timer-based Terminal Area Link transit models with 4-D trajectory models.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Our initial target for the product developed in this effort is the ATM modeling and simulation community within NASA. Over the last few year NASA ACES software has gained increased acceptance and usage by Air Traffic Management (ATM) researchers, concept developers and analysts. It is currently being used by the FAA, JPDO and other organization to develop and evaluate current and future airspace concepts in support of NASAs VAMS and NGATS efforts. The proposed ACES agent model composition toolkit will significantly increase the flexibility and usability of ACES, and reduce the lead time and cost associated with developing new concepts and/or inserting new models into ACES.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Our target market here is the DOD and commercial modeling and simulation community sector. To address this broader modeling and simulation market IAI will extend and generalize the model composition toolbox for applicability to simulations using CyebelPro<SUP>REG</SUP> and make it available as a component of CybelePro suite of tools. Other examples of IAI's commercialization efforts in developing toolboxes for Cybele include the development of a game-theoretic toolbox, a distributed robot control toolbox, and DIVA, a case tool for design and development of Multi-agent Systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Computer System Architectures
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Metron Aviation, Inc.
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon, VA 20170-4758

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Hoffman
hoffman@metronaviation.com
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon,  VA 20170-4758

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Both FAA and NASA research has highlighted the need for efficient and equitable allocation of NAS resources and increased operational flexibility. In particular, market-based mechanisms are needed for transferring system-imposed delay from more critical to less critical flights. In this SBIR, we will develop a National Airspace Resource Exchange System (NRES) that will provide the FAA and the aviation community with a means for trading scarce resources and priorities for ATM services. Today's airspace system has rudimentary market mechanisms in place. However, these are valid only for highly specialized circumstances: airport arrival slot trading in ground delay programs applied by FAA traffic managers. We propose to develop an infrastructure necessary to support secondary markets for the full spectrum of NAS resources and services.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed SBIR directly benefits the NASA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Air Traffic Management Airspace Project, whose primary goal is to develop integrated solutions for a safe, efficient and high-capacity airspace system. Efficient airspace allocation requires early research in market-based mechanisms for design of the next-generation air transportation system. This research also extends NASA objectives from the recently completed Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) project, whose primary goal was to improve the capacity of transportation aircraft operations at and between major airports within the National Airspace System. As part of AATT, NASA helped develop decision-support tools for air traffic controllers, airline pilots and air operations managers to handle the growing demand for safe and efficient air travel. Our research extends effectiveness of those NASA tools and concepts (CTAS, TMA, McTMA, Regional Metering), by increasing utilization of capacity by increasing the efficiency of NAS resource usage.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NAS Resource Exchange System (NRES) has application in commercial air traffic management (ATM) within the United States and abroad. In the United States ATM market, the FAA will require the tools and procedures output by Phases II and III of this SBIR to act as a central processor and tracker of ATM-induced delays. At the same time, US air carriers will require tools with which to monitor and manipulate their delay management accounts. Estimates of ATM costs due to delays range from hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars per year. The opportunity to save even a fraction of these costs creates a significant amount of motivation for airline participation in a delay management system. It is reasonable to assume that the number of carriers willing to participate in this system will be comparable to the number of carriers now signed up as active members of the collaborative decision making (CDM) program, which is 27. Air-traffic delays in foreign countries are generally not as pronounced as in the U.S., but this has been achieved by sacrificing flexibility in the system – a major limitation on the ability to handle growth in demand for air transportation. For this reason, foreign ATM systems represent another market for the delay management system.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Metron Aviation, Inc.
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon, VA 20170-4758

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Arash Yousefi
yousefi@metronaviation.com
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon,  VA 20170-4758

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Metron Aviation will develop optimization algorithms and an automated tool for performing dynamic airspace configuration under different operational scenarios. The Dynamic Airspace Configuration Tool (DACT) takes as an input the regularly updated projections of aggregated demand and weather forecasts and produces optimum airspace boundaries that balance the airspace complexity under various global and regional constraints for time horizons as short as four hours. The optimality criteria are defined separately for different levels of automation in Air Traffic Control (ATC) procedures. DACT enables the ATC managers to initiate high volume operational corridors and other classes of airspace to best serve the user demand for airspace resources. Additionally, when fully developed, DACT provides a capability for airspace managers to dynamically manage the allocation of Special Use Airspace (SUA) and Military Operation Airspace (MOA) to ensure security of the airspace system. DACT enables a more efficient utilization of airspace capacity and reduces the operational cost for air traffic control services by dynamically re-aligning the airspace boundaries to comply with the monthly, daily, and hourly alterations in user aggregated demand, route structures, and changes in weather patterns. DACT address one of the main components of NASA's NGATS Airspace effort in developing an operational framework for DAC concept that provides the air traffic service providers with a new degree of freedom to accommodate the user demand for airspace capacity, balanced against needs of national interest (e.g. security). The proposed effort will combine state of the art mathematical optimization techniques with ATC functional requirements necessary for development of the DAC concept.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Airspace capacity is limited by the ability of controllers to deal with complex traffic situations. In congested areas of the National Airspace System (NAS), the controller workload limitation is a critical capacity constraint that generates significant en route delay. In today's rigidly structured airspace system, the airspace managers do not have the flexibility to reconfigure the airspace based on aggregated demand. The only local tactical solution is combining two or more sectors and opening all or part of SUAs. These tactical modifications are not well communicated with the users, and the resulted capacity is often lost. To address these issues, NGATS envisions a more automated control system in which tactical separation assurance is fully automated and controllers will perform more strategic functions for managing the traffic. Accordingly, NASA's NGATS Airspace effort [1] is envisioned to develop an operational framework for Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) (Milestone AS 3.3.01) that provides the air traffic service providers with a new degree of freedom to accommodate the user demand for airspace capacity, balanced against needs of national interest (e.g. security). The DACT system proposed in this SBIR combines state of the art mathematical optimization techniques (Milestone AS 1.3.03) with ATC functional requirements necessary for deployment of the DAC concept.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
As demand grows, more efficient procedures for airspace capacity management will be required to address the users' demand. Both Europe and the United States have reached a conclusion that airspace configuration should be dynamically adapted to user aggregated demand. If fully developed, the DAC concept can potentially change the ATM paradigm by introducing a revolutionary way for managing the airspace capacity and entire aviation community can benefit from this new concept. Estimates of ATM costs due to delays range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars per year. The opportunity to save even a nominal percentage of these costs creates a significant amount of motivation for implementation of the DAC concept. This concept can also result in long-term savings for the FAA by reducing the controller workload and potentially decreasing the total number of controllers in the NAS. In the US government ATM market, the primary sources for funding are the organizations and agencies that maintain and improve the ATM systems of the US. Because of our role at the ATCSCC, Metron Aviation is well connected to these agencies. Similar to the US, the European airspace is suffering from excessive delays due to airspace design inefficiencies and, as such, European countries are other potential customers for decision support tools and design methodologies related to DAC.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2785

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vikram Manikonda
vikram@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  MD 20855-2785

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The key innovation in this effort is the development of a decision support tool and simulation testbed for Airborne Spacing and Merging (ASM). We focus on concepts related to airports with Super Dense Operations (SDO) where new airport runway configurations, simultaneous operations on runways, simultaneous sequencing, merging de-confliction and spacing are some of the proposed concepts currently being considered. We focus on modeling and simulating a complementary airborne and ground system for ASM. From a ground systems perspective a scheduler will generate arrival sequences and spacing requirements that will be fed to the ASM system operating on the flight deck. We propose to use and enhance NASAs ACES software to model and simulate our concept. Our Phase I simulation will include a prototype model of an airport emulating SDO and an implementation of airborne spacing and merging algorithms implemented in the ACES flight agents. Integral to our proposed effort will be the understanding future demand in terminal areas as NAS transitions to NGATS type concepts and operations in 2025 including the impacts of possible VLJ induced traffic. Using the simulations we will evaluate the performance of our approach as air traffic densities increase, evaluate controller workload and investigate extensions needed for totally airborne autonomous operations.

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

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential target market for this technology are aerospace companies developing ADS-B based automation tools for air traffic management. For this effort IAI has already identified ACSS as out initial customer and has teamed with them in this effort.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Metron Aviation, Inc.
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon, VA 20170-4758

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Terence Thompson
thompson@metronaviation.com
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon,  VA 20170-4758

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Metron Aviation designs and develops an integrated methodology and supporting algorithms for estimating environmental impacts of increased traffic on the surface and in the terminal airspace, and extends beyond estimation to identify key causes and develop mitigation options. From previous work, we provide multi-dimensional impact calculation in terms of noise, emissions, and fuel usage, as well as measurement of these impacts with respect to both baseline and alternative future scenarios. In AMITIE we add the following capabilities critically important to design of the next-generation system within environmental constraints: • Automated identification of scenario elements causing the principal environmental impacts; • Automated generation of mitigation options; and • Quantification of the benefits of the mitigation options. The specific technical objectives are: • Integrated estimation/mitigation methodology that provides the basis for closing the feedback loop from environmental impacts to system design and development. • Develop supporting algorithms that calculate the appropriate metrics, analyze them to identify major causes of impacts, and generate mitigation options that reduce the impacts. • Develop a software prototype that implements the estimation, analysis, and mitigation algorithms. • Exercise the prototype against test cases to demonstrate the feasibility and value of the approach

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA needs for Next-Generation Air Transport System design, development, and evaluation are being addressed by this project in order to estimate and mitigate environmental constraints in such a way that the constraints can be met while still enabling increased NGATS traffic density. NASA needs to estimate, identify, and mitigate environmental impacts of many aspects of NGATS, including such elements as Super Density Operations (SDO). Due to the surface and terminal-area focus of SDO and the ambitious traffic increases being sought, and the nature of the noise and emissions metrics, NASA will need to explore as many different alternative design factors as possible. NASA will need to quantitatively evaluate and defend the alternatives selected.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Other Government Agencies – Other Government agencies involved with the development of NGATS include FAA and the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Transportation. Each of these agencies will face the need to estimate and mitigate environmental impacts of different aspects of NGATS. The will also require quantitative analysis of selected alternative design elements. Commercial - Aviation-related commercial firms of all types (airlines, airports, aerospace companies, consultants, etc.) need access to a methodology and algorithms that will help them identify and mitigate the aspects of increased traffic that contribute most to environmental impacts associated with aviation noise, emissions, and fuel consumption.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Metron Aviation, Inc.
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon, VA 20170-4758

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Laurel Stell
stell@metronaviation.com
131 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon,  VA 20170-4758

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The core planning algorithms to support the NGATS concepts will need accurate predictions of airport configuration over planning horizons of six hours or more. Such predictions are not currently feasible because the configuration often is not completely determined by factors such as weather forecasts, future demand, and noise restrictions that might be input to an automated predictor. When this is the case, the air traffic control tower personnel choose between the feasible configurations based on factors such as staffing issues and individual controller preferences. Furthermore, the primary meteorological forecasts currently available to the tower are not adequate to enable accurate runway usage prediction. In fact, they often fail to predict required changes in flow direction, causing reactive rather than proactive airport configuration management. In this SBIR, Metron Aviation and WSI Corporation will jointly develop an airport configuration planner incorporating optimized weather forecasts to assist tower controllers in planning runway usage more accurately at longer time horizons than currently possible and to communicate the plan to appropriate National Airspace System (NAS) stakeholders and planning systems. The optimization algorithms in this decision support tool will improve resource allocation not only at individual airports but also over all airports in a metropolitan area.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The airport configuration planner developed in this SBIR will enable dynamic airport configuration management by using improved meteorological forecasts, optimizing resource allocation for individual airports and also over all airports in a region, and automating communication between the tower and other FAA facilities, planning systems, and NAS stakeholders. This tool will also result in reliable configuration plans necessary for other NGATS concepts, including block-to-block 4D trajectories and super-density operations. In short, maximizing throughput of a runway complex and optimizing efficient use of airport resources depends upon these reliable configuration plans, which can only be obtained with better weather forecasts. Furthermore, including tower controller feedback in the planning process will allow them the flexibility they need and avoid incorrect predictions when unforeseen circumstances arise.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The FAA will require the planner developed in this SBIR to implement the NGATS vision. The optimization algorithms in this tool will improve airport throughput and efficiency; whilst the tower controller feedback in the planning process will maintain flexibility. By basing the plan on improved meteorological forecasts, airport configuration management will be more proactive and less reactive. By automating the communication of the plan between FAA facilities, air traffic management coordination will be improved. It will assist communication between a TRACON and towers within that TRACON to plan and implement configuration changes. It will automate the communication of planned configurations and arrival and departure rates to the FAA Command Center, which will improve the planning of traffic management initiatives such as GDPs. The configuration planner will also communicate the configuration plan to FAA customers, allowing them to improve their planning to better achieve their goals and objectives.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Structured Materials Industries, Inc.
201 Circle Drive North, Suite 102/103
Piscataway, NJ 08854-3723

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jie Yao
jyao@structuredmaterials.com
201 Circle Drive North, Suite 102/103
Piscataway,  NJ 08854-3723

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Atmospheric pressure sensing in particular is of critical importance to any attemp of Mars landing. Pressure sensing has traditionally always drawn high interest from the military due to its applications to high-performance military airplanes and helicopters, missiles and ballons. Aerodynamics also find its applications in civilian aviation. After over 100 years of research and development, most powered aerodynamic experiments can be accurately simulated numerically on a computer today. However, aerodynamic experiments and measurements are still needed for the input parameters to the simulation, for the final verification of results and routine monitoring of performance. As a matter of fact, precision aerodynamic measurements gain ever higher importance today than before. There are 3 special challenges of measuring pressure on Mars: (1) the thin atmosphere requires high ensitrivity sensors; (2) the extreme temerature range; and (3) the survival of the landing impact. This proposal address them all. At home on the Earch, air pressure measurements reveal a lot of useful information about aircraft engine performance, about the air flow on aircraft wings, about the on-blade dynamic pressure of a helicopter, and about the optimal design and motion of a parachute among other things. The unique advantage of our solution lies in its high stability against temperature variations and mechanical disturbances, rendering the proposed system rugged and robust enough for Mars landing and exploration while keeping the cost at the level of commercial off the shelf fiber-optic communications systems. In Phase I of this program, we propose to demonstrate a bench-top system with several high-sensitivity etalon pressure sensors with high temperature and mechanical stability. In Phase II, we will develop the complete pressure sensor system using existing fiber optic components with monitoring and feedback control software.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Mars atmospheric pressure sensing for landing and exploration

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
(1) earth atmospheric pressure sensing for weather and environmental studies (2) on-blade pressure measurement for helicopters (3) aircraft engine health monitoring (4) aerodynamic pressure sensing for prototyping parachutes.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Perception/Sensing
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Research Support Instruments, Inc.
4325-B Forbes Blvd.
Lanham, MD 20706-4854

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Kline
kline@researchsupport.com
4325-B Forbes Blvd.
Lanham,  MD 20706-4854

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Research Support Instruments, Inc. (RSI) proposes to develop the Retroreflector Array for Test Environments (RATE), an innovative technology that will non-intrusively measure pressure on aerodynamic surfaces in NASA ground test facilities with high sensitivity and bandwidth. The signal from RATE units will change locally due to pressure changes. Pressure sensitive paints, in comparison, have serious drawbacks: they must applied to a rigid surface, are specific to the flow species, and do not retroreflect. Because RATE will be independent of the flow species, and applied as a very thin, flexible, adhesive material, it will be able to measure the aerodynamic pressure while minimizing changes in the flow field. The Phase I RATE program will involve design, fabrication, and test of various candidate designs in order to select the most promising approach for Phase II. RSI will use its experience in microfabricated structures and pressure sensors to employ a highly innovative technology in order to non-intrusively measure aerodynamic pressure in NASA ground test facilities. The result will be a product that will address a critical NASA instrumentation need.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA will use the technology for non-intrusive wind tunnel diagnostics; there is a need for a pressure diagnostic with high sensitivity, ruggedness for survivability during wind tunnel startup, and that will not alter the flow field. In addition, NASA can employ the RATE sensors in flight tests because the retroreflector divergeance will provide high signal at long ranges; the sensors will be useful for NASA flight vehicle monitoring for the same reason.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition, several non-Government applications are possible. Pressure sensors have a lucrative commercial market in manufacturing (for process monitoring) and medical diagnostics, as well a healthy market in scientific applications. Sensors that can be applied as an adhesive patch to existing devices will be very attractive, particularly if they are thin, sensitive, and robust.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Perception/Sensing
Control Instrumentation
Inflatable
Testing Facilities
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Biomedical and Life Support
Instrumentation
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Portable Life Support
Photonics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Complere, Inc.
P.O. Box 541
Pacific Grove, CA 93950-0541

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kevin Owen
kevin@complereinc.com
P.O. Box 541
Pacific Grove,  CA 93950-0541

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
With increased commercial competition, great pressure is being applied to effect aerodynamic design changes that will improve fuel economy and performance. But, for example, as we are now concerned with small changes in drag count, potential sources of improvement are much more likely to be masked by poor flow quality. We may have reached the stage where the lack of suitable facility flow quality will hinder and dictate the rate of progress of ground based testing. Few measurements have been made in the Nation's wind tunnels, and in those cases, large discrepancies have been found between full-scale and predicted performance. Consequently, there is an urgent need for in-situ measurements to measure flow quality and the performance of turbulence and noise suppression devices. To meet these challenges, a unique research program is proposed to clarify and alleviate the aerodynamic problems associated with adverse wind tunnel flow quality. It combines innovative advances in data base assessment and management, and new approaches to turbulence instrumentation and analysis. Standardized turbulence measurement techniques and data analysis procedures will be established and used to document the flow quality in our major test facilities.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is a national need to develop improved test capabilities for proposed civil and military aerospace systems. Detailed flow quality measurements and assessments of the performance of turbulence and noise suppression devices will lead to cost effective improvements in wind tunnel flow quality which will be needed to help design and ground test the proposed new generation of fuel efficient commercial transports and advanced military aircraft proposed for the new millennium. Standardized test procedures will enable meaningful assessments to be made of individual tunnel operational ranges with adequate flow quality related to specific test programs. These advances will help provide NASA with superior test capabilities at competitive cost and so attract a viable customer base that will be required for cost-effective facility operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Measurements are urgently needed in the Nation's major facilities if we are to successfully combat the ever increasing European test facility challenge. Wind tunnel disturbances must be measured to the highest accuracy to allow the aerodynamicist to distinguish between aerodynamic, aeroelastic, and Reynolds number effects. Measurements will help provide U.S. companies with superior test capabilities at competitive cost and so help attract a viable customer testing base that will be required for cost effective facility operations. This state-of-the-art turbulence testing capability available to support commercial aerospace needs meets two of the three main goals of NASA's Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) for corporate management of Aeronautical facilities namely: to "increase the probability of having the right facilities in place at the right time" and to "operate those facilities in the most effective and efficient manner."

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mobitrum Corporation
8070 Georgia Avenue, Suite 209
Silver Spring, MD 20910-4973

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ray Wang
rwang@mobitrum.com
8070 Georgia Avenue, Suite 209
Silver Spring,  MD 20910-4973

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The combination of smart devices and embedded metadata and networked (wire and wireless) technologies present real opportunities for significant improvements in reliability, cost-benefits, and safety for remote testing, performance measurement, and facility management. Adding robust and autonomous network protocol for routing will further simplify testing installation process and increase test facility reliability. However, the realization of a practical autonomous facility test system requires the synthesis of several technologies. One must bring together knowledge in the fields of sensors, data processing, distributed systems, and networks. Mobitrum proposes to develop "an autonomous facility health-enabled test instrumentation" for characterization and measurement of ground test facilities. The proposed device includes: (1) facility health-enabled sensor, (2) signal conditioning and analog-to-digital (digital-to-analog) conversion, (3) microprocessor, (4) on-board memory (e.g., Flash or EEPROM) for metadata storage and executable software, and (5) embedded network interfaces to create a powerful, scalable, re-configurable, and reliable distributed test instrument. Autonomous facility health-enabled test instrumentation is built upon an open-system architecture with standardized protocol modules easily to interface with industry standards.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Ground testing of propulsion systems is a critical requirement to enable NASA's New Vision for space exploration. The proposed visual sensor test instrumentation will enable a cost effective remote testing and health monitoring through wireless sensor network. Mobitrum anticipates the following applications that NASA will benefit from the proposed technology: 1) Data analysis, processing, and visualization for Space exploration and Earth science observations, 2) Rocket engine test, 3) Remote test facility management, 4) Field communications device for spatial data input, manipulation and distribution, 5) Sensor, measurement, and field verification applications, 6) RFID for identification and tracking, 7) Condition-aware applications, 8) Location-aware applications, 9) Biometric identification applications. 10) Data collaboration and distribution applications, and 11) Wireless instrumentation for robotic manipulation and positioning for audio and visual capture, and real-time multimedia representation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We believe the application of smart embedded test data acquisition device will have tremendous potential for commercial market. That is because global revenues for smart pressure, flow, force/load, and temperature sensors with signal conditioning/amplification capability collectively totaled about $3.4 billion, according to SBD's latest data. We anticipate the embedded data acquisition and health-monitoring device will enable more home applications for energy control and security monitoring provided by Internet service providers through value-add services. Commercial applications are: 1) Home control, 2) Energy management for cost saving, 3) Security (intruder detection), 4) Safety (sensing), 5) Utility – remote meter reading, 6) Building automation systems – real-time monitoring and control of security and surveillance systems, alarms, HVAC, etc., 7) Manufacturing and distribution – industrial automation using RFID, 8) Health care – wireless monitoring equipments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Intelligence
Mobility
Perception/Sensing
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Training Concepts and Architectures
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
RF
Instrumentation
Computer System Architectures
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Database Development and Interfacing
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Portable Life Support
Tools
General Public Outreach
K-12 Outreach
Mission Training
Computational Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Wireless Distribution

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Glenn Beach
gbeach@cybernet.com
727 Airport Blvd
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-1639

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal describes an Application Coherency Manager that implements and manages the interdependencies of simulation, data, and platform information. It will also enforce a simulation configuration profile submission that includes the specification of the interdependency requirements. To describe these interdependences, a general-purpose language will serve as the basis for higher-level rules that are assembled using a higher-level graphical user interface. We propose to implement a graphical user interface that allows the user to manage and assemble rule-profiles. A rule profile would be created by assembling and parameterizing one or more low-level code modules. This user interface would then be able to save these profiles into a revision archive, perhaps alongside the applications and the data sources. These profiles could then be checked out, and used. Locking the version of such a profile would freeze it in a known state. Leaving it unlocked would allow it to evolve. The profiles themselves would likely be stored as XML-based documents that refer to the low-level data-source checker modules

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of this ACM technology is consistent with the simulate-first methodology used at NASA. The ACM technology described in this proposal would improve the effectiveness of NASA simulation technologies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ACM technology has definite application in the enhancement of an existing Cybernet commercial effort. This is a virtual prototyping architecture for designing and virtually testing Vetronics (vehicle electronics) systems. This system is known as the Virtual Simulation Integration Lab (VSIL). With the VSIL, Cybernet is developing simulation models for various Vetronic components. The VSIL supports rapid model development, model change, and test of virtual Vetronics systems. This system is able to import Vetronic components of varying age, which leads to the exact problem this proposal addresses. The integration of an ACM front-end to the VSIL system will increase its value and usability and will make it a more attractive option within the DoD and commercial Vetronic-related applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Expert Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SPACEWORKS ENGINEERING, INC. (SEI)
1200 Ashwood Parkway, Suite 506
Atlanta, GA 30338-4747

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dominic DePasquale
dominic.depasquale@sei.aero
1200 Ashwood Parkway, Suite 506
Atlanta,  GA 30338-4747

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI) proposes development of the Integrated Risk and Cost Model I-RaCM, as the innovation to meet the need for integrated cost and risk assessment early in the design of a new system. I-RaCM will integrate a diverse set of new and industry-standard tools used for life cycle cost, operations, reliability modeling, and estimation of technology development costs. The I-RaCM platform will provide seamless integration between tools, perform all data exchange, and interface with the performance disciplines.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A software product for use by NASA to determine financing, long-term support costs, evaluate the impact of risk and reliability on mission success, and assess the economic case for a venture. A spin-off software product, service, or consultancy where early consideration of cost and risk is important. Use in consultation work by SEI to support government or industry space concept design, development, and analysis.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A software product for use by commercial space companies or financial analysts to determine financing, long-term support costs, evaluate the impact of risk and reliability on mission success, and assess the economic case for a venture. A stand-alone software product for use by NASA, Air Force, NRO, and other government aerospace and defense agencies. A spin-off software product, service, or consultancy for sale to other government agencies and commercial organizations where early consideration of cost and risk is important. Use in consultation work by SEI to support government or industry space concept design, development, and analysis.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Payload Systems, Inc.
247 Third Street
Cambridge, MA 02142-1129

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Francis
francis@payload.com
247 Third Street
Cambridge,  MA 02142-1129

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Concept phase space-systems architecture evaluations typically use mass estimates as the primary means of ranking potential mission architectures. Software does not directly have physical mass and, as a result, is often left-out of such evaluations, despite the potential of being one of the main contributors to a mission's overall cost and risk. During NASA's Concept Exploration and Refinement (CE&R) program, personnel from MIT, Draper Laboratories, and Payload Systems Inc. developed a systems architecture software assessment approach that addresses both the early concept phases of a program and the complexities of critical embedded software systems. This approach uses a series of weighted software and human-computer interaction parameters that evaluate how a system's architecture affects software. Payload Systems Inc. proposes to validate this Systems Engineering Software Assessment Model for Exploration as the next step on the path to a tool that provides early, reliable ranking of systems architectures based on software. The Phase I effort will focus on validation of this assessment tool. This validation will be based on embedded spaceflight systems projects. Once validated, this assessment approach will provide a basis, during Phase II, for the development of a Systems Engineering tool for assessing the impact candidate system architectures on software.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This systems engineering software assessment was specifically aimed at elements of NASA's Exploration Initiative, where early decisions in systems development have a significant impact on the overall software development, maintenance, and human-computer interaction cost and risk. Additionally, this model is applicable for any number of NASA programs that require embedded software development, such as Constellation-X, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This systems engineering software assessment model is applicable to DoD and commercial projects that require modeling and assessments of embedded software development cost and risk and human-computer interaction costs and risks. These include aircraft avionics systems, medical instrumentation systems, optical communications monitoring systems, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Computer System Architectures
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Constellation Program, the next frontier of NASA's space exploration plan, targets for manned mission to Moon and Mars. The missions under this program will be of long-duration and far more critical than any previous manned mission. Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM), which includes fault detection, diagnosis, and prognosis, has been recognized as one of the critical processes that will enhance system functionality, mission success probability and crew safety for these missions. In addition, ISHM should support in deciding reactionary actions in response to a system failure or a failure precursor, i.e., the system recovery functions. Spacecrafts for the constellation program requires a significant degree of autonomy – that includes the ability to monitor their own health and perform mission objectives in the wake of unexpected events (faults, failures, etc). In response to the needs stated in the solicitation topic x2.01, Qualtech Systems, Inc. (QSI) proposes to develop novel diagnostic, prognostic, degradation analysis and automated recovery techniques for spacecraft power systems. The proposed effort will use reactive mission planner technologies for formulating recovery options and mission re-planning to accommodate for degradation in power systems. Inclusion of the resulting technologies will streamline cost of long-duration space missions and enhance the mission success probabilities.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Resulting technologies from proposed effort will aid in streamlining the mission planning and support cost for NASA's Constellation Program. The efforts will also lead to techniques and software packages that will be readily deployable for integrated system health management (ISHM) in Orion, the crew exploration vehicle (CEV) of the constellation program. The technologies and processes can be utilized in the crew launch vehicle (CLV) and long-duration unmanned space missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aviation industry (and operators), commercial communication satellite manufacturers and operators, automotive industries and cruise ship operators are the potential non-NASA civil sectors who will be interested in this technology. Fault diagnosis, prognosis, degradation analysis and automated recovery are of special importance to these sectors. In addition, all these industries are interested to employ reactive mission planning into their manufacturing and/or service operations. DoD, Navy, Airforce, and MDA are the potential military customers of the resulting technology. These agencies will be specifically interested into the automated reactive mission planning process.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
RIDGETOP GROUP, INC.
6595 N Oracle Rd, Suite 153B
Tucson, AZ 85704-5645

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Justin Judkins, PhD
justin@ridgetop-group.com
6595 N Oracle Rd, Suite 153B
Tucson,  AZ 85704-5645

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal addresses the need for a real-time Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) system to identify anomalous states in digital electronic systems used in spaceflight applications and recommend corrective actions. We identify promising host platforms for implementation of PHM and consider strategies for identifying faults at the board level. Models for each approach are developed for further study of the effectiveness in identifying faults, estimating system states, and identifying anomalous states. Each method is then ranked with respect to prognostic fault coverage (state-awareness), missed alarms, and false alarms. Finally, a strategy is developed to optimally and dynamically reconfigure or recover the digital system based on current or predicted system status given by the prognostic/reasoner approach and board topology. By responding to a need for greater health awareness in complex on-board digital systems, the technology developed in this project will improve safety and effectiveness of future spaceflight missions, and improve serviceability and availability throughout the system lifecycle.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Ridgetop's plans are to work closely with NASA on the application of electronic prognostics to a representative electronic network system within NASA. Also, prognostics can support remote diagnostics/prognostics. The value proposition is that early detection of impending failures can be made remotely, via the web, and corrective actions quickly employed to preserve overall system integrity. With remote systems deployed on other planets, autonomous operation enabled with electronic prognostics is very important. Advance warnings and mitigation of failures are facilitated using electronic prognostics that detect an impending failure before it occurs. Another potential application of Ridgetop's technology would be the Advanced Diagnostic Systems (ADS) project, which is interested in reasoners and PHM in the Space Station. Among the level 1 requirements for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is rapid launch capability, enabling its use as a Crew Rescue Vehicle for the Orbital Space Station in the event of an emergency. Ridgetop has developed ground-based prognostic tools that can be leveraged to develop applications that provide ground-based logistic support for spaceflight hardware on NASA vehicles. A final example is the NASA Space Shuttle. By using electronic prognostics with mission critical systems, we can reduce false alarms, thereby reducing instances of potentially expensive and unsafe abort-after-liftoff due to false alarm of sensors in critical systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Through the work on this SBIR, Ridgetop will improve its market position in Electronic Prognostics and be able to capitalize on a large market. Ridgetop has initiated commercialization activities stemming from its prior work in prognostics with the introduction of the Sentinel Silicon<SUP>TM</SUP> Library and Sentinel PHMPro<SUP>TM</SUP> products. There is a large potential for prognostics in the commercial sector, which is expected to exceed $200M by 2010. Ridgetop has segmented the market to focus on high reliability applications, such as automotive, banking system, industrial process control, and commercial aerospace. Prognostics, to the extent that it can leverage existing diagnostic backbones such as JTAG, I2C, and CAN buses, supports Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) strategies for critical industrial applications. For CBM and PHM applications, the value of preserving operational readiness is paramount and these applications are not expected to be cost-sensitive. One useful application of this prognostic approach is to monitor the health of electronic power systems. Monitoring of trends may provide an estimation of system level RUL. Self-healing and dynamic resource allocation provide the best approach with respect to visibility, availability, and serviceability of electronic power. Tools will be developed for application across multiple industries, such as commercial aviation and automotive.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Database Development and Interfacing
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Tools
Highly-Reconfigurable

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Adventium Enterprises, LLC
111 Third Ave. S., Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2551

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mark Boddy
mark.boddy@adventiumenterprises.com
111 Third Ave. S., Suite 100
Minneapolis,  MN 55401-2551

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR project will achieve trusted, reconfigurable, intelligent autonomy through system-level validation. The goal is to design and develop a representation and reasoning system for system-level verification and validation (V&V) of high-level autonomous control for complex systems operating in dynamic environments. Starting from component-level behavioral guarantees, the System-Level Autonomy Trust Enabler (SLATE) will reason about composition, abstraction, and embedding of system components, resulting in high-confidence guarantees of behavior for high-level autonomous control systems relevant to a wide range of NASA applications, including manned and unmanned spacecraft, rovers, and habitats. SLATE will support incremental computation of guarantees and the assumptions required, vastly simplifying the reconfiguration, upgrading, or retargeting of autonomous control systems. Phase I will provide a feasibility demonstration and evaluation of SLATE's representation and inference through application to a multi-level robotic control system, and identify the key features needed in an application-ready version of SLATE. Phase II will develop an application-specific version and provide a user interface, address performance and reasoning issues, and demonstrate operation on a representative NASA application.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
SLATE has the potential to be useful on any NASA mission requiring some form of complex automation, whether or not the mission is manned. The initial application areas targeted will include 1) Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (ARD) applications relevant to Mission to Mars, Mars Sample Return, Mini-AERCAM, Orbital Express (DARPA), and earlier programs such as DART, XSS-11 (AFRL), and Automated Transfer Vehicle and 2) Rover-based exploration, mapping, and resource extraction systems on the moon and Mars, or 3) other relevant application as directed by NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential design and V&V benefits of this SBIR extend beyond space-based systems to include other complex, high-value, life-critical control systems. Customers for such products or systems include military users of high autonomy systems, particularly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), and especially UAV sensor platforms, which are moving into domestic arenas and so need to fly in national air space with correspondingly stringent V&V requirements. Other potential customers include airframe integrators and supporting vendors, US critical infrastructure owners with significant unattended operating requirements such as remote pumping and transfer stations, and requirements design and analysis vendors.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
Attitude Determination and Control
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Traclabs, Inc.
8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110
San Antonio, TX 78217-2356

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Kortenkamp
korten@traclabs.com
1012 Hercules
Houston,  TX 77058-2356

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Spacecraft generate huge amounts of data. A significant challenge for both human operators and autonomous control systems is ensuring that the right data (and combinations of data) are available at the right time for control and decision-making and ensuring that the data is at the right abstraction level. A key part of this process is data abstraction -- that is converting low-level analog or digital signals into higher-level data. We are proposing a data abstraction architecture that provides a provides a tool-box of components, connections and development environment that allow engineers to build and maintain data abstraction systems. In addition, having a well-defined data abstraction architecture allows data displays to be automatically generated and updated as the architecture develops. Thus, a data abstraction architecture can support both human decision-making as well as providing data services to autonomous control systems. We are also proposing to build an integrated development environment in which designers or operators can graphically build data abstraction architectures from standard components to accomplish their data tasks. Together these provide a data abstraction architecture that is a key component of NASA's operational infrastructure and provides a building block for deploying more advanced autonomy architectures in the future.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The new collection of exploration vehicles (called Constellation) will require the integration of a variety of software components from a variety of different contractors. Managing the flow of data from these components and assembling it into a coherent picture, whether for human decision-makers or autonomy, will be difficult. A standard data abstraction architecture will be important. We will target markets such as the eventual Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) prime contractor (either Boeing/Northrop or Lockheed Martin). We will also target NASA Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) as a customer for data abstraction in ground operations. In addition, robotic missions and uncrewed space vehicles offer opportunities for deploying data abstraction architectures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Unmanned vehicles, both air and ground, are becoming more and more common in battlefield situations. Future Combat Systems (FCS) envision manned and unmanned vehicles of all sizes working side-by-side. In addition, Congress has mandated that one-third of all military vehicles must be unmanned by 2015. Whether these vehicles are operated remotely or are autonomous they will need data abstraction architectures. As information streams from these systems to centralized command and control centers data abstraction and data presentation will be key. An architecture that allows different vendors to combine data will be beneficial to the military. Intelligence agencies offer other applications for a data abstraction architecture. As data is collected from a variety of assets it needs to be merged, abstracted and displayed in a variety of forms. Being able to easily configure a data abstraction architecture for a variety of different domains will be extremely beneficial.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Perception/Sensing
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Grammatech Inc
315-317 N. Aurora Street
Ithaca, NY 14850-4201

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ray Teitelbaum
tt@grammatech.com
315-317 N. Aurora Street
Ithaca,  NY 14850-4201

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Validating software is a critical step in developing high confidence systems. Typical software development practices are not acceptable in systems where failure leads to loss of life or other high costs. New software development tools are needed to radically reduce defect rates and enable the high levels of confidence required for safety- and security-critical systems. Lightweight verification techniques have proven themselves effective in finding defects in large software systems by balancing rigor with scalability and usability. Lightweight verification techniques do not exhaustively check software, but they can find defects in systems that are too large for more rigorous analysis techniques, and are fast becoming an essential tool for software developers. The techniques generally fail to address key sources of problems specific to embedded systems: paths due to asynchronous transfer of control or context switches between tasks are not considered; assembly language components are ignored; it is hard to detect violations of domain-specific rules. We propose to extend and adapt our static analysis technology to make it capable of addressing these problems. We will exploit our existing connections with NASA facilities to gain help validating our approach and to ensure that the solution we propose is responsive to NASA's unique needs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The results of this research are expected to be of immediate use to NASA. Our existing CodeSonar and CodeSurfer tools are already in use in several facilities, including JSC, KRC, GRC, and IV&V. They are being used for code understanding and inspections, and for finding flaws in both flight and ground software. Improvements to the technology developed under this proposal are expected to improve the recall and precision of the flaw-detection capabilities, thus allowing users to find more flaws, more accurately, and in less time. These improvements will be funneled into the product line, thereby benefiting users at these locations quickly. Our existing connections with these NASA facilities will be exploited during the course of the project to help us make sure that our solutions are relevant to NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Lightweight verification tools such as CodeSonar are becoming increasingly popular in many industrial sectors, especially those concerned with developing high-confidence real-time embedded software. This includes communications, military/aerospace, medical devices, automotive, finance, security, and others. If successful, the technology we propose to develop will provide the capability to find more serious flaws in such software than current approaches, thereby cutting development costs and increasing code quality.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Contek Research, Inc.
615 Nash Street, Suite 220
El Segundo, CA 90245-2827

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fola Soares
fola@contekresearch.com
P. O. Box 88758
Los Angeles,  CA 90009-6758

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A major challenge of the use of adaptive systems in safety-critical applications is the software life-cycle: requirement engineering through verification and validation. Adaptive systems incorporate learning to adapt the control system to the current operating conditions of the system, certifying their performance is a complex and tedious process. Ongoing effort in the development of tools for verification and validation of adaptive control systems, there is little research directed at the development of analytical methods. Learning rules for adaptive systems derivation using Lyapunov's second method, is based on the derivation of an energy-type function whose derivative must be negative to guarantee convergence therefore the asymptotic stability of the system. The first problem is that Lyapunov's second method provides a sufficient condition for stability thus the synthesis of an appropriate Lyapunov function for a particular application is a major challenge. The second problem in many applications, including the design of adaptive neural flight control systems, it is only possible to prove that the derivative of the Lyapunov function is non-positive, rather than being negative. For practical purpose, it is only possible to conclude that the control system errors are ultimately bounded, and it not possible to estimate the magnitude of these errors or the time it takes for these errors to converge to their steady-state limits. The objective of this research project is to develop analytical methods for the analysis of adaptive neural networks (ANN) based flight control systems including analytical estimates of the settling time and the steady-state magnitudes of the error dynamics. The magnitudes of the error bounds will be related to the performance handling qualities of the system and provide very important information about the performance of the closed-loop system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology is designed to be compatible with current safety requirements for conducting aircraft systems ground and flight tests in order to take advantage of the state of the technology in expert system. A goal of NASA is to establish new levels of autonomy and robustness within aerospace vehicles. NASA believes these higher levels can be realized through the incorporation of intelligent systems. If these envisioned levels of autonomy could be achieved, significant aerospace business and research opportunities will be enabled. As example, components of the Intelligent Vehicle can include: &#61656; Intelligent Mission Manager &#61656; Intelligent Vehicle Manager &#61656; Intelligent Health Manager &#61656; Intelligent Flight Control System &#61656; Intelligent Propulsion System At NASA Dryden and other centers, there is need for quantitative performance measure of adaptive neural networks based control system for aeronautics and aerospace applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This research has significant importance for the use of adaptive NN in safety critical application in aerospace industry, medical fields, power industry and other industries where full knowledge is unable to predict system failures, failure scenarios and the magnitude or criticality of the failure. This research provides the foundation, that when fully understood, the commercial application of adaptive NN will be a more robust application technology for the future. We envisage further application in the aviation control towers of major airports, process industry (chemicals, food, etc.).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Pilot Support Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NVE CORPORATION
11409 Valley View Road
Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3617

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Catherine Nordman
cathyn@nve.com
11409 Valley View Road
Eden Prairie,  MN 55344-3617

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The program aims to demonstrate a new genre of all-magnetic logic circuits which are radiation-tolerant and capable of reliable operation in extreme environmental conditions including low temperatures and wide temperature swings. The circuits are based on tunneling magnetoresistive technology, and are expected to have a greater single-event latchup immunity than semiconductor-based CMOS logic. Recent breakthroughs in magnetic tunnel junction technology have resulted in magnetoresistive responses in excess of 200%. With these developments adequate current gain may now be realized to implement practical multi-stage logic circuits. This work will seek to prove novel gate designs and explore the magnetic thin-film tunneling structures necessary to realize them.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
New class of logic circuits useful for all onboard systems for space and planet exploration. Robust electronics (rad-hard, low-temperature tolerant) for space environments.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Medical instrumentation—electronics which withstand sterilization by heat or radiation. Nuclear power industry—electronics for non-destructive evaluation of containment vessels. Oil industry—temperature-tolerant electronics for exploration technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James McGarrity
jmcgarrityarl@yahoo.com
1334 Patuxent Dr.
Ashton,  MD 20861-9759

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to develop electronics for operation at temperatures that range from -230<SUP>o</SUP>C to +130<SUP>o</SUP>C. This new technology will minimize the requirements for external heat sources that are currently necessary for operation of low-temperature electronics. Such technology would significantly improve reliability, performance, lifetime of electronics that are used for space applications, including satellites and space travel. This will be achieved through the development of unique circuits that are derived from novel physics based device and circuit modeling techniques and verified by experiment. Statistical methods will be employed to connect the resistive heating caused by individual devices to heating of the entire integrated circuit. Special algorithms will be further developed which allow for determination of operating conditions where the intrinsic operation of the circuit will allow for sufficient heat generation to eliminate carrier freeze-out and efficient operation of integrated circuits in environments ranging from -230<SUP>o</SUP>C to +130<SUP>o</SUP>C. For situations where intrinsic circuit resistive heating at cryogenic temperatures is insufficient to overcome carrier freeze out, we will design on-chip micro-heaters to provide direct heating to chips at the submicron device level. Thermal modeling of packaging will also be performed. With the intrinsic temperature control established, we will design specific single electron latchup immune circuits for application extreme environments.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We propose to develop extreme temperature electronics which are especially applicable for space missions. We propose to develop physics-based transistor device models valid at temperatures ranging from -230<SUP>o</SUP>C to +130<SUP>o</SUP>C. We propose to incorporate these device modeling results into Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools for predicting the electrical performance, reliability, and life cycle for low-temperature electronic systems and components. We also propose to develop low-temperature (-230<SUP>o</SUP>C) circuit design methodologies facilitating novel layout designs for integrated mixed-signal and analog circuits. We plan to design radiation-tolerant and SEL immune, low power, mixed-signal circuits including analog-to-digital converters and band-gap references. We will investigate high-density packaging able to survive large numbers of thermal cycles (hundreds) and tolerant of the extreme temperatures of the Moon and Mars. We plan to design radiation-tolerant, SEL immune, wide temperature (-180<SUP>o</SUP>C to +130<SUP>o</SUP>C), and ultra-low temperature (-230<SUP>o</SUP>C) RF electronics for short range and long-range communication systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The physics-based device models can be used to predict transistor heating at any temperature. This can be used in conjunction with our chip heating model to determine the thermal profiles of integrated circuits for any given ambient conditions. These calculations can then be used to offer new device and chip layout paradigms that are optimized for specialized operation. More specifically, understanding of cryogenic device and chip operation can result in reliable and efficient low temperature electronics. Furthermore, since a major objective of our work is to develop methodologies for efficient thermal management of electronics, the proposed work has broad application in high-density electronics, which continues to operate at higher and higher temperatures, i.e. Pentium processors. Furthermore, the need to operate electronics in extreme environments such as vehicle engines, and power systems, will continue to expand. The technology developed in the proposal will aid in design of electronics in such environments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Perception/Sensing
Control Instrumentation
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
Cooling
Thermal Insulating Materials
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Instrumentation
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Portable Life Support
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Marek Turowski
sxh@cfdrc.com
215 Wynn Dr., 5th Floor
Huntsville,  AL 35805-1944

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
All NASA exploration systems operate in the extreme environments of space (Moon, Mars, etc.) and require reliable electronics capable of handling a wide temperature range (-180ºC to +130ºC) and high radiation levels. To design low-temperature radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics and predict circuit and system characteristics, such as error rates, modeling tools are required at multiple levels. To determine the electrical responses of transistors and circuits to radiation events, physics-based Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) and mixed-level tools are required. This project will provide models and tools that will improve capabilities for prediction of technology-dependent responses to radiation in wide temperature range, which will lead to better design of rad-hard electronics, better anticipation of design margins, and reduction of testing cost and time. Future NASA missions will use nanometer-scale electronic technologies which call for a shift in how radiation effects in such devices and circuits are viewed. Nano-scale electronic device responses are strongly related to the microstructure of the radiation event. This requires a more detailed physics-based modeling approach, which will provide information for engineering models used in device and integrated circuit (IC) design. Hence, the proposed innovation: detailed high-energy-physics-based simulations of radiation events (using Geant4-based software, from Vanderbilt University) efficiently integrated with advanced device/circuit response computations by CFDRC NanoTCAD three-dimensional (3D) mixed-level simulator. This will also enable a big number of statistically meaningful runs on a massively parallel supercomputing cluster. The extreme low temperature physics models combined with radiation effects simulations will be obtained by leveraging another CFDRC project for Extreme Environment Electronics, serving the NASA RHESE Program (led by NASA-MSFC).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Prediction of electrical performance and radiation hardness of electronic components in extreme environments (wide temperatures, high radiation) are crucial to design reliable electronics for all NASA Exploration Missions (Moon, Mars, etc.), for both crewed and robotic systems. Since electronic parts are getting smaller, the radiation/temperature effects are more severe – the life time and reliability become essential – the capability to predict them increases confidence and reduces risk. The new tools will be immediately applicable to the NASA Radiation Hardened Electronics for Space Exploration (RHESE) Program, and other mission programs. The new models and design tools will help NASA to: 1) assess and select new electronics technologies, materials, and devices for very low temperature operation in radiation environments; 2) investigate, generate, test, and validate new fast/compact engineering models ("toy models") used in designing larger circuits and systems; 3) design low-temperature rad-hard electronics with better understanding and control of design margins, and evaluate redundancy scenarios; 4) predict circuit and system level characteristics, such as error rates; 5) better evaluate the wide-temperature performance and radiation response at an early design stage; 6) set requirements for hardening and testing; 7) reduce the amount of testing cost and time.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential other users include all space electronics suppliers, in particular for DoD space communication, surveillance, and imaging systems, as well as commercial satellites. Since modern electronic technologies and parts are getting smaller all the time, the radiation and extreme temperature effects become more severe, the life time and reliability become essential, and the capability to predict them increases confidence and reduces risk. The new computer aided design (CAD) tools can also be applied for cryogenic electronics for high-sensitivity, low-noise analog and mixed-signal applications, such as metrology, infrared (IR) imagers, sensors (radiation, optical, X-ray), radiometrology, precision instruments, radio and optical astronomy, infrared and photon detectors, and other high-end equipment. For all such devices and systems, predictive and accurate modeling and design tools reduce the amount of required radiation/temperature testing, thus decreasing their cost, and time to market or field application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Agave BioSystems Inc
PO Box 80010
Austin, TX 78708-0010

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joel Tabb
jtabb@agavebio.com
401 E State Street
Ithaca,  NY 14850-0000

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The abrasive, reactive, and ubiquitous nature of lunar regolith created significant and serious problems during the Apollo moon missions. In this Phase I, Agave BioSystems, in collaboration with Dr. Randy Vander Wal of the Universities Space Research Association, propose to develop next generation smart filters using novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-based structures in electrostatic devices. Since CNTs have extremely high surface area, can function without the mass transfer limitations of traditional filtrations systems, and they can be charged to emit very high charge densities, they constitute an ideal material for integration into spacecraft air handling systems as electrostatic filtration components. The overall goal of this program is to build upon the unique structural and electronic nature of carbon nanotubes to create novel smart filters. By synthesizing the CNTs in situ on solid mesh supports and integrating them into a novel electrostatic particle collection unit, we aim to create novel filtration media capable of removing airborne lunar regolith from spacecraft airlock and cabin atmospheres.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
During the Apollo moon missions, lunar regolith created significant problems. Regolith stirred up by astronauts on the lunar surface covered almost every surface, leading to: the clogging of equipment; abrasion and degradation spacesuit fabric and materials; the blocking of astronaut vision; degradation and failure of vacuum seals; and the inhalation of regolith by Apollo astronauts. If NASA is to meet the goals put forth by President Bush 2004 to return humans to the moon by 2020, then a variety of technologies will be needed to handle the problems associated with lunar regolith. The CNT-based electrostatic smart filters described in this proposal can integrate with lunar module and spacecraft environmental air handling systems to capture, trap and airborne regolith particles from airlocks and cabin atmospheres. These electrostatic smart filters will also have applications in spacecraft to trap and inactive airborne microorganisms present in cabin environments.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Airborne particulates present a major environmental problem today. Epidemiological studies have shown that a variety of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are associated with increased exposure to airborne particulates. Major sources of particulate material include cars, trucks, construction equipment, coal-fired power plants, wood burning, vegetation, and livestock. Occupational exposure to airborne particulates is an especially serious concern, especially in mining, manufacturing and agricultural professions. The development of highly effective, energy efficient methods to remove particulate contamination from occupational environments could significantly reduce work-related illness in these industries. Applications for carbon nanotube-based electrostatic filters described in this proposal include indoor filtration systems, personal protective equipment for workers exposed to occupationally high levels of ultra-fine dust, and equipment for military personnel, firefighters, emergency medical professionals, and other first responders.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Synkera Technologies Inc.
2021 Miller Drive, Suite B
Longmont, CO 80501-6787

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stephen Williams
swilliams@synkera.com
2021 Miller Drive, Suite B
Longmont,  CO 80501-6787

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR Phase I project proposes the development of lightweight compact nanostructured catalytic reactors for air purification from toxic gaseous organic pollutants, particulate matter, and microorganisms. Volatile organic compounds will be catalytically oxidized when the contaminated air stream is passed through high-density arrays of uniform ultra-high aspect ratio, high surface area, cylindrical nanoreactors. Such unique architecture provides improved mass and heat transfer and ensures conversion of volatile organics into non-toxic products with unmatched efficiency. Room temperature oxidation of formaldehyde at low ppm level has already been confirmed. In addition, particulate matter, bacteria and fungi will be filtered out from the air stream at the reactor surface (nanopore diameter of the proposed reactors will not exceed 300 nm). The proposed low-mass, low-volume and low-power-consumption reactors are intended to replace and extend functionality of conventional packed-bed catalytic oxidizers used currently for removal of trace organic contaminants from spaceship atmospheres. The Phase I work will focus on fabricating the reactor prototypes and evaluating of their performance in catalytic oxidation of selected volatile organic compounds.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Removal of trace organic and some other contaminants (e.g., carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrazine, etc.), particulate matter, and microorganisms from spacecraft and spacesuits atmospheres.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Proposed catalytic filters could be used in wide range of non-NASA applications, from gas masks and air respirators for individual protection to small- and medium-scale collective protection systems. Users of this technology will include facilities utilizing hazardous chemicals, military personnel, counter-terrorism and security forces, first responders, emergency medical personnel, and the personnel involved in chemical weapons demilitarization and chemical site remediation programs.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Revitalization and Conditioning

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
CONNECTICUT ANALYTICAL CORPORATION
696 Amity Road
Bethany, CT 06524-3006

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joseph Bango
jbango@ctanalytical.com
696 Amity Road
Bethany,  CT 06524-3006

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In stark contrast to current stagnation-based methods for capturing airborne particulates and biological aerosols, our demonstrated, cost-effective electrospray technology employs an entirely different approach based on the remarkable effectiveness of small, highly charged liquid droplets formed from an electrospray source to "getter" both particles and polar molecules dispersed in a gas. Less capable and expensive collection system technologies are generally based on stagnation of high velocity ambient airflow on a collecting surface. The momentum of particles and heavy molecules precludes their following gas streamlines during this stagnation. Instead, they concentrate and are trapped on the detector's surface if the surface is "sticky," or concentrated in the surface boundary layer, which can be separated from the mainstream flow and collected. Typically, current separation methodology collects about 50 percent of the particles between 1.0 and 10 microns in diameter from a flow of 500 L/min with a power consumption of up to 500 watts; i.e., about 1 watt of power is required for a small fan to compress 1 liter of air per minute to produce the high velocity airflow necessary for effective trapping of small bio-particles and heavy molecules. However, our electrospray technology consumes negligible power and achieves virtually 100 percent particle collection. In fact, we have demonstrated that the power efficiency of electrospray gettering for a single electrospray emitter to collect 100 percent of the particles, without a fan, at 10,000 times greater than the power efficiency of state of the art systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Spacecraft and spacesuit environmental particulate and hazardous chemical and biological species mitigation will be of paramount concern on future moon missions and possible Mars exploration. The electrospray gettering technology can be used to continuously remove particulate and chemical species listed in NASA's SMAC list, offering all the advantages of conventional electrostatic filtration methods but devoid of any ozone production.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Electrospray gettering may be applied to Building HVAC "Collect-To-Protect" applications for counter-terror protection, home HVAC use, automotive ventilation filtration applications, airplane air filtration, and submarine air filtration to name just a few commerical uses.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Particle and Fields
Biomedical and Life Support
Biomolecular Sensors
Sterilization/Pathogen and Microbial Control
Biochemical
Portable Life Support
Suits

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Orbital Technologies Corporation
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison, WI 53717-1961

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yonghui Ma
may@orbitec.com
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison,  WI 53717-1961

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed Plasma Air Decontamination System (PADS) is a trace contaminant control device based on non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma technology that operates at ambient pressure and temperature and has the potential to replace the existing Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) used on the International Space Station and future exploration vehicles. Non-thermal atmospheric plasma has been proven successful in the destruction of a variety of organic carbons found in space craft environments. The prototype plasma reactor on which the PADS will be based has also shown successful destruction of organic carbon with good power efficiency. Incorporation of this technology would facilitate a decrease in size or total elimination of the intensive re-supply of activated carbon for adsorbent beds, and possible elimination of the high temperature catalytic reactor. This would result in significant savings in launch mass and cost for long duration missions and a reduction in power requirements with the elimination of the catalytic reactor. This system also has great potential to be scaled to a variety of applications, allowing realization of the benefits that come with having systems common to multiple life support systems such as lower mass logistics and spares.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The PADS technology will likely produce a higher quality of trace contaminant control in a space craft or habitat than is provided by the current technology, and will eliminate many of the disadvantages including the significant re-supply mass of the disposable adsorbent beds, and the risk of large adsorbent beds releasing adsorbed pollutants. It also does not require a vacuum source as do regenerable adsorbent solutions, giving significant advantages for use in planetary surface base applications. The system is also suitable for use both on spacecraft and on surface habitats where a ready source of vacuum does not exist. The ability to scale the system allows it to be reduced in size for use in a small volume such as the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), Lunar Outpost (LO), or Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Multiple applications will allow for commonality of components and reduced crew training for maintenance and operation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology has broad possibilities for air purification in commercial systems. Portable, plasma-based, air purifiers are a relatively new entrant to the home health market. This opens the possibility for ORBITEC to license the advanced plasma technology created from this SBIR application to major manufacturers. Targeted markets such as office buildings, airplanes, buses, and trains, where large numbers of people are grouped together could benefit from a compact system that would both decompose pollutants and neutralize biological contamination introduced by others. This system would be readily integrated into existing ventilation infrastructure in these applications. Larger scale applications may include accommodation of large air flows from industrial processes where quantities of VOCs or other pollutants are required to be removed or altered prior to release into the atmosphere. This same larger system also has applications in homeland security, protecting military personnel from certain chemical attacks, or remediation of polluted ecosystems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomedical and Life Support
Sterilization/Pathogen and Microbial Control
Ceramics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Santa Fe Science and Technology, Inc.
3216 Richards Lane
Santa Fe, NM 87507-2940

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ian Norris
norris@sfst.net
3216 Richards Lane
Santa Fe,  NM 87507-2940

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
With the expected extension of duration of the space missions outlined in NASA's Vision of Space Exploration, such as a manned mission to Mars or the establishment of a lunar base, the need to produce potable water from onboard wastewater streams in a closed-loop system becomes critical for life support and health of crew members. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a compact process that has proven its ability to remove inorganic and organic contaminants from space mission wastewater. The objective of this Phase I study is to ascertain whether composite hollow fiber membrane elements are a more efficient alternative to the current generation of spiral wound membrane elements for the reclamation of space mission wastewater. In particular, the use of low-energy composite hollow fiber membrane elements being developed at SFST for treating multi-component (both inorganic and organic contaminants) wastewater streams found aboard spacecraft will be investigated. The higher membrane surface area of these composite hollow fiber membrane elements enables the RO membrane element to have 30% higher water productivity at substantially higher single-pass recoveries (60-75% vs 10-20% for spiral wound elements). Furthermore, we will also investigate possible solutions to minimize fouling of these hollow fiber membranes by increasing the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface using a variety of surface modification techniques. Such hollow fiber membranes are expected to show better resistance to fouling by hydrophobic compounds, and thus these membranes will be less likely to be clogged by potential foulants. These improvements to the RO membrane element have the potential to decrease the mass, size and power requirements of the RO subsystem, and also decrease the size of the pre-treatment unit.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology is specifically targeted towards the wastewater treatment systems on board spacecraft to produce potable water on long duration missions, such as the establishment of bases on the lunar surface or human planetary exploration. Reverse osmosis technology is well suited for wastewater treatment in space because it has the advantages of high rejection of contaminants, durability for removing inorganic contaminants with high water recoveries, a compact configuration and minimal re-supply of consumables for continuous operation when to compared to other physical-chemical treatment processes. The current design of the RO subsystem in NASA's Integrated Water Recovery System employs spiral wound membrane elements. Composite hollow fiber membrane elements have many advantages over spiral wound membrane elements for reclamation of space mission wastewater applications (i.e. higher module productivity/lower feed pressure, higher recovery and reduced mass). These advantages should make the use of composite hollow fiber membrane elements a viable alternative to spiral wound membrane elements being considered for the Integrated Water Recovery System.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Reverse osmosis membranes consist of a dense surface layer (50 – 500 nm) that is highly permeable to water, but highly impermeable to dissolved salts, organic molecules, microorganisms, and colloids. Consequently, reverse osmosis membrane elements have been successfully used in municipal water treatment (desalination of brackish water and seawater desalination), industrial water treatment (power generation/boiler feed water, food & beverages, wastewater treatment and reclamation), and producing ultra-pure water for microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing. End-users of reverse osmosis membranes continue to look for products that perform at lower pressures and have improved fouling resistance. If this project is successful, these composite hollow fiber membranes offer significant performance improvements over spiral wound membrane elements in terms of being able to operate at lower pressures or by operating with lower numbers of membrane elements with the additional benefit of reduced fouling.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Waste Processing and Reclamation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Orbital Technologies Corporation
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison, WI 53717-1961

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
William Butrymowicz
butrymowiczb@orbitec.com
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison,  WI 53717-1961

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The purpose of the Enhanced Brine Dewatering System (EBDS) is to provide an easily scalable means of completely recovering usable water from byproducts created by reverse osmosis water purification systems without the use of consumable wicks. Extended duration Lunar and Mars missions will require the conservation and recovery of water to allow for autonomous closed environments that in turn can dramatically reduce launch mass and reduce stowage volumes. The EBDS will build on previous developments in condensing heat exchangers to establish reliable, passive, and energy-efficient methods for recovering water by focusing on the phase separation methods employed at the brine evaporator. The EBDS uses evaporation surfaces treated with antifouling agents to eliminate biological growth and hydrophilic coatings to increase efficiency. These surface treatments are also employed at the condensing heat exchanger. In addition to limiting bio-fouling the brine evaporation system is designed to completely and autonomously recover usable water and isolate waste salts. Crew interaction is limited to periodically removing the bio-isolated waste byproducts from the system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The EBDS enables water reclamation from waste water brines without the use of consumable wicks. EBDS can interface with the Advanced Water Recovery Systems (AWRS) of the Advanced Life Support (ALS) project or similar systems required for all long-duration human spaceflight systems and extraterrestrial colonization to process waste water created by reverse osmosis treatments and provide water suitable for post-treatment and human consumption. The EBDS can be used to recover water from laundry washing and drying applications. By using EBDS, launch mass and volume can be greatly reduced by limiting the amount of water needed to support the mission by reducing the amount of water lost to waste. In addition to saving the volume and mass associated with carrying extra water, crew time and stowage are reduced by greatly increasing the time between service operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
EBDS provides a reliable, scalable, energy efficient, and low maintenance method of recovering usable water from brines. Primary use of the EBDS technology is in microgravity due to the gravity independent nature of the phase separation provided by the brine evaporator and condenser, thus commercial space travel will benefit. Immediate terrestrial applications of this system could be as a self-contained package for concentration and stabilization of non-volatile toxic or high-value wastes (e.g., dyes, heavy metal salts, or lumber-treatment solutions) from environmental cleanup sites or small scale manufacturing processes. The system is especially suitable for mercury salt remediation because the closed air loop will contain any volatile organomercury compounds present in the water feed solution. The EBDS could also be used for recovery of solvents or fuels from spills or leak sites in areas of saline groundwater.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Waste Processing and Reclamation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ENVIRONMENTAL AND LIFE SUPPORT TECH.
6600 E. Lookout Drive
Parker, CO 80138-0770

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Clifford Jolly
cdjels@aol.com
6600 E. Lookout Drive
Parker,  CO 80138-0770

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Development of a simple method for on-orbit or advanced mission Total Organic Carbon (TOC) monitoring has been a goal for many years. This proposal seeks to develop a method that is, above all else, simple, inexpensive, and maintenance-free. Previous programs to develop flight hardware, including CHeCS, PCWQM, and previous SBIR-funded efforts, failed to produce workable hardware and were relatively complex and expensive. Since the product water in a closed life support system will not likely vary in characteristics as much as terrestrial water and wastewater samples for which commercial TOC instrumentation is designed to analyze, adaptation of the complex commercial methods for spacecraft application should not be required. We therefore propose to fabricate a simple, low-volume, flow-through device that is based on a micro-reactor to convert organics to organic acids, followed by liquid-phase detection of the acids. Innovative detection methods that do not require frequent calibration are proposed. Phase I will consist of prototype fabrication followed by feasibility tests to quantitatively assess reactor performance and detector sensitivity and precision. Phase II will result in high-fidelity instrumentation that is suitable for flight qualifiication.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This device will have applications in ISS, Lunar bases, and Mars bases, and will be developed based on the assumption that the system(s) in which it is employed will be of Crit 1 or Crit 2 hardware fidelity.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This device will have immediate application in the >$100M commercial market for TOC instrumentation. The PI of this program has twenty years experience in TOC instrumentation, and has the capability to successfully implement the technology in industry.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomedical and Life Support
Waste Processing and Reclamation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
sysRAND Corporation
15306 Foxglove Ct.
Parker, CO 80134-9589

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bradley Blair
bblair@sysrand.com
15306 Foxglove Ct.
Parker,  CO 80134-9589

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a planetary surface tool called the Multi Purpose Excavation Demonstrator (MPED), which is intended to both extract Lunar Soil to feed an in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) processing plant, and to perform lunar civil engineering applications. The proposed MPED prototype is an excavation tool known as a 'bucket ladder,' a device with a long heritage of industrial use that is intrinsically abrasion and dust-resistant. The device will be a prototype bucket ladder excavation tool with a pivot arm, and will have a target mass of 20kg and a target production rate of 500kg/hr. It is intended to be integrated into a roughly 80kg mobile platform for a total projected mobile system mass of 100kg. The system will be designed for minimum power consumption for the lunar case, with a target power consumption of less than 200 watts for the terrestrial demonstrator (note: lunar power consumption is expected to be lower due to gravitational differences). Productivity goals include a maximum berm height of 3 meters (based upon multiple passes), a single-pass excavation depth of 30 cm (with a width of between 10 and 25 cm), and a multi-pass road width of 4 meters.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
MPED is offered in support of NASA's ISRU efforts, with the expectation that lunar resources will be utilized as specified in the NASA Exploration Vision. Continuous excavation is key to maximizing ISRU productivity because of its ability to acquire a steady stream of ore. The system will also be capable of performing civil engineering operations that could be required for the setup and preparation for a lunar outpost or base, as well as other activities such as building of infrastructure, or site preparation for telescope deployment. A future robotic system based on MPED could also use its trenching capability to assist human geologic explorers, and is expected to become a candidate payload as a component of future ISRU missions. It could also qualify as an secondary payload for a future robotic surface mission under the LPRP (Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The early development and demonstration of a key lunar ISRU system element (the excavator) is expected to have a strong impact on risk reduction for future commercial lunar mining and ISRU product development. Pending a successful outcome of this project, the interest of commercial investors is anticipated. Through previous work we have identified companies that are positioned to exploit the commercialization and development effort, and cultivated contacts with key personnel. Numerous terrestrial commercial opportunities within the mining and civil construction industries exist, pending technical advances in abrasion-resistance and dust mitigation, and fall within the larger scope of the proposed effort (i.e., Phase II). Certain methodology embodied in our approaches to applications are also expected to enhance modular robotics for assembly and repair in field conditions, leading to commercial market applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Mobility
Manipulation
Teleoperation
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Thermal Insulating Materials
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Production
Human-Computer Interfaces
Tools
General Public Outreach
K-12 Outreach
Mission Training
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
In-situ Resource Utilization
Microgravity
Radiation Shielding Materials
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
DIAMOND MATERIALS INC.
120 Centennial Ave.
Piscataway, NJ 08854-3908

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Oleg Voronov
ovoronov@aol.com
120 Centennial Ave.
Piscataway,  NJ 08854-3908

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to develop low cost diamond composite bearings utilizing our new high pressure technology for carbon fiber reinforced 3-D C/C composites and mixtures of pitch, fullerenes and nanotubes. Functionally graded bearings will be engineered to function without lubrication and to operate in Lunar dust. Tests have shown that these new materials are thermally and chemically stable, have a very high wear resistance on the diamond coated surface and can work in sand and regolith like unlubricated sliding fits. Such bearings are also extremely lightweight. Our variety of diamond coated composite would be easily scalable and cost effective to fabricate. In Phase I, we will focus on designing and prototyping precision unlubricated bearings. For Phase II and III, we will work in collaboration with leading companies that produce ceramic bearings.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications: Potential applications of this material are bearings for Lunar regolith excavators and other planetary missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non NASA applications: The bearings that we plan to develop could be utilized for high speed applications at low temperature and high temperature ranges. They are corrosion and wear resistant and can work in aircraft engines, rock drilling and other abrasive environments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization
Ceramics
Composites
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
DR Technologies, Inc.
7740 Kenamar Court
San Diego, CA 92121-2425

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Theodore Stern
tstern@drtechnologies.com
7740 Kenamar Court
San Diego,  CA 92121-2425

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This research proposes to develop a lightweight approach to achieving the high concentrations of solar energy needed for a solar furnace achieving temperatures of 1000-2000C. Conventional solar-fired furnaces face significant challenges in fabricating, deploying and pointing the large aperture, high concentration ratio reflectors that power them. The Modular Distributed Concentrator (MDC) is a systems solution comprising an array of identical, modestly sized solar concentrator dishes with a network of optical or thermal transmission links that route the high quality concentrated energy to a centralized receiver. The approach provides lower mass because of the ability to optimize the scale of the individual reflectors to achieve high concentration ratio without the heavy structure needed to achieve and maintain optical alignment found in large aperture optics. The minimum deployed height associated with an array of concentrators allows for good packaging efficiency and minimum deployment complexity, and since the dishes are one-piece and identical, tooling and manufacturing costs are significantly reduced. The proposed program performs system optimization trades and then proceeds to the preliminary design and development of key components such as the optical light guide and thermal heat pipe transmission links that carry the energy to the furnace, as well as the key input and output interfaces. A proof-of-concept demonstration in Phase I will be used to validate the performance model and guide the detailed design, development and environmental testing of system components in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to application to the needs for high temperature regolith processing for oxygen, silicon and other materials on the lunar surface, NASA can benefit from the application of this technology to manned spacecraft requirements. The MDC provides an alternative to the large deployable solar concentrators which were the main impediment preventing the realization of benefits from solar dynamic converters with thermal energy storage for space station and other large habitable space modules. The use of solar energy directly as light and heat also provides a more efficient resource for climate control functions of space, lunar and planetary habitats.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are a significant number of applications that could be enabled by a modular concentrator approach that allows transmission of the high-power, concentrated solar energy. Medium- and high-temperature industrial processes could enjoy significant monetary savings by replacing electrical energy with direct solar firing, but most processes cannot be reasonably located at the focus of a solar concentrator. A significant energy user that would benefit from the MDC is in the fabrication of solar grade silicon from sand – a process that can take place in desert areas where direct solar is abundant. Another potential significant user of this technology is the environmental remediation industry which can purify water by dissociating chlorofluorocarbons with concentrated sunlight piped directly to the ground water table.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Solar
In-situ Resource Utilization
Power Management and Distribution
Renewable Energy
Thermodynamic Conversion

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Takashi Nakamura
nakamura@psicorp.com
20 New England Business Center
Andover,  MA 01810-1077

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) and Orbital Technologies Corporation (Orbitec), proposes to develop the multi-use solar thermal system for oxygen production from lunar regolith. In this system solar radiation is collected by the concentrator array which transfers the concentrated solar radiation to the optical waveguide (OW) transmission line made of low loss optical fibers. The OW transmission line directs the solar radiation to the thermal receiver for thermochemical processing of in-situ resources or for manufacturing of materials and components on the planetary surface. Key features of the proposed system are: 1. Highly concentrated solar radiation (10^3 ~ 10^4 suns) can be transmitted via the flexible OW transmission line directly to the thermal receiver for thermochemical or manufacturing; 2. Power scale-up of the system can be achieved by incremental increase of the number of concentrator units; 3. The system can be autonomous, stationary or mobile, and easily transported and deployed on the lunar surface; and 4. The system can be applied to a variety of ISRU processes.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The specific application of the proposed solar power system is for production of oxygen and other useful materials on the lunar surface. The solar thermal system could be set in place prior to the initiation of various lunar projects such as mining, processing or manned outposts. Therefore, the solar thermal system is the key enabling technology for building up the infrastructure for the lunar base. The solar thermal power system to be developed in this program can also be used for electric power conversion using dynamic electric power generator, such as Stirling converter.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Application of the proposed solar power system to other space applications will be possible as its technical maturity progresses. PSI is developing solar thermal rocket system for satellite propulsion under Air Force SBIR funding. The solar thermal rocket system will enable communication satellites to utilize solar power for station keeping and orbit change. For terrestrial applications the proposed system will be used for a small scale, transportable solar heat source for: detoxification of contaminated soil; small power plant using compact heat engine; air conditioning cycle; and industrial process heat.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Packer Engineering
1950 N. Washington
Naperville, IL 60563-1366

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Peter Schubert
pschubert@packereng.com
1950 N. Washington
Naperville,  IL 60563-1366

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Element beneficiation from a moving, ionized plasma can be accomplished through the principles of mass spectroscopy. Two US patents were recently awarded to the PI on a means to separate all isotopes of regolith in a single pass using either a continuous or pulsed operation. This method of in-situ resource utilization has been studied at a system level, and results published at a national space conference. Phase I of the proposed work will extend the favorable results obtained so far towards a system-level model of the process suitable for more accurate computation of performance metrics. Mathematical models of the SiO2 molecule dissociation, ionization, transport and separation will be derived and applied to the patented apparatuses. Preliminary calculations on silicon extraction indicate the potential for solar cell production at approximately $6/Watt, a 50 times improvement over other proposed methods of space-based manufacture. We will apply this novel method of beneficiation to a simultaneous extraction of oxygen and silicon. Key questions to be answered include estimates of the physical dimensions conducive to efficient extraction (Watts/kg, kg/sec), which will drive system parameters of mirror size, solar power needs (for magnetrons and chillers), shielding, thermal management and infrastructure. Milestones within the six-month project will be: (1) vaporization, energy flow and system architecture; (2) addition of self-shielding, double-ionization, three-dimensional considerations and slag rates; (3) inlet design considerations, multiple molecule separation, and velocity profiling; and (4) composite separation rates and overall tranfer function characterization. Upon completion of Phase I we will have detailed design equations needed to construct a prototype oxygen extraction unit during Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Oxygen molecules separated from a plasma will be condensed on a cold plate and gravity-collected for use as a fuel oxidizer. Oxygen is also a component of a breathable atmosphere, and as a raw material for other ISRU applications. Silicon extraction is used for solar cell production using float-zone crystallization and ion implantation to form photodiodes. Aluminum extraction (also possible with these inventions, but not studied herein) provides for conductors and Ohmic contacts to the silicon to form solar arrays capable of supplying power. This power can be used to power additional beneficiation apparatuses, or for baseline power to a lunar habitat or science station. A machine delivered to the moon in advance of a manned mission can be readily assembled and operated during lunar day. Waste slag from the separation process can be deposition-formed into bricks of any convex shape. Waste heat from these bricks can drive a Sterling cycle engine for mechanical power, and the bricks can be assembled into shelters for equipment or habitats. This concept leverages the capability to produce 100s of times the mass of extracted resources compared to the delivered payload mass. Adaptations of the same invention, covered by patents, allow use in microgravity environments, thereby extending applicability to future missions to the moons of Mars or to target asteroids, where additional beneficial elements (such as nitrogen and carbon) can be found.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The three biggest problems facing mankind today are nuclear proliferation, global warming and peak oil. If it can be made cost-effective, space solar power can ameliorate all three. To be cost-effective, extra-terrestrial sources of silicon and aluminum are needed for the solar cells. Transportation of workers and material throughout cislunar space, a non-trivial contributor to overall costs, can be greatly reduced with a source of extra-terrestrial oxygen. Therefore a system capable of extracting all three of these vital elements from lunar regolith represents a considerable economic benefit to any enterprise producing space solar power. Therefore, these patents, and the work proposed herein, could represent the foundation upon which mankind develops a sustainable, long-term solution to the growing needs of an expanding civilization.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Erectable
In-situ Resource Utilization
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-4236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kris Zacny
zacny@honeybeerobotics.com
NASA Research Park, Building 19, Room 1073, Box 370
Moffet Field,  CA 94035-1000

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
As part of the NASA goal of "locating and characterizing lunar volatile resources", Honeybee Robotics proposes to investigate two novel technologies that both are powered by a new monopropellant, NOFB3, developed by Firestar Engineering. Honeybee will test key concepts for a pneumatic drill, intended for use in the lunar cold traps, and will also investigate a method for mining the top few centimeters of lunar regolith with a gas system that has no moving parts. Analogous to the high-powered drilling done on Earth, the proposed pneumatic drill will derive its mechanical power from a chemical fuel (NOFB3), and it will use a fluid (in this case, low temperature exhaust gases extracted from the power system) to remove drill cuttings. A drill of this sort will have a number of advantages over traditional electromechanical drill/auger systems, including reduced power consumption, lower mass, less mechanical complexity, and better durability at extreme temperatures. In Phase I, the team proposes to investigate the production of mechanical power from the monopropellant via a small turbine, and, separately, to study removal of cuttings with gas flow while drilling in a laboratory vacuum chamber. The second part of the proposed research will be to investigate a method for mining the top few centimeters of lunar regolith using a method similar to "jet-lift dredging". This method will use a stream of gas, also provided by the partial decomposition of NOFB3, to draw simulated lunar regolith into a delivery pipe connected to a storage bin. The system has no moving parts and is thus well suited for the abrasive lunar environment. The proposed coupled propulsion/pneumatic system for excavation and prospecting will enable robust, rapid, subsurface access into an in-situ medium, and particularly into permanently shadowed regions on the moon without requiring solar illumination, potentially large nuclear power systems, or potentially complicated distributed power systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The drilling and mining technologies stemming from this research will directly meet the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program (LPRP) and human lunar exploration mission objectives. To date, traditional methods of drilling and mining have failed to reach high TRL levels. If this research is successful, the resulting technologies will have the simplicity and robustness to operate under the extreme lunar conditions, particularly in terms of exposure to the abrasive lunar regolith and the large temperature extremes. The same drilling technology could have applications on Mars and the mining system may also be suitable for future use on asteroids. Given the large range of applications for gas generators in both aerospace and commercial applications, Firestar Engineering, LLC anticipates that this work will lead into focused product development after Phase 2. One immediate and closely related application that will be investigated for application is a pressurant system for upper stages and launch vehicles that may operate from NOFB3 monopropellant.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The turbine-powered pneumatic drill system could be useful for terrestrial drilling in Polar Regions, where gasoline engines perform poorly at very cold temperatures. The basic system for generating power via a small turbine could also be adapted to other mechanical devices, such as pumps or winches. The monopropellant pressurant system (see previous section) could also be used by the commercial launch industry. In the distant future, on the order of several decades, the gas flow mining method investigated in this project could evolve into a commercial system for lunar or asteroid mining.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Micro Thrusters
Monopropellants
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Cooling
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
In-situ Resource Utilization
Combustion
Energy Storage
Thermodynamic Conversion
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Optics Corporation
20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg 100
Torrance, CA 90501-1821

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kang-Bin Chua, Ph.D
sutama@poc.com
20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg 100
Torrance,  CA 90501-1821

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To address NASA Johnson Space Center needs for gas separation and collection technology for lunar in-situ resource utilization, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Selective Photoinitiated Electrophoretic Separator (SPIES) System, based on selective photoionization and electrophoresis. This approach incorporates a novel system design for selective photoionization for electrophoresis of selected gases, for electrophoretic processing, to meet the NASA requirement for equipment with low launch mass to separate hydrogen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium, water, ammonia, and methane. The SPIES system launch weight and energy consumption will be 33% of those of the current distilling/purification systems because it eliminates the requirements for consumables and downstream distillation equipment. While requiring minimal system maintenance, this system will operate without consumables, and will be easily reconfigurable for different ISRU scenarios. In Phase I POC will establish the feasibility of the SPIES system by assembling a proof-of-concept prototype and demonstrating separation of a simulated lunar volatile, reducing development risk in Phase II. In Phase II POC plans to optimize the SPIES system design and assemble an advanced system prototype that can perform multiple gas separation tasks, enabling NASA to selectively remove and purify a range of gas streams in lunar solar resource prospecting.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
POC expects substantial NASA opportunities for the SPIES system for selective removal/purification of a wide range of gas streams, including hydrogen, helium, oxygen, ammonia, nitrogen, and water vapor. It will be particularly beneficial in space, on the moon, Mars, and beyond because of its universality, and will replace a large number of diverse individual modules for distillation of gases. At the same time its only consumables are long-lasting excimer lamps (if solar collectors are not used).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications of the SPIES system technology are even broader. For example, this technology can address the need for energy-efficient production of industrial gases such as production of oxygen at a cost that is significantly lower than that of current energy-intensive processes. Another example is the direct production of hydrogen for fuel cells.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-4236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jack Wilson
wilson@honeybeerobotics.com
460 W. 34th Street
New York,  NY 10001-2320

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Honeybee Robotics proposes to build upon technology we have previously developed with Goddard Space Flight Center and redesign specifically for the lunar environment a "gear bearing" transmission. We intend to bring this technology to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for the number of applications imagined for future missions to the lunar poles requiring motors and drive trains ranging from mobility systems, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) machinery, and robotic systems mechanisms. The advantages of this design lend themselves well to spaceflight mechanisms in general and specifically to the extreme conditions at the lunar poles. The high gear reductions possible within a single stage, coupled with the already compact size make gear bearing transmissions ideal for spaceflight hardware where size and weight are at a premium. The relative simplicity, the elimination of traditional bearings in the transmission, and the avoidance of sliding friction altogether have significant advantages in cryogenic and hard vacuum environments where material and lubricant selection are limited.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA's 2006 Strategic Plan identifies as a key goal the establishment of a lunar return program with the intention of facilitating later missions to Mars. Beginning with ground testing of enabling technology on the moon by 2012 and culminating with a long-term human outpost at one of the lunar poles , there will be a great need for cryogenic motors and mechanisms for the lunar environment. By bringing gear bearing transmission technology to a high TRL, Honeybee will be enabling a wide range of essential systems, key to robotic precursor missions designed to survey and characterize lunar landing sites and later for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities essential to a long-term human presence on the moon. Honeybee hopes to build on this heritage and continue to play a vital role in the development of spaceflight hardware for these future NASA missions. Honeybee has in development robotic systems to be flown on every recent and future planned mission to Mars, beginning with the very successful MER missions, through Phoenix, and including the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. It is our intension in designing and testing this technology for the extreme environment of the lunar poles that these fundamental, robust components will have transferable application to the demanding environment of Mars as well. Honeybee plans to continue our successful relationship with NASA through the further development of this technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
As with past successful SBIR efforts, we will seek to patent the novel aspects of our designs and pursue licensing the technology to other industries. We will utilize our experience and contacts in the aerospace industry, as well as continue to perform market research and identify companies in other industries that could utilize this technology. We have identified one potential application of advanced cryogenic actuators in laboratory testing equipment for a number of industries.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Mobility
Manipulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
International Scientific Technologies, Inc.
P O Box 757
Dublin, VA 24084-0757

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Russell Churchill
intlsci@earthlink.net
P O Box 757
Dublin,  VA 24084-0757

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has identified the need for the development of lightweight structures technologies to support Lunar Lander and Lunar Habitats programs and for the transfer of relevant technology to Crew Exploration Vehicle and Crew Launch Vehicle programs. NASA further calls for revolutionary advances in radiation shielding materials and structures technologies to protect humans from the hazards of space radiation during NASA missions. To address this need and in response to NASA Subtopic X6.01, International Scientific Technologies, Inc. in conjunction with the College of William and Mary, proposes the development of lightweight multifunctional polymeric materials with nanoparticle metallic additives that will provide radiation protection of humans engaged in long-duration space missions. The Phase I program Technical Objectives include selection and functionalization of metallic nanoparticles for incorporation into polymers, fabrication of nanocomposite films of space-compatible polymers, and measurement of radiation shielding effectiveness. The anticipated result of the Phase I and Phase II programs is the fabrication of polymeric materials incorporating metallic nanoparticles that will have multifunctional properties of radiation shielding against galactic cosmic radiation and neutrons and electromagnetic radiation, and structural integrity to permit use in flexible and rigid structures and habitats during deep-space missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed multifunctional nanocomposites will find application in the Exploration Systems mission in protecting astronauts and sensitive optical, electronic, thermal and acoustic components from environmental hazards including radiation, dust and thermal transients while, at the same time, providing lightweight structural functions. It is expected that nanocomposite systems will provide a high-performance-to-weight radiation shield that can be used within human habitations, spacecraft and protective apparel. Other missions supported by NASA could also make use of the nanocomposite materials in low earth orbit or in other orbital paths traversing high radiation regions of space.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Lightweight multifunctional radiation shielding will find application in the commercial (e.g., hospitals and nuclear power plants) and defense (e.g., nuclear-powered ships and surveillance satellites) sectors. The shields will provide protection for homeland security first responders employed by law enforcement agencies, fire departments and hospitals. It is also expected that the shielding can be fabricated into temporary shelters used by defense personnel and considered for use in the protection of individuals in case of a nuclear or radiological event. The radiation shielding material will be suitable for fabrication into protective clothing for healthcare professionals involved in X-ray and nuclear medicine.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Erectable
Inflatable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Thermal Insulating Materials
Suits
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Microcosm, Inc.
401 Coral Circle
El Segundo, CA 90245-4622

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aaron Leichner
aleichner@smad.com
401 Coral Circle
El Segundo,  CA 90245-4622

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Microcosm has developed and qualified strong, all-composite LOX tanks for launch vehicles. Our new 42-inch diameter tank design weighs 486 lbs and burst without leaking at 2,125 psi, within 3.5% of the predicted burst pressure. This SBIR will analyze, design, build, and test much lighter weight all composite cryogenic tanks and examine, develop, and test alternative insulation techniques to minimize boil-off. This SBIR will also examine the reuse of propellant tanks as crew and storage habitats. During Phase I, we will design and fabricate 12 10-inch diameter and 2 25-inch diameter cryogenic tanks with a design burst pressure of approximately 850 psi. Eight of the 10-inch tanks and one 25-inch tank will be thermally cycled and burst tested using liquid nitrogen to obtain statistical data. The remaining 4 10-inch tanks will first be thermally cycled, then flushed out and re-pressurized with gaseous helium to simulate reuse as a crew habitat. The remaining 25-inch tank will be delivered to NASA for further testing. Phase II will fabricate, build, and test larger tanks and tanks specifically intended to meet the needs of future NASA programs, and alternative insulation approaches will be evaluated to minimize boil-off.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The innovation proposed here is a new design and fabrication process for all-composite cryogenic tanks that in experiments to date has improved the performance per unit mass by a factor of 3 to 4. These tanks can be implemented into the CEV and CLV programs, as well as lunar lander and habitat programs, for the pressurized storage of a wide range of cryogenic propellants, including liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, and liquid methane. The significance is that the potential now exists to dramatically reduce the mass and cost of cryogenic tanks for launch and space applications, and to reuse these tanks for crew habitats. With this substantial weight reduction, any NASA programs utilizing propellant tanks could experience a significant improvement in performance, allowing larger payloads and more instrumentation to be launched.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Because tanks typically represent the largest component of the mass of most launch vehicles, the potential exists to dramatically increase launch and in-space performance at little or no increase in cost. Specifically, the performance of the Sprite Small Launch Vehicle increases from 809 lbs to LEO with the prior composite tanks to 1050 lbs to LEO with the new, light-weight composite tanks. And, many other liquid stage launch vehicle programs could realize substantial weight and cost savings by implementing these tanks into their propulsion systems. As such, these launch vehicles could experience a considerable improvement in payload-to-orbit performance, allowing larger payloads and more instrumentation to be launched on each vehicle.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Structural Modeling and Tools
Tankage
Fluid Storage and Handling
Production
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mo-Sci Corp
P.O. Box 2
Rolla, MO 65401-8277

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mariano Velez
mvelez@mo-sci.com
P.O. Box 2
Rolla,  MO 65401-8277

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
For many applications there exists a need for mechanically strong composite materials of high optical quality and transparency equivalent to window glass. One method of increasing the mechanical strength of polymers is to reinforce them with high-strength cylindrical glass fibers. In most cases, however, the introduction of glass fibers into an optically transparent polymer destroys the transparency of the polymer and an object at distances greater than a few feet cannot be clearly seen through them. MO-SCI Corporation proposes to develop novel large high-strength and optically transparent, flexible panels of glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites, as light-weight structural components, by layering a polymer matrix reinforced with glass ribbons (micron-size glass fibers with rectangular cross section) and a tough compliant polyurethane film. MO-SCI Corporation has produced research quantities of rigid epoxy-matrix composites which use glass ribbons that are index matched to the polymer matrix to be used as high-strength windows as described in U.S. patent 5,665,450 and licensed to MO-SCI Corporation. The objective of this proposal is to use this technology to produce nearly defect-free composites as demonstration samples for marketing structurally strong and impact resistant composites that are optically transparent.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The main application of high-strength ribbon-reinforced flexible composites is as a component of light-weight inflatable structures, as requested by the NASA SBIR Subtopic. These flexible composites may be opaque if carbon-fibers, for instance are used, or transparent, if glass ribbons are used. Transparent flexible composites may have applications as deployable domes for the Mars environment for plant growing. Rigid transparent composites may have applications as high-strength windows. Rigid and opaque composites, reinforced with glass ribbons may have applications as cryotanks, as the glass ribbons may offer a much lower permeability than circular fibers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential applications of high-strength rigid transparent composites described in this proposal include protective eyeglasses and face shields, high security display cases, airplane windows and fighter jet cockpit canopies, transparent armor and security shields, display and filter elements, blast-resistant windows in buildings, and solar cell substrates. These composites are light-weight, as compared to laminated high-strength window glass or ceramic-based composites, and would be of high value in Home Land Security applications, structural windows for resisting hurricanes and tornadoes, and as protective armor for vehicles and airplanes.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Inflatable
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Wright Materials Research Co
1187 Richfield Center
Beavercreek, OH 45430-1120

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Seng Tan
sctan@sprintmail.com
1187 Richfield Center
Beavercreek,  OH 45430-1120

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Space structures that are ultra-lightweight, and have gas barrier property, space durability, radiation resistance and high impact resistance are desirable to improve the reliability and provide a safe resting environment for astronauts and equipment operation. Some of the components currently in use such as stations or habitats use double-wall thick films with high internal pressure. Some components are in thin film form and the specific rigidity and dimensional stability needs improvement. Components of landers and vehicles are subject to dust impact. All these solid or hollow components are vulnerable in space because of the foreign object impact or radiation attack. In this Phase I project, we propose to develop ultra-lightweight, microcellular nanocomposite foams and sandwich structures that possess all the desirable properties mentioned above. The structural module can be compacted into a small volume to facilitate launching. The proposed microcellular nanocomposite foam and sandwich structures do not involve or release any toxicity and will have much higher specific mechanical properties than foams and sandwich structures processed by the conventional techniques. They can be used to either replace or supplement to the inflatable technology for improvement in reliability, durability, and safety in space operation. Preliminary research results are very encouraging.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed ultra-lightweight microcellular nanocomposite foam and sandwich structures have a number of potential applications for space structures including space stations and habitats, Lunar mission vehicles, landers, rigidified boom and support structures for Gossamer space structures, rover subsystems like wheels, chasis, insulation boxes masts, solar array deployment devices, shelters and hangars for space habitats, airlocks, electronics boxes, tanks/shells/shields, insulation for propellant tanks, solar arrays radar boards, and support structures for telecommunication subsystems like struts and beams, etc.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential commercial markets for this ultra-low density polymer and nanocomposite foams and sandwich structures may include commercial aircraft, boots, ships, trains, buses, trucks, posts, bridges, decks, automobiles, shipping containers, building panels, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Airframe
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Erectable
Kinematic-Deployable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Fluid Storage and Handling
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 W. 52nd Ave.
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-1917

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Diener
mikee@tda.com
12345 W. 52nd Ave.
Wheat Ridge,  CO 80033-1916

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Polyethylene-based composite materials are under consideration as multifunctional structural materials, with the expectation that they can provide radiation shielding, micrometeorite shielding, and pressure containment during interplanetary missions. While ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is the hardest known thermoplastic, its impact strength and wear resistance still pale in comparison to many other known materials. We propose composites of UHMWPE with these materials, with the expected outcome of increasing its ability to perform as a micrometeorite shield.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology developed on this project will be immediately useful for multifunctional radiation shielding/ micrometeorite shielding, a key need for manned interplanetary and lunar missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology has terrestrial applications in lightweight armor (for soldier and policemen, e.g.) and in long-lasting joint replacement materials (hips, etc.).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joseph Pluscauskis
pluscauskis@m-r-d.com
300 E. Swedesford Road
Wayne,  PA 19087-1858

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The innovation in this proposed effort is the development of lightweight, non-eroding nozzle materials for use in propulsion systems. Lightweight structures are desirable for space transportation vehicle systems in order to reduce launch costs, increase mission flexibility/efficiency, and add robustness with respect to the ability to add weight or additional materials to the mission with minimum sacrifice in performance. The use of non-eroding materials, coupled with lightweight materials, as rocket nozzles can further increase mission flexibility by allowing an increase in performance, higher maximum temperatures, greater speeds, greater range, bigger payloads, and longer lifetimes. The higher maximum temperatures may eliminate the need for cooling air, while simultaneously increasing engine efficiency. Higher maximum use temperature additionally allows for increased stagnation temperatures and pressures, increasing the propellant enthalpy, which, in return, can significantly increase the velocity and performance of the projectile. These benefits result in increased fuel savings. The advanced materials study will include monolithic ceramics, refractory metals, and high temperature ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials. The manufacturing processes for the monolithic ceramics and refractory metal materials will include hot isostatic processing (HIP), vacuum plasma spraying (VPS), electrodeposition. The CMC fabrication processes will include braiding, filament winding, tape wrapping, and involute layup.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
MR&D's core business is design and structural analysis of high temperature materials. The fundamental technology and design tools developed in this SBIR program will allow us to expand our client base and offer more capabilities to our existing customers. Additionally, the technology developed here will be translated to other commercial and government applications to expand the market for refractory material leading edges, nozzles, hypersonic airframes and ramjet engines.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The results of this lightweight, high temperature, non-eroding nozzle material study will have broad ranging applications in the civil aerospace, governmental aerospace companies, as well as aircraft jet engine manufactures and power generation equipment manufacturing companies. Potential customers include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Electric Power Systems, and ATK-Thiokol.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
High Energy Propellents (Recombinant Energy & Metallic Hydrogen)
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Cooling
Thermal Insulating Materials
Database Development and Interfacing
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Technology Assessment & Transfer, Inc.
133 Defense Hwy Suite 212
Annapolis, MD 21401-8907

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Palaith
palaith@techassess.com
133 Defense Hwy Suite 212
Annapolis,  MD 21401-8907

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA will return to the IIS by 2014 and the moon by 2020. To accomplish these missions, NASA will exploit to the maximum degree possible the Apollo architecture and especially the lessons learned and technological advances that have occurred over the intervening 40 years in building robust, cost effective, efficient, and, partly reusable launch, lander, explorer, and resupply vehicles. In support of this effort, Technology Assessment & Transfer (TA&T) proposes to develop a magnesium metal matrix composite (MMC) for use as aerospace structural members. This material exhibits three times the specific stiffness of the best aluminum-lithium alloys and two times that of PMCs. TA&T will demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of a low temperature method for achieving high loading of ceramic particles in a magnesium matrix that will enable a cast or extruded structural material of non-uniform cross-section exhibiting the unusual combination of light weight, high specific stiffness and strength, radiation shielding, and low cost. The MMC will be protected from corrosion by a unique thin film coating designed specifically to prevent corrosion of aluminum and magnesium alloys.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA went to the moon with 1960s technology. The President's Vision program will use technology developed during the intervening 40+ years. NASA is proposing to use technology at least TRL-6. Thus, NASA cannot develop all the needed technology internally – it will have to use technology developed outside of agency funded research. Magnesium MMCs promises to provide performance characteristics in many areas comparable if not superior to advanced polymer composites, ceramic matrix composites, fiber composites, high performance light weight alloy systems, light weight refractory alloys, hybrid material systems, multifunctional material systems, nano-structured materials. Thus, continued research to expand the global metal matrix market should profoundly impact future NASA mission.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential commercial market for magnesium MMCs is staggering. The global market predicted for all MMCs predicts a growth rate of 6.3% dominated by the automotive industry as the demand for fuel efficiency compels lighter cars and trucks. It has been predicted that China represents the fastest growing market for MMCs. Magnesium MMCs have been restricted by the difficulty of achieving high loading and by corrosion. The solution of those two problems removes both impediments to market entry.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Erectable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Modular Interconnects
Structural Modeling and Tools
Manned-Manuvering Units
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Iten Industries, Inc.
4602 Benefit Ave
Ashtabula, OH 44005-2150

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paula Watt
pwatt@itenindustries.com
4602 Benefit Ave
Ashtabula,  OH 44005-2150

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Planetary exploration presents challenges for mobility, fuel efficiency, payload weight management, robustness, and thermal as well as radiation protection. There is a need for lightweight structures in space transport, vehicle systems, instrumentation, planetary access, as well as operations including facilities and habitats. These vehicles, equipment, and structures will be subjected to rigorous environmental exposures and assaults. Innovations that increase specific strength and stiffness, reduce weight, provide radiation shielding, enhance thermal management, and improve robustness, in a safe, reliable, cost effective manner will contribute to the success of these missions. This proposal offers an innovative solution utilizing fundamental mechanical engineering principles taken to a multi-hierarchical level. Directionally oriented reinforced composites, structural foam, honeycomb, and core-shell designs are mature technologies. The distinguishing element of the approach for this proposal is the unique, new to the world, X-aerogel core material developed by NASA GRC. Aerogels are touted as the lowest-density solid materials known and have excellent insulation capacity but are extremely fragile. Through conformal polymer crosslinking of the silica structure, these sol-gel castings can be strengthened into the realm of load bearing materials at densities in the 0.2 to 0.3 g/cc range. Further, this proposal explores manipulation of the core material nanostructure through surfactant induced micelle formation. This will create controlled morphology nano-honeycomb, which is expected to greatly enhance the strength and reliability versus the sol-gel random nanofoam through elimination of stress concentrators and optimal distribution of load. When these cores are coupled with advanced composite skins, resulting structures are extremely lightweight with strength, stiffness, and insulation performance far beyond what is currently commercialized.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High strength, light weight, robust, thermally insulative, and radiation protecting, structures for planetary exploration are needed. The largest anticipated applications for this development is building structures for operations facilities and habitats that can be kitted and quickly erected with minimal effort. These structures will have conductivity imparted as required to provide lighting strike deterrence, will have very high thermal insulation efficiency, be very impact, abrasion, and wind resistant, and provide radiation protection. A typical building kit would consist of anchoring, framing, and load bearing wall and roofing panels. The lightweight panels could consist of an outer shell utilizing either carbon fibers or carbon nanotubes to impart electrostatic dissipation in the case of lighting strike. This skin will be ballistic/storm grade composite to withstand aggressive impacts. The highly insulative core material will be X-aerogel or polymer modified nano-honeycomb siliceous structures that have been modified with high hydrogen content species to impart radiation shielding. The inner skin could be less robust and aesthetically desirable. Other areas of use will be in armoring vehicles and aircraft for the same hazards with reduced weight. Thermal and acoustic insulation benefits for these transport applications in addition to impact resistance, radiation protection, and low weight will be realized.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
These nanoporous composites have a wide range of utility for defense applications. It is a logical extension that the DOD will have interest in these materials and structures for aerospace, marine, vehicles, and ballistic protected facilities. As the technology is proven successful and processes are streamlined, commercialization will follow into civilian marine, airline, consumer, and construction markets. Because of the unique combination of exceptional properties, a network of eager end-users for a number of applications including boat cores, building panels, skylights, aircraft, automotive, pressure vessel, ballistic protection, and refrigeration insulation already exists. In buildings, the combination of structural walls and highly efficient insulation could reduce overall materials and installation costs. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reports that in our buildings today we consume 39% of the energy and more than 70% of the electricity in the nation. In these energy conscious times, improved insulation materials will be quickly be approved for use. Drywall type forms could replace the need for foamed in or fiberglass insulation allowing for thinner wall sections and reduced material costs. The weight and bulk of roofing structures could be greatly reduced. With a single 1" windowpane of aerogel equivalent to the insulation provided by 32 windowpanes of glass, translucent X-aerogel are a highly desirable material for daylighting.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Erectable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Thermal Insulating Materials
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
BECK ENGINEERING, INC.
3319 21st Ave NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98335-7992

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Douglas Beck
dbeck23@aol.com
3319 21st Ave NW
Gig Harbor,  WA 98335-7992

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has many needs for maintenance and repair technologies for long-duration human space missions. We propose to develop a compact, portable, vacuum-compatible, multi-axis Manipulator/Machining Center (M/MC) to satisfy many of NASA's needs. Our M/MC will provide complex manipulation during: layer-additive manufacturing; collection of geometric data for reverse-engineering; real-time non-destructive evaluation; and non-destructive material property determination. Our M/MC will also finish-machine near-net-shape parts produced using layer-additive manufacturing. Design features of our M/MC will: minimize mass, volume, and power consumption while providing required capabilities; maximize life and reliability; and enable our M/MC to operate in space-based vacuum, microgravity, and partial-gravity environments. In Phase I, we will: generate a preliminary design of our M/MC; project the machining performance, mass, volume, and power consumption of our M/MC; and show how our M/MC can be integrated with layer-additive equipment. In Phase II, we will design-in-detail, build, and test a prototype M/MC. In Phase III, we will design, build, and sell M/MCs to the government and private sector.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Our Manipulator/Machining Center (M/MC) will satisfy many of NASA's needs for space-based manufacturing applications. Our compact, portable, multi-axis M/MC will perform: (1) reverse-engineering data generation; (2) additive manufacturing; (3) real-time non-destructive evaluation during layer-additive processing; (4) non-destructive material property determination; (5) recycling/generation of feedstock materials for deposition processes; and (6) five-axis subtractive manufacturing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We will adapt our space-based Manipulator/Machining Center (M/MC) to produce an Earth-baced M/MC for many military and private-sector manufacturing applications, including: military in-theater fabrication of spare parts; and private-sector manufacturing, including die/mold work, prototyping, small production runs, and cases in which raw materials are expensive.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Manipulation
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Testing Facilities
Data Input/Output Devices
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
In-situ Resource Utilization
Microgravity
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics
Optical & Photonic Materials
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2785

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Margaret Lyell
mlyell@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  MD 20855-2785

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The NASA commitment to a human presence in space exploration results in the interaction of humans with challenging environments in space, on lunar, and on planetary bodies. Meeting these challenges requires the development of technologies that will support human system interaction by integrating monitoring, feedback and situational awareness across all types of mission parameters and observables. A successful human system interaction (HSI) system could extend based on existing agent frameworks and software architectures in which NASA is interested. Our proposed approach enables the design of embedded protocols for human-agent interactions to support crew health, safety, and cognitive load modeling in the context of supporting plan execution as well as overall mission goals and activities. Particularly, our proposed HSI framework consists of various types of agents (including sensing and situational awareness abilities, etc.), a suite of HSI protocols for delegation, adjustable autonomy, situational awareness, HSI and mission-oriented coordination, and the integration of the proposed framework with existing systems to assist mission task operations by providing previously hard to observe, yet vital dynamic information, e.g. human health conditions. Our innovation is an agent-based integrated framework for modeling, simulation and implementation of context and mission aware human-system interaction protocols and interfaces.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary result from this SBIR project will be the integrated HSI framework for collaboration of human-agent teams, which addresses the key concepts including human agent delegation, situational awareness, adjustable autonomy, and HSI/mission-oriented coordination. Our efforts on this project will result in a full design for the HSI framework including its associated components and a communication protocol suite. A working prototype for HSI in a crew health monitoring and performance scenario, built on IAI's CybeleTM agent platform, will support NASA mission needs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The HSI framework is being developed for managing human system interaction. It will provide real time health and mission-oriented situational awareness and assistance for mission planning. The HIS framework includes various supporting elements in the design e.g. ontological representation of domain knowledge and team capabilities, protocol development, extensibility. The HSI framework can be utilized in any domain areas that involve humans in the decision loop, where the human is supported by software elements. This includes areas of DOD as well as commercial applications such as first responder support, equipment maintenance and troubleshooting support, etc.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Turbogizmo, LLC
6040 Rockton Court
Centreville, VA 20121-3082

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stephen Schwartz
sschwartz@turbogizmo.com
6040 Rockton Court
Centreville,  VA 20121-3082

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Turbogizmo, LLC will develop new software technology for Human-System Interaction (HSI) for NASA that increases performance and reduces the risk of conducting manned exploration missions. This HSI technology combines intelligent software agents, decision support systems and perceptual interfaces to facilitate human collaboration with robotic and autonomous systems while supporting the use of augmented cognition models. This will provide the optimal configuration of multi-modal user interfaces to improve performance and safety during critical mission operations. Future exploration missions will involve greater information availability for crewmembers and enhancements to EVA systems will provide visual information for situational awareness. HSI technology that manages the exchange of information between Human and Robotic or Autonomous systems using augmented cognition models will result in reduced cognitive load caused by inappropriate information while minimizing the effort required when interacting with autonomous systems. Turbogizmo proposes to develop a service-based architecture for configuring a suite of multi-modal HCI technologies based on operational scenarios, evaluation of perceptual interfaces with cost/value propositions for interface configurations. This framework will be validated by experimentation and demonstration This technology will close a critical technology gap by enabling improved interaction for exploration crewmembers performing routine and contingency operations.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Software Tools that Control a Framework of Perceptual Interfaces and Visual Display Systems for Human-System Interaction with Robotic and Autonomous Systems are a critical tool that has been missing from mobile, wireless and pervasive information technology. As miniaturization and wireless technology has improved and user demographics have increased, the usefulness has been limited by the requirement of using not only the hands to operate, but also the heavy cognitive load placed on the user to interact with the visual information delivered. Often the information is delivered during a critical tasks causing an interruption and lowering performance or imposing a risk to task or safety. Our technology, once developed for commercialization, will enable the use of hands-free perceptual interfaces for controlling and managing the information flow essential to mobile work task improvements and optimal efficiency with less risk than experienced today.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Most appropriate to the commercialization of technology developed for this topic will be the applications for use by first responders for homeland security and public safety officials for hazard mitigation during local emergency situations. HSI with visual information display technology can provide users with improved access to visual information such as procedures, checklists, technical drawings, images and training materials. This allows workers to access visual information even while they are engaged in demanding tasks in mobile environments. HSI for robotic and autonomous system collaborations will enable increased use of robotic assets for dangerous tasks to provide increased public safety and industrial productivity. Commercialization opportunities include the following market sectors: • Public Safety: Firefighters, Police, Military, Security, Search and Rescue, Hazard Mitigation • Industrial: Construction, Repair, Training, Inspection, Inventory, Logistics, Safety • Commercial: IT for the Office, Sales, Marketing, Insurance, Analysis, Network • Consumer: Shopping, Travel, Entertainment, Education, Security, Correspondence, Finance

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Intelligence
Teleoperation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Traclabs, Inc.
8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110
San Antonio, TX 78217-2356

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Debra Schrechenghost
schreck@traclabs.com
8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110
San Antonio,  TX 78217-2356

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Robots are expected to fulfill an important role in manned exploration operations. They can reduce the risk of crew EVA and improve crew productivity on routine tasks. They can be supervised locally by astronauts or remotely by ground control. In a sense, robots will become members of the operational team. Just like human teams, these human-robot teams must exchange information, follow established protocols, and coordinate their activities to ensure that mission operations are safe and effective. Supporting such team operations requires infrastructure for human-robot interaction. TRACLabs proposes to develop a software framework that facilitates human-robot teaming, from team formation until completion of team operations. We will build on the existing Distributed Collaboration and Interaction (DCI) System, a software multi-agent system developed by TRACLabs to assist human-automation interaction. DCI provides a software agent for each human team member that delivers services supporting mission duties. An innovation of this project is providing DCI agents for robots as well as humans in the team. Another innovation is the use of human models to give robots insight into human behavior to improve interaction. Phase I will produce a software framework prototype for human-robot interaction and a framework design for implementation in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Exploration missions will require that humans and robots work together. Robots will perform high risk tasks like EVA and routine or repetitive tasks to improve crew productivity. Introducing robots into manned space operations, however, will change the way these operations are conducted. It will introduce new supervisory tasks for crew and ground control, including maintaining awareness of robotic activities and handling problems the robot cannot resolve. The proposed human-robot interaction framework will enable effective human supervision of robots, both nearby and remotely. Such capability will first be needed for lunar surface operations and will be enabling for manned missions into deep space.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Unmanned air and ground vehicles are becoming more common in battlefield situations. Future Combat Systems envision manned and unmanned vehicles of all sizes working side-by-side. Additionally, Congress has mandated that one-third of all military vehicles must be unmanned by 2015. The military envisions robots and soldiers working side-by-side to accomplish missions, as well as remote operators supervising robot teams. Currently several operators control one autonomous vehicle. The proposed framework for human-robot interaction will help reverse this ratio. Non-military markets include civilian SWAT teams, urban search and rescue and hostage situations. There are approximately 100 US cities with populations over 200,000 that could have use of a mobile robot for search and rescue, bomb disposal or hazardous materials handling. Often a single mobile robot will perform many different tasks. Operators will typically have less training and experience in using robots than military operators, thus support for effective human-robot interaction is essential.

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

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ProtoInnovations, LLC
1908 Shaw Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15217-1710

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stuart Heys
sheys@protoinnovations.com
1908 Shaw Ave.
Pittsburgh,  PA 15217-1710

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ProtoInnovations, LLC proposes to develop a new type of planetary rover called a Lunar All-terrain Utility Vehicle ("Lunar ATV") to assist extra-vehicular activities in future lunar missions. The vehicle will operate unmanned or with an astronaut driving onboard. It will have a roughly 4 m2 footprint and be able to about twice as fast as an astronaut can walk on the Moon. The vehicle will feature four-wheel, all-terrain mobility with traction control. A multi-purpose tool interface and interchangeable cargo bays will support a variety of mission payloads. The Lunar ATV will be used for mission such as site preparation, emplacing beacons, equipment and commodity distribution, and sampling. It will also be useful for human/robot interaction experiments taking place at NASA research centers. The primary innovations of this effort are: • A high-efficiency, long-life, lunar-relevant traction drive system • A simplified steer / suspension chassis built for speeds over 1 m/s without sacrificing weight or maneuverability • A multi-purpose tool interface for earthmoving, sampling, emplacing, etc. • Traction control software to maximize performance in earthmoving and negotiating rough terrain • CLARAty-compatible vehicle and tool interfaces to leverage NASA-developed teleoperation and autonomy software ProtoInnovations brings an impressive amount of experience to the task of designing the Lunar ATV. Working at Carnegie Mellon University, members of our team have developed robots to operate in some of the harshest environments on Earth: surveying Antarctic ice fields, traversing the Atacama Desert, exploring into an Alaskan volcano and mapping Chernobyl. In total, our robots have traveled roughly 500 km through some of the most difficult terrain on Earth. We've accomplished these tasks by building robots that are, above all else, controllable and reliable. Our team has experience building all of the subsystems involved in this project.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
ProtoInnovations will vigorously push our Lunar ATV technology into NASA's manned and unmanned lunar exploration program. This will require close interaction with the customer. We will foster this by making the vehicle available for testing wherever possible. With our rapid and iterative approach to development and the flexible design of the Lunar ATV, we will adapt as NASA's lunar exploration program continues. The Lunar ATV also represents a new class of space robotics research rover: larger, faster, and more capable than K9 and K10 with a high payload capacity. Its ability to be driven by an astronaut opens up new types of EVA simulations. We hope that adoption of the Lunar ATV by NASA will provide ProtoInnovations with a sustainable R&D effort until the Lunar ATV design gains a high TRL level and is infused into the lunar exploration program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercially, work on unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is often directed towards the defense market. Our work on traction control has applicability to UGVs that use electric drive motors, including defense products such as iRobot's PackBot and Foster-Miller's TALON. Members of our team have worked as subcontractors to Foster-Miller, so we plan to pursue business development opportunities with this prominent defense robotics manufacturer. Our traction drive design will also benefit terrestrial UGVs operating at speeds of several meters per second. It will consume power more efficiently and feature a longer operating life than traditional high-speed motors coupled with harmonic drives. A multi-purpose tool interface for UGVs will also be useful to the hazmat robots and UGVs that handle explosives. We will pursue R&D opportunities from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and DARPA to adapt our lunar-relevant design to terrestrial applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Mobility
Manipulation
Manned-Manuvering Units
Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Traclabs, Inc.
8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110
San Antonio, TX 78217-2356

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Burridge
burridge@traclabs.com
1012 Hercules
Houston,  TX 77058-2356

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Robots will be precursors to human exploration of the lunar surface. They will be expected to prepare the lunar surface for human habitation as well as conduct scientific investigations. As humans arrive the robots should be able to shift to providing direct assistance to human exploration activities. Such tasks require a new generation of robotic vehicles -- a generation that has flexible, dexterous manipulation capabilities and adjustable software controllers that can shift between remote teleoperation, autonomy and co-located human interaction. Our innovation consists of two components. The first component is a reconfigurable, dexterous manipulator that is designed to be mounted on a mobile robot. The manipulator will be light-weight and low-power. It will contain a reconfigurable number of up to seven degrees-of-freedom. The second component is a software system that can adjust control of the manipulator from teleoperated to autonomous and that can control the mobile robot and the manipulator as a coordinated unit. We propose to implement a method called Coordinated Resolved Motion Control that will automatically and jointly control the rover as well as the manipulator such that the manipulator will stay away from singularities. Together these two innovations will substantially increase the capabilities of NASA rovers, making them more efficient and effective.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA exploration missions will require significantly more complicated robots than are currently being used. Several NASA research projects, including Robonaut, K-10 and Athlete are working towards highly dexterous, intelligent robots. Our NASA applications will focus on our software as much as our hardware. While only a small number of dexterous manipulators will be needed by NASA, many of NASA's research robots will require coordinated motion of rover and manipulation. For example, Centaur is a four-wheeled base with Robonaut on it being developed at NASA Johnson Space Center. NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory also have research robots that combine mobility and manipulation. We will work with all of these researchers in Phase 3 to adapt our coordinated control software to their robots. In addition we expect to deliver our reconfigurable manipulator to NASA ARC for permanent mounting on one of their K-10 robots.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Unmanned vehicles are becoming more and more common in battlefield situations. The Future Combat Systems (FCS) program envisions manned and unmanned vehicles of all sizes working side-by-side. In addition, Congress has mandated that one-third of all military vehicles must be unmanned by 2015. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) is the primary domain in which robots are currently used. No EOD robot on the market has a dexterous manipulator. We believe our reconfigurable technology will make us the clear choice in this market. Non-military markets such as civilian EOD, urban search and rescue and hostage situations are also increasingly using robots. Often a single mobile robot will have to perform many different tasks giving our reconfigurable technology an edge. Another market is the research robotics community such as universities and government laboratories. The reconfigurable aspect of our manipulator is a selling point because it allows laboratories to upgrade to more DOF over time and allows them to reconfigure the manipulator for different research objectives. We will also generalize our mobile robot interface to allow integration with commercially available robots. We expect that the next generation of robotics research will focus on mobile manipulation with programs being supported by NSF, NASA, DARPA and other funding agencies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Intelligence
Mobility
Manipulation
Perception/Sensing
Teleoperation
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jay Rozzi
jcr@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover,  NH 03755-0071

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
For lunar-based fission power systems that will support In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) or Mars robotic and manned missions, power requirements may vary from 10s to 100s of kWe to support initial human missions and longer term lunar bases. Due to the large amounts of waste heat generated by these systems, a key consideration is the development of lightweight, highly efficient heat rejection systems (HRS) that can operate at elevated temperatures (~550 K). Currently, an approach that is being strongly considered is the use of titanium sheathed heat pipe with a carbon composite over-wrap, combined with a carbon composite radiator panel to decrease the system mass. Our innovation is the integration of an ultra-light radiator panel material with a lightweight titanium heat pipe. Our calculations show that our approach will reduce the total mass by as much as 20% compared to the carbon-composite systems under consideration and represents a lower risk approach to achieve a practical HRS.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Our innovative heat rejection system, which is based on the integration of an ultra-light radiator panel material with a lightweight titanium heat pipe, will reduce the total mass by as much as 20% compared to the carbon-composite systems under consideration. The results of our work would have far-reaching benefits for government space and military systems. These include nuclear power generation for long-duration interplanetary and planetary-based missions, mobile power systems, and satellites.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
While the main applications for our innovation are space-based systems, our novel heat rejection systems can be applied to commercial thermal management systems that are severely weight constrained. Such systems can benefit from the lightweight, high-temperature capability of our unique innovation. These applications can include radar, aerospace, large-scale power systems, and energy recovery applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Nuclear Conversion
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yardney Technical Products Inc
82 Mechanic St
Pawcatuck, CT 06379-2167

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joseph Gnanaraj
joeg@lithion.com
82 Mechanic Street
Pawcatuck,  CT 06379-2154

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are attractive candidates for use as power sources in aerospace applications because they have high specific energy, energy density and long cycle life. Yardney/Lithion Inc has become the leader in cutting edge Lithium Ion batteries. At the present moment, two of the Lithion batteries are operating on the surface of Mars with great success. In a conventional Li-ion battery when the rate is higher than C, their charge/discharge performance is severely degraded and loss its capacity permanently. Now we are focusing our interest to develop Li-ion batteries that can rapidly charge/discharge at high current rates. Yardney in collaboration with researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA, proposes to investigate a new non-toxic nano-engineered electrode that significantly shortens the Li+ diffusion length within the electrode materials and increases the rate capability of Li-ion batteries. The goal of Phase I of this project will be to develop new nano-architectured anode that has rapid Li+ recharge characteristics. Emphasis will be placed upon the construct of Fe3O4 based nano-engineered electrodes with Cu nanorods as current collectors. The high-rate capabilities change with the change in the diameter, packing density and aspect ratio of the Cu nanorods will be studied.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The target application for this nano engineered Li ion battery technology is space applications that require high energy and power densities. This technology will have superior performance at low temperatures due to the very small internal impedance of the nano-engineered electrode materials.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High power applications include power tools, electric vehicles and telecommunications. Automotive and industrial sectors, where the slim, small-sized battery will deliver large amounts of energy while requiring only a minute to recharge. For example, the battery's advantages in size, weight and safety highly suit it for a role as an alternative power source for hybrid electric vehicles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
T/J Technologies Inc
3850 Research Park Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2240

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Greg Less
gless@tjtechnologies.com
3850 Research Park Drive
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-2240

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA, the military, and even consumer product manufacturers are limited in their ability to impliment lithium ion battery technology by the effective operating temperature of the state-of-the-art electrolytes. In this effort T/J Technologies will develop novel ionic liquid electrolytes. Ionic liquids, salts that melt at very low temperatures, show potential as solvents that will allow lithium ion batteries to operate at temperatures as low as -80<SUP>o</SUP>C and as high as 100<SUP>o</SUP>C. Additionally, ionic liquid electrolytes are well suited for space applications because they have near zero vapor pressure and are a non-flammable alternative to the organic solvents commonly used in batteries. It is anticipated that this technology will benefit a broad range of Exploration mission applications including portable power for landers, rovers, and astronaut equipment, as well as stationary energy storage applications such as base power, and storage systems for crew exploration vehicles and spacecraft. In phase I we will deliver a laboratory prototype cell capable of performing between the NASA temperature extremes of -60<SUP>o</SUP>C and 60<SUP>o</SUP>C while retaining greater than 80 % of its room temperature capacity and cycle life. In a Phase II effort, the electrolyte will be transitioned to production type cells and fully qualified for safety, life and space use.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This program directly addresses the market needs of NASA by providing a safe, fast lithium ion battery capable of operating over a wide range of temperatures. The development of safe, wide temperature range lithium ion batteries is important for a variety of NASA near term and long term goals. Namely, high discharge rate, low temperature batteries could see useful deployment on exploration mission applications including portable power for landers, rovers, and astronaut equipment, as well as stationary energy storage applications such as base power, and storage systems for crew exploration vehicles and spacecraft. Nearly 40% of all lithium ion batteries, approximately 400 million units, will be used by the military and other government agencies by 2010. By increasing the useful temperature range, decreasing the fire hazard, and allowing for periodic state-of-health checks of the batteries used in important components for our space and military needs, the electrolyte proposed here will not only increase the usability of lithium ion batteries but will also increase their safety and reliability.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Increasing the operational temperature range and safety of lithium ion batteries offers the potential for huge market opportunities in both military and civilian markets. There are currently many lithium ion battery applications that could benefit from the development of a wide temperature electrolyte; Military and telecom applications are the projected two largest consumers of lithium ion batteries and have some of the most demanding temperature ranges for their batteries. Military applications currently span from -60<SUP>o</SUP>C to 80<SUP>o</SUP>C, however, the upper operational temperatures required for military use is likely to increase as our forces are being deployed into more and more inhospitable locations. Munitions stored in the desert are expected to reach temperatures as high as 125<SUP>o</SUP>C. Telecommunication batteries used in cellular phones and Personal Data Assistants have become an integral part of our daily personal and business lives. Consumers expect these devices to work both outdoors in the winter time in Fairbanks, Alaska and after having been left on the dashboard of a car in Tucson, Arizona. Both of these markets would see a large benefit from a wide temperature range electrolyte.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Santa Fe Science and Technology, Inc.
3216 Richards Lane
Santa Fe, NM 87507-2940

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ian Norris
norris@sfst.net
3216 Richards Lane
Santa Fe,  NM 87507-2940

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Future NASA planetary exploration missions require secondary (rechargeable) batteries that can operate at extreme temperatures (-60<SUP>o</SUP>C to 60<SUP>o</SUP>C) yet deliver high specific energies (> 180 W·hr/kg) and long cycle life (>2,000 cycles). Functional organic materials are a promising technology for use as the cathode in Li-Ion batteries due to their high specific energy density. It is also expected that the use of polymeric cathodes instead of lithium metal oxides will make Li-Ion batteries thinner, lighter and less environmentally hazardous. This Phase I proposal is based on demonstrating the feasibility of fully packaged Li-Ion batteries that have a superior specific energy (>200 W·hr/kg) through the use of novel polymeric cathodes (composite conducting polymer/disulfide materials) when coupled with room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) electrolyte. Compared to traditional organic electrolyte systems (e.g. (e.g. lithium salts dissolved in alkyl carbonates), RTIL electrolytes have favorable electrochemical windows (> 5 V) and high ionic conductivity over a wide range of temperatures from –60?C to 250?C and are known to prolong the lifetime of conducting polymer electrochemical devices. Besides these highly desirable characteristics for use in these novel Li-ion batteries, RTILs have inherent safety characteristics by virtue of their thermal stability, non-flammability, non-volatility and low heat of reaction with active materials.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High-energy, rechargeable batteries capable of operating over a wide temperature range are of interest for a number of NASA applications. Rechargeable Li-Ion batteries offer significant advantages over nickel (Ni-Cd and NiMH) systems for use in space mission applications, including reduced weight and volume of the energy storage system. The proposed work will develop batteries with higher specific energies and extend the low temperature range of these batteries allowing their use on a wider variety of missions. Specifically these Li-Ion rechargeable batteries are can be used in many aerospace applications that include planetary landers, planetary rovers, planetary orbiters, earth orbiting spacecraft (geosynchronous earth orbit and low earth orbit) and astronaut equipment (lighting, power tools, communication devices).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The exponential growth in portable electronics such as laptop computers, digital cameras, and cellular phones has created enormous interest in the development of smaller, lighter, and safer Li-Ion rechargeable batteries. Although Li-ion batteries are the state-of-the-art power sources for a variety of portable electronic devices, during the past decade there have been numerous recalls of these batteries due to overheating problems. Li-ion batteries combine highly energetic materials in contact with a flammable and volatile electrolyte based on organic solvents. Room temperature ionic liquids electrolytes possess inherently desirable safety characteristics by virtue of their thermal stability, non-flammability and non-volatility. The non-flammability is effective in preventing these Li-Ion batteries from catching fire, while their non-volatility prevents the batteries from bursting. These inherent safety characteristics are highly beneficial for the use Li-ion batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Distributed Energy Systems
10 Technology Drive
Wallingford, CT 06492-1955

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In order to address the NASA lunar mission, DESC proposes to develop a proton exchange membrane (PEM) closed-loop pure oxygen fuel cell for application to lunar surface exploration, building upon DESC's expertise and fundamental demonstrations in closely related technology. Building upon the recent NASA SBIR Phase II and Navy SBIR Phase I work, the static feed URFC hardware will be converted for primary fuel cell performance. The cell performance will be characterized with two or more membrane-electrode assembly configurations with a goal of achieving the highest efficiency. Sub-scale stacks will be tested for durability. Thermal modeling will be conducted to predict the level of heat removal required by scale-up stacks. Thermal management techniques will be investigated to permit effective scale-up.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Based on DESC's unique experience in commercializing PEM-based products, transitioning to military and civilian aerospace applications are important outcomes of this technology development effort. Civilian commercial derivatives of this technology would be enabling technology for airship-based telecommunications systems and reliable remote power applications. Impacts of this technology on military operations include enabling high altitude unmanned aerial vehicle operations and a variety of underwater vehicle operations, especially unmanned underwater vehicles. The similarity between the high altitude and undersea applications is that both require the storage of oxidant in addition to the storage of fuel. Pure oxygen capable fuel cells are a critical need for both operating environments. The 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.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition, DESC is working to commercialize discrete RFC (DRFC) systems for terrestrial back-up power applications. DESC's UNIGEN<SUP>REG</SUP> regenerative fuel cell is under development for telecommunications backup power systems as a replacement for valve regulated lead acid batteries and commercial generator sets. This back-up power system provides both ride-through capability and rapid response characteristics at a lower overall life cycle cost than conventional technology. A natural extension of back-up power is application in conjunction with inherently intermittent renewable energy sources. Additional massive undeveloped markets are emerging as the two billion inhabitants of the planet now without electricity move toward access to power. Small-scale power generation and/or storage will become another distributed technology analogous to cell phones for communications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Tankage
Energy Storage
Photovoltaic Conversion
Power Management and Distribution
Renewable Energy

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
GINER ELECTROCHEMICAL SYSTEMS, LLC
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton, MA 02466-1311

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Cortney Mittelsteadt
cmittelsteadt@ginerinc.com
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton,  MA 02466-1311

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Development of an advanced composite bipolar plate is proposed for a unitized regenerative fuel cell and electrolyzer system that operates on pure feed streams (H2/O2 and water, respectively). The composite bipolar plate can greatly simplify "closed-loop" unitized fuel cell/electrolyzer power systems, as it eliminates the need for saturators, a second stack and water/gas phase separation. It provides a substantial system improvement over presently used alkaline systems in that it allows for simple high pressure operation with a high differential pressure. Additionally, it allows for dead-ended H2 and O2 feed for the fuel cell, eliminating parasitic pumping losses required for water removal. Phase I will demonstrate composite bipolar plate-based fuel cell and electrolyzers, and quantify the composite bipolar plate transport and mechanical properties required for system design. In Phase II a full unitized composite bipolar plate stack would be designed and built to size according to NASA requirements.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
PEM based electrolyzer/fuel cell systems have the potential of replacing power systems in many of NASA's current applications, including manned space applications, high altitude flight, and manned stations on the moon and Mars. These composite-bipolar-plate-PEM based systems have real systematic advantages over both traditional PEM and alkaline systems, including integrated cooling and water management systems; dead-ended fuel cell operation, and elimination of gas-liquid separation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential products foreseen are: the composite bipolar plate PEM electrolyzer; the composite bipolar plate PEM fuel cell; and closed loop, discrete, and unitized PEM regenerative fuel cell (RFC) systems. Electrolyzer applications include H2 generation for gas chromatography, industrial uses and hydrogen refueling stations. PEMFC applications include vehicles and stationary power, where the internal water management provides a large system advantage. Closed-loop regenerative fuel cell systems could use a unitized stack which provides the promise of decreasing stack weight by half for combined PEM fuel cell and electrolyzer systems. A composite bipolar plate greatly simplifies water management for a unitized stack by managing water completely in the vapor phase. Industrial applications include power back-up for computer and energy related systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Liquid-Liquid Interfaces
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Giner Inc
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton, MA 02466-1311

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert McDonald
rmcdonald@ginerinc.com
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton,  MA 02466-1311

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has identified needs for compact high-energy-density primary and secondary batteries. Lithium and Lithium Ion cells, respectively, are meeting these needs for both manned and unmanned needs. The high power available in some of these cell chemistries can cause substantial internal heating in the event of sustained internal and external heating. At sufficiently elevated temperatures, cell components can react energetically causing cell case rupture, and in some cases, fire. The proposed will develop and demonstrate an internal means of controlling short circuit, which is chemically and electrochemically compatible with the cell's active materials. Using suitable controls, safe handling of an external short circuit will be demonstrated in small cells.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology will offer a substantial improvement in system and personnel safety on NASA mission where high-energy-density lithium primary and lithium ion secondary batteries are required for mission success. GI will work with companies who current manufacture these cells for NASA so that the proposed idea can be efficiently and cost-effectively incorporated. Lithium and lithium ion cells are important sources of compact, reliable power for extravehicular activities (e.g., lighting) and manned planetary and lunar exploration.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Primary lithium batteries, like the Lithium/Thionyl Chloride and Lithium/Iodine cells, have found important use for implantable medical devices including neurostimulators, defibrillators, and drug-delivery systems. Primary lithiums are also used in Manpack military power and in aviation for emergency locator beacons. Primary lithium cells provide high cell voltage (3 Volts) and much longer operating time than conventional primary cells. Lithium Ion rechargeable cells are used in a rapidly expanding market for laptop computers, cell phones, power tools and other portable communication and entertainment devices for the consumer. In all cases, there is the risk that physical abuse, excessive heating or manufacturing defects could result in a sustained short circuit, leading to cell thermal runaway and cell venting. GI will work with selected battery manufacturers of these consumer, medical and industrial batteries to incorporate the proposed concept for greatly improved user and system safety.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Pilot Support Systems
Composites
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Quest Product Development Corporation
4975 Miller Street
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-2215

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scott Dye
sdye@quest-corp.com
4975 Miller Street
Wheat Ridge,  CO 80033-2215

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Current Multilayer Insulation (MLI) technology is over 50 years old, and is typically comprised of 10 to 120 layers of metalized polymer films separated by polyester netting. MLI is the best thermal insulation in a vacuum, and is the insulation of choice for spacecraft and cryogenic system insulation, but has problems relating to density control and performance, application labor, and difficulty covering small and large scales. An innovative concept for improved cryogenic insulation, Integrated MLI, is proposed based on a micro-machined or micro-molded substructure. Thermal conductivity will be lower than conventional MLI, layers would be inherently attached to each other and support one another, construction would be easier, and the vacuum shell could be supported by the IMLI, greatly reducing the mass of the insulation system with vacuum shells used to insulate cryogenic dewars or tanks. An improved insulation should provide lower thermal conductivity, lower specific thermal conductivity, vacuum compatibility, layers inherently attached to each other that support themselves, efficient assembly and provide structural reliability. Recent advances in injection molding has resulted in the ability to mold structures with very small features, comprised of materials with low thermal conductivity and low outgassing. Integrated MLI will consist of small micro-machined or micro-molded structures that support radiation barrier layers, and will offer significant advantages. Preliminary analysis of several potential designs indicates IMLI has a theoretical thermal conductivity less than half that of MLI, allowing improved long term cryogenic propellant storage and spacecraft thermal performance. It may provide improved structural assembly, strength and integrity over current MLI. This proposal is to work on the design, material selection, assembly processes and preliminary physical property testing of a prototype of this innovative new thermal insulation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Integrated MLI might provide improved thermal performance and have improved structural integrity for spacecraft cryogenic propellant storage and thermal insulation. Other standard spacecraft insulation uses, such as insulating instruments, or insulating and preserving liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen cryogenic systems and dewars, might also be well served by IMLI. IMLI could provide the cryogenic insulation and vacuum shell used to insulation and maintain cryogenics on space instruments, satellites, CEV/CLV spacecraft cabins and lunar surface habitats. It may be able to provide substantially longer term cryogenic storage, helping enable longer term manned space flights. Low mass, low thermal conductance cryotank structural systems are of interest to NASA. IMLI may have excellent properties required for spacecraft use; low thermal conductance, vacuum compatibility of materials, inherent control of layer dimensions and density, self-supporting layers with a post-and-beam substructure, ease of assembly for small and large areas, potential for both tight seams and material flexibility.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Extremely efficient thermal insulation, easily assembled and applied to cover various surfaces, would have utility in commercial cryogenic applications such as cryogenic vessels and pipes in scientific and industrial applications. A major use would be insulating dewars for liquid nitrogen, liquid helium, liquid oxygen, etc., which are widely found in research and industrial uses. Other potential applications include large commercial tanks, industrial boilers and industrial hot and cold process equipment, refrigerated trucks and trailers, insulated tank, container and rail cars, liquid hydrogen fueled aircraft or fuel cells, appliances such as refrigerators and freezers, hot water heaters, Thermos type liquid containers, picnic and mobile containers to keep foods hot or cold, marine refrigeration, potentially even house structures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Thermal Insulating Materials
Fluid Storage and Handling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aspen Aerogels, Inc.
30 Forbes Road
Northborough, MA 01532-2501

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Wendell Rhine
wrhine@aerogel.com
30 Forbes Road, Building B
Northborough,  MA 01532-2501

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Exploration Systems architecture presents some propulsion challenges that require new technologies to be developed. To solve these challenges, NASA needs new technologies for long term cryogenic propellant storage, management and acquisition applications in-space as well as on the lunar surface. These technologies will impact cryogenic systems for space transportation orbit transfer vehicles, space power systems, spaceports, spacesuits, lunar habitation systems, robotics, and in situ propellant systems. The sizes of these systems range from the small (< 20 m3 for supercritical air and payload cooling) to very large (> 3400 m3 for LOX and LH2 propellant storage). Advanced materials are needed to help solve the unique requirements of these small to very large storage systems. Thus, this SBIR project will focus on improving the strength of aerogels which are the lightest weight and best insulation material known. Improvements in the strength of aerogels would allow these materials to be used as advanced insulation materials capable of retaining structural integrity while accommodating large operating temperatures ranging from cryogenic to elevated temperatures. The properties of the aerogels will be tailored by controlling their densities and strengthened by reinforcing them with fibers and modifying the aerogel framework with organic crosslinking agents.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The aerogel-based materials will have applications as cryogenic insulation and as lightweight structural components for composite cryogenic tanks.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The aerogels developed in this project would find applications as the insulation used for LNG storage containers as well as for other cryogenic fluids. Lightweight structural aerogels would find applications as a component of composite sandwich panels that are both lightweight and insulating. Such panels could find many applications including uses in energy efficient buildings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Thermal Insulating Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc
176 Waltham St
Watertown, MA 02472-4809

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Charles Hannon
chuckh@amtimail.com
176 Waltham St
Watertown,  MA 02472-4809

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Helium plays several critical rolls in spacecraft propulsion. High pressure helium is commonly used to pressurize propellant fuel tanks. Helium cryocoolers can be used to sub-cool and thereby densify cryogenic propellants such as liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LO2). The use of densified cryogenic propellants can reduce the gross payload weight of a launch vehicle by up to 20%, or increase payload capability. Helium compressors are critical components for cryogenic propellant storage and distribution systems, whether used in cryocoolers for densification or to compress gaseous helium for propellant pressurization. Regenerative compressor technology can serve high head, low flow helium pressurization applications in a compact form with high reliability. Pressure ratios on the order of 3:1 per impeller-stage are commercially available. Non-lubricated gas-bearing supported prototypes have been successfully demonstrated. However, even state-of-the-art prototype regenerative compressors are limited to efficiencies of about 55%. This was achieved using aerodynamic rotor blades rather than the straight radial blades previously used. Commercially available regenerative compressors with straight vaned rotors operate at much lower efficiency. An innovation is proposed that promises to improve the efficiency of regenerative compressors well beyond the current state of the art.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA related applications for a high efficiency regenerative compressor include propellant management in space, in-situ resource recovery from the lunar or Martian surface, and as a component in high efficiency cryocoolers in space. Successful development of a high efficiency regenerative compressor will enable development of high efficiency DC flow and hybrid cryocooler cycles that will eliminate the need for large-scale cryogen storage for cooling of electronics and optics in space. A regenerative compressor is ideally employed in and low specific speed gas compression application (high head, low flow).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is current commercial interest in using regenerative compressors to pressurize natural gas fuel to micro-turbine power generators (terrestrial). Closed cycle cryocoolers are beginning to replace stored liquid helium to cool MRI and NMR magnets. The efficiency of AC flow cryocoolers currently used is low. A high efficiency, high head helium compressor will enable development of highly efficient compact DC flow cryocoolers for this and other terrestrial applications. The compressor innovation is also applicable to regenerative pumps and blowers which find widespread industrial use.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Feed System Components
Fluid Storage and Handling
In-situ Resource Utilization
Superconductors and Magnetic

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Materials Technology, Inc
9324 Mandrake Ct
Tampa, FL 33647-3289

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Akbar Fard
AdvancedMaterialsTech@gmail.com
9324 Mandrake Ct
Tampa,  FL 33647-3289

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced Materials Technology, Inc (AMTI) responds to the Topic X9 entitled "Propulsion and Propellant Storage" under subtopic X9.01, "Long Term Cryogenic Propellant Storage, Management, and Acquisition". The proposed program will focus on developing new multifunctional insulation materials that will impact cryogenic systems for space transportation orbit transfer vehicles, space power systems, spaceports, spacesuits, lunar habitation systems, robotics, and in situ propellant systems. These innovative materials will be capable of retaining structural integrity while accommodating large operating temperatures ranging from cryogenic to elevated temperatures conditions. These advanced materials can be incorporated into thermal protection systems (TPS), reducing the amount of TPS and its structure. To meet and exceed the NASA's requirements, we propose to develop multifunctional organic/inorganic nanocomposites foams for structural and insulation applications offering affordable cost, lightweight, and high strength, low thermal conductivity, high thermal stability, and easy processability which will result in improved efficiency and reliability of the cryogenic systems. The approach proposed in this program will provide with more flexibility in designing cryogenic insulators. Once the feasibility of the concept of strong, lightweight cryogenic insulating materials is demonstrated in Phase I, we shall scale-up this concept in a Phase II program to meet the NASA's requirements.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Foamed organic-inorganic materials will be a new generation of advanced foams. It will provide to the NASA exceptional resistance to temperature changes, maintaining property stability from –250 C to more than +400 C and is non-flammable and non toxic compared to normal insulation products like fiberglass, polyurethane, and polystyrene The technology proposed in this program will help the NASA to reduce the cost of space flight. Our materials will provide the NASA with robust cryogenic solutions and, therefore, will significantly decrease space mission failures. These materials will benefit NASA's programs, namely, the X-33 and Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) programs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The innovative foamed organic-inorganic materials can be used in a variety of commercial applications. These materials are expected to outperform polyimide foams in structural and insulation including shipbuilding, aircraft, and medical prosthetics. A major difficulty in the commercialization of polyimide nanocomposite is that the raw materials are still very expensive. The potential applications for the materials developed under this program: include (i) Flame retardant and fire protection. (ii) Thermal insulation, (iii) Acoustic insulation, (iv) Weight reduction, (v) Gaskets and seals, (vi) Vibration damping pads, (vii) Spacers in adhesives and sealant, (viii) Extenders, (ix) Flow/leveling aids.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Thermal Insulating Materials
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites
Organics/Bio-Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Acellent Technologies, Inc.
155 C-3 Moffett Park Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-2108

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amrita Kumar
akumar@acellent.com
155 C-3 Moffett Park Drive
Sunnyvale,  CA 94089-2108

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Solid rocket motor cases are subject to a variety of external environmental and loading conditions from cradle-to-grave. These conditions can significantly impact the performance and decrease safety of the rocket motor. Fueling of the rocket motor adds an additional complexity in that inspection of the interior becomes impossible while creating the possibility of disbonds between the case and fuel. These factors can have potentially catastrophic consequences for the space vehicle performance. Acellent Technologies is currently developing structural health monitoring systems to address this issue. The TRL at completion of the current technology development is anticipated to be TRL 5-6. The proposed program focuses on maturing the technology to a TRL level 7 for implementation on existing and future space transportation vehicles. The development will be conducted in close collaboration with ATK-Thiokol who fully support the developmental and commercialization efforts.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Next Generation Space Vehicles architecture definitions will require built-in damage monitoring tools such as those based on the proposed system. Structural integrity determination of critical components of a reusable launch vehicle such as impact damage monitoring for solid rocket motors can be extremely important especially during ascent, in-orbit and re-entry. Unforeseen impact events during this time can cause damage that if not monitored can lead to catastrophic failure of the vehicle. Since nearly all next generation launch vehicle structures will require some form of inspection and maintenance procedures to monitor their integrity and health condition during pre-launch, during space operations and post-flight, the potential applications of the proposed system are very broad. In the future, this system can potentially be used to monitor all major structural components of launch vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The system to be developed under the present proposal offers the potential to provide a complete solution for a wide range of structural analysis, evaluation, and maintenance requirements and enable a number of high value economic benefits to the aircraft, missile and spacecraft industries. The largest and nearest-term impact areas for the technology are critical but inaccessible areas on structures. The system can potentially be used for applications ranging from aircraft (to monitor impacts on door surrounds, fuselage, wings etc. )to automobiles (crash sensing) and monitoring of bridges and buildings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch Assist (Electromagnetic, Hot Gas and Pneumatic)
Propellant Storage
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Testing Facilities
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Tankage
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Composites
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Transition45 Technologies, Inc.
1963 North Main Street
Orange, CA 92865-4101

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Edward Chen
transition45@sbcglobal.net
1963 North Main Street
Orange,  CA 92865-4101

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR Phase I effort examines the feasibility of an innovative fabrication technology incorporating sand casting and friction stir processing (FSP) for producing affordable near net shape components made from high performance Ni-based superalloys. Sand casting is a relatively inexpensive casting method not traditionally used to manufacture superalloy castings. Instead of invested ceramic shells, the molds are produced from a mixture of fine sand and/or rammed graphite powder. Friction stir processing is an emerging microstructural modification technique based on friction stir welding (FSW). It can be applied to enhance the microstructure-properties of the cast material thus improve the damage tolerance capabilities. This step is needed to allow cast superalloy rocket propulsion components to be used without a casting factor.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Advanced superalloy castings can be used for rocket and air propulsion applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential non-NASA commercial applications include components for land-based gas turbines and petrochemical pumps and valves.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Beamed Energy
Chemical
High Energy Propellents (Recombinant Energy & Metallic Hydrogen)
Launch Assist (Electromagnetic, Hot Gas and Pneumatic)
Monopropellants
Nuclear (Adv Fission, Fusion, Anti-Matter, Exotic Nuclear)
Propellant Storage
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Cooling
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Structural Modeling and Tools
Fluid Storage and Handling
Ceramics
Metallics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Combustion Research and Flow Technology
6210 Keller's Church Road
Pipersville, PA 18947-1020

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ashvin Hosangadi
hosangad@craft-tech.com
6210 Keller's Church Road
Pipersville,  PA 18947-1020

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In-space valves for the main fuel and oxidizer feed systems are required to provide precise control, wide throttling range and handle rapid on-off control. These design requirements result in significant unsteady, transient effects both on the fluid mass flow rate, as well as the torque required from the actuators controlling the valve. However, there currently are no fundamental analytical or numerical modeling tools that can predict the unsteady/transient performance of these valves; current design tools are limited to quasi-steady models and empirical correlations. The innovation proposed here is a high-fidelity, comprehensive numerical tool that can characterize the transient performance of these flight valves and provide design support. Geometry complexity and numerical accuracy problems associated with resolving valve configurations with moving surfaces are addressed via a grid adaption strategy within an unstructured framework. Unsteady effects due to both turbulence interactions as well as multi-phase cavitation are addressed with advanced numerical framework that incorporates both real-fluid thermodynamics for cryogens as well as advanced LES models for unsteady turbulence modeling. The tools and technology developed here would directly impact design support efforts for the J-2X upper-stage engine in the Ares 1 launcher envisioned under the Constellation program for the mission to the moon.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The end-product will be a high-fidelity, numerical simulation software (CRUNCH CFD<SUP>REG</SUP> code) that would predict the transient performance of flight valve configurations , provide design support by supplementing current empirical rules, and diagnose system anomalies. Our product addresses core needs of NASA in the Constellation program, and the mission to the moon, for reliable and well-validated computational tools that can provide accurate simulations of performance in an accurate and efficient manner to be useful within a design cycle timeline. The technology developed here would directly impact analysis of the valves and the feed systems to be designed for the upper-stage J-2X feed system in the Ares 1 launcher by providing the transient mass flow through the valve, unsteady torque loads on the actuator controlling the valve, as well diagnosing the potential for damaging water-hammer as well as multi-phase cavitation effects that may result during rapid on-off control.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The commercial market for our product is very large and includes the broad market of rapid response control valves in industries such as nuclear power generation, chemical process plants, and hazardous waste facilities among others where the transient performance characterization of valves play a vital safety role. In addition to these traditional markets, commercial space ventures ranging from space transportation systems (COTS) for the international space station (ISS), to low-cost satellite launch systems are getting an infusion of venture capital and would be receptive to accurate simulation tools. The primary market for this product will be in the design and analysis of high-performance, high-reliability valves used for inherently transient operations in the nuclear and chemical process industry. Here characterizing the transient performance is a critical safety issue and the availability of a well-validated, reliable computational tool can play a key role in the design process for these critical elements.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Simulation Modeling Environment
Feed System Components
Fluid Storage and Handling
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alphaport, Inc.
6002 Fleet Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44105-3408

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tony Johnson
tjohnson@weltech.us
6002 Fleet Avenue
Cleveland,  OH 44105-3408

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed project consists of developing a prototype exciter/igniter unit that can operate to a subset of expected flight performance requirements. The main focus of this development effort will be the physical integration of a small, compact exciter with a "flight like" igniter or spark plug. This exciter/igniter prototype will represent the exciter/igniter units used to generate sparks that ignite fuels in engines and propulsion systems. The development of this prototype unit will follow a phased approach covering design, development, analysis, assembly, test and verification. This prototype will represent a "stand alone" integrated unit capable of providing ionizing voltage greater than 20 kV for a spark energy of 45 to 50 mJ at a rate of 200-300 sparks per second. The proposed prototype will integrate both the exciter electronics and an igniter (spark plug) to demonstrate "end-to-end" functionality. Additionally, the integrated unit will be as compact as possible. The implications of the proposed project are for space and weight savings in the overall development of green propulsion systems as applicable to research projects in Exploration Systems and specifically applicable to Topic X9 Propulsion and Propellant Storage.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential NASA applications are for the development of fast, high energy spark exciters and spark plugs required to support any propulsion systems. Further, potential applications exist for the development of non-toxic (green) propulsion systems. As a specific example, the proposed exciter can be used to support the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The CEV has been proposed with GOX ethanol or GOX GCH4, both requiring exciter/igniter units that can produce more spark energy.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential non-NASA applications are reduced size & weight with improved performance of automobile, watercraft and aircraft engines. Additionally, applications exist to support the development of Department of Defense (DoD) propulsion systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
IN Space, L.L.C.
1220 Potter Dr., Suite 100
West Lafayette, IN 47906-1334

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
B.J. Austin
bjaustin@inspacellc.com
1220 Potter Dr., Suite 100
West Lafayette,  IN 47906-1334

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Gases trapped in the propellant feed lines of space-based rocket engines due to cryogenic propellant boil-off or pressurant ingestion can result in poor combustion efficiencies, combustion instabilities, or long startup transients. To assist NASA in the use of the high performing liquid oxygen propellant combinations in space engines, IN Space proposes to investigate the feasibility of an innovative swirl injector design for liquid oxygen and hydrocarbon propellants to achieve high combustion efficiencies, stable operation, and short and smooth startup transients despite potential two-phase oxidizer flow. Additionally anticipated benefits of the injector include low inert mass and low manufacturing costs. IN Space plans to carry out the feasibility assessment of the injector design by conducting broad parametric test fire evaluations of a notional LOX/hydrocarbon workhorse thruster based on present NASA needs to assess the effects of several design considerations on the combustion efficiency, static combustion stability, and startup transient duration performance merits. A preliminary flightweight injector design will also be generated in order to compare the estimated injector mass with similar injector designs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA space-based propulsion systems deriving the most benefit from the innovative swirl injector characteristics are LOX/hydrocarbon engines that may experience significant LOX boil-off due to long periods of inactivity or thermal soak-back. These engines include reaction/attitude control systems onboard crew vehicles or science probes and deceleration/orbital insertion engines on science probes. Other space engines benefiting from the high performance and stable operation injector features are satellite apogee boost/orbital transfer engines, earth departure stages for scientific payloads, and as the turbopump gas generator powering booster engines of the same propellants.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Additional applications of innovative swirl injector design-based thrusters include serving as the turbopump gas generator for U.S. Air Force and space tourism/low cost space access LOX/hydrocarbon booster engines currently of interest for several different payload types, apogee boost/orbital transfer engines on satellites, and reaction control systems onboard civilian suborbital vehicles using LOX/hydrocarbon propellants for the main engine.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
WASK Engineering, Inc.
4120 Cameron Park Drive, Suite 303
Cameron Park, CA 95682-7213

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paul Phillipsen
paulp@waskengr.com
4120 Cameron Park Drive, Suite 303
Cameron Park,  CA 95682-7213

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has determined that it requires extremely durable, high-performance, low cost engines to meet future multi-use in-space, non-toxic, cryogenic propulsion requirements such as orbit transfer, descent, ascent and pulsing attitude control. Transpiration-cooling technology has long been considered a candidate for long-life thrust chambers but has never been deployed on a domestic rocket engine. In this program WASK Engineering, Inc. demonstrates methane transpiration cooling of an oxygen/methane thrust chamber at 260 psia chamber pressure and a range of mixture ratios up to 3.2 O/F in a 65 lbf engine assembly. Key tasks are the design and fabrication of a transpiration-cooled chamber spool section that integrates into existing hardware from an on-going USAF program and then hot fire testing it in the existing test stand. Post-test data analyses are used to anchor and refine thermal and performance algorithms in transpiration cooling models that then validate, or invalidate, transpiration cooled thrust chambers for this set of requirements.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Extremely durable, high-performance, low cost engines to meet future multi-use in-space, non-toxic, cryogenic propulsion requirements such as orbit transfer, descent, ascent and especially pulsing attitude control.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial space tourism missions (both axial and RCS engines), multiple USAF reusable propulsion applications, actively-cooled aero-shell and leading edge applications, and commercial heat-transfer both for cooling electronics and in process control applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Cooling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
CERAMIC COMPOSITES, INC.
133 Defense Highway, Suite 212
Annapolis, MD 21401-8907

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steven Seghi
steve@techassess.com
133 Defense Highway, Suite 212
Annapolis,  MD 21401-8907

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
One of the great hurdles to further development and evaluation of nuclear thermal propulsion systems is the issue surrounding the release of radioactive material from the fuel during ground testing and its subsequent impact on test facility siting and operation. Therefore, the development of a crack resistant coating system on fuel elements nuclear thermal propulsion that is insensitive to hydrogen corrosion and erosion is considered enabling. Ceramic Composites Inc. (CCI) proposes a systematic approach for CVD deposition and evaluation of a family of zirconium carbide (ZrC) and niobium carbide (NbC) coating systems for both uranium carbide-zirconium carbide solid solution [(U,Zr)C]-graphite composite fuel elements and advanced triple carbide (uranium carbide-ziconium carbide-niobium carbide) solid fuel elements designed for use in space nuclear power and propulsion reactors. These refractory metal coating systems will be evaluated in high temperature hydrogen in concert with a preliminary performance modeling effort.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of a high quality coating for space nuclear reactors will be enabling for the development of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), in particular if one uses fuel elements based on the Rover/NERVA heritage design or the Pebble Bed design. The higher specific impulses afforded by NTP will provide significantly shorter travel times to the moon and Mars, reducing the time in zero gravity for manned missions and greatly increasing the speed of cargo/supply deliveries and unmanned exploration missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of a high quality coating for space nuclear reactor fuel elements could have potential across a variety of nuclear applications. A variety of designs exist for the next generation nuclear power plant, such as the Gas Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR) and the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). In the case of both of these the final fuel form has not been decided. The triso fuel particle has been suggested for both as well as clad solid fuel pins. Either of these two fuel forms could benefit from an improved fuel coating of this type. The idea of using mixed carbides (U,Zr)C, (U,Nb)C, which would allow for much higher operating temperatures, for both pellets and solid fuel pins has been put forth and both would require a cladding material. Most of these systems will operate above the temperature limit of SiC or would have compatibility issues with the standard C/C/SiC/C (triso) coating developed for pebble type fuel. The case of the VHTR the reactor has the ability to generate hydrogen by splitting water molecules, the presence of hydrogen and oxygen pose serious problems for the triso coating.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Nuclear (Adv Fission, Fusion, Anti-Matter, Exotic Nuclear)
Ceramics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ElectroDynamic Applications, Inc.
P.O. Box 131460
Ann Arbor, MI 48113-1460

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Timothy Smith
timsmith@edapplications.com
P.O. Box 131460
Ann Arbor,  MI 48113-1460

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Heat shield technology is a critical component of manned spaceflight. In particular, the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) requires thermal protection systems (TPS) beyond the current state of the art. While new TPS shields are under development, a key difficulty is the ability to diagnose TPS performance. Technology demonstrator missions are being planned, but designing instrumentation capable of surviving the reentry environment is a non-trivial challenge. We propose the development of a low intrusive fiber optic plug insert for TPS materials that will enable spectrographic measurements of the reentry environment surrounding an ablating TPS. This would provide benchmark data for fundamental flow, radiation, and materials modeling as well as provide operational correlations between vehicle reentry drag and radiation if implemented in a TPS flight test. In addition to spectrographic data, the proposed technology will also intrinsically provide a highly reliable measurement of TPS ablation rates. These fiber-optic plug inserts provide an enabling capability for reentry spacecraft development. The program proposed here will take the concept, originally encouraged at the request of researchers at NASA Ames, from concept to demonstration, through prototype, to a technology readiness level suitable for inclusion in the design of an ablation shield flight demonstrator mission.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The system proposed here will provide an enabling diagnostic capability for NASA programs developing Thermal Protection Systems. Potential applications include development for the CEV TPS, and any other NASA program requiring an entry, re-entry, aero braking, or other TPS technology. In addition, this device will allow placement of spectrometers onboard spacecraft where previously there was a concern due to the requirement of a conventional sapphire window. As such, it will enable scientific uses of spectrographic data, including measurement of planetary atmospheric constitution during landing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are potential applications to DoD program in systems involving hypersonics as well as various reentry vehicle applications. In addition there are potential applications in terrestrial high energy plasmas where the abilities to survive extreme environments and to place multiple sensors quickly and flexibly within a system are of value.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ablatives
Control Instrumentation
Testing Facilities
Thermal Insulating Materials
Optical
High-Energy
Aerobrake

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Phase I NASA SBIR Proposal seeks to demonstrate a new zero-erosion ablative thermal protection system (TPS) technology that is based upon an ultra-high temperature (UHT) ceramic fiber pre-form / organic ablative matrix composite structure. In this TPS material concept, the "char" phase is pre-engineered UHT zirconium carbide (Zr(O)C) ceramic fiber pre-forms, which have dual functions of high compressive strength of ligaments and non-recession of fiber components after matrix ablation. To increase the pre-form ligament strength and stiffness, Zr(O)C fiber reinforcements will be combined with the high-modulus carbon fibers. MG's ablative TPS are designed to retain their shape in extreme environments, thereby reducing the thickness requirement and lowering the TPS total mass, which will be crucial at high re-entry velocity. MG's new ablator slowly absorbs high levels of energy when ablated at higher temperatures. The ablative carbonaceous phase has been identified by the use of a melamine-formaldehyde and/or polyethylene polymer resin. This selection was based upon its high heat of volatilization and decomposition. At the completion of the Phase I and Phase II program, MG will have fabricated a high specific strength C-Zr(O)C / C-ablator and have demonstrated an completely integrated 5'x5' size TPS with attachment features, operational at > 6000oF.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
CEV thermal protection systems, Space transportation vehicle thermal insulation and propulsion insulation systems, Hypersonic vehicle and propulsion insulation systems

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
DoD missile thrusters, Missile hot control-structure insulations, refractory-carbide fibers as a new type of insulation and CMC reinforcements for DOE, DoT, EPA, and the private transportation and filter industries

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ablatives
Thermal Insulating Materials
Ceramics
Composites

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Chanwoo Park
chanwoo.park@1-ACT.com
1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster,  PA 17601-5688

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate a vapor compressor driven hybrid two-phase loop technology. The hybrid two-phase loop technology incorporates an advanced evaporator design that is capable of passive separation of liquid and vapor phases at high heat flux conditions. Combining the hybrid two-phase loop technology with a vapor compressor increases the technology's operating range. The integral phase separation feature in the evaporator greatly improves the vapor compressor performance and reliability by preventing two-phase flows in the compressor. The proposed technology is particularly suited for the lunar surface systems where the cooling system size, mass, reliability and operation under widely varying environmental conditions are critically important.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA's vision of establishing lunar colony requires innovative advances in the thermal management technology to reject waste heat to much higher heat sink temperatures. Vapor compressor driven hybrid two-phase loops will provide high performance refrigeration for lunar surface systems and other NASA planetary missions where higher heat sink temperature and higher radiator temperature are required.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA commercial applications will be the vapor compressor air-conditioning/refrigeration systems for residential and commercial applications. High performance electronics cooling and vehicle climate control where high compression efficiency and high heat flux capability are important.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paragon Space Development Corp.
3481 E. Michigan Street
Tucson, AZ 85714-2221

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Christine Iacomini
ciacomini@paragonsdc.com
3481 E. Michigan Street
Tucson,  AZ 85714-2221

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Paragon proposes to develop a single-loop, non-toxic, stagnating active pumped loop thermal control design for NASA's Orion or Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) program. While this technology was developed in the Apollo era, it has not been used in space since then. Furthermore, the fluids used in those first-generation units are not compatible with today's human-rated flight requirements as they could be considered toxic and/or flammable. Though work at JSC by Tuan et al. has targeted modeling and verifying the model of a stagnating radiator with one candidate fluid, Paragon proposes to parallel this effort with an alternative fluid as a back-up to that currently base-lined in the Orion program. This technology will be a significant innovation in that stagnating radiator designs provide self regulation of thermal dissipation parameters. As heat flow to the radiator is reduced, less cooling capacity is required; stagnating radiators incorporate fluids that gradually change properties. If increased heating loads are encountered, the radiator working fluid changes again to increase the heat transfer capability of the radiator. This technology is directly relevant to NASA's Orion and LSAM development. Our plan for Phase I and II is in-line with bringing this technology from a TRL 2 to a TRL 4-6 depending on Phase II assumptions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Assuming successful implementation of Phase I and II activities, this enabling technology will be of extreme value to NASA as already demonstrated with the non-human rated fluid use in the Apollo program. While the applications will most likely be constrained to space systems, stagnating radiator design systems could enable many of the next-generation systems that are currently in the conceptual design phase, to become a reality. Of obvious and primary application are human rated spacecraft applications such as the Lunar Surface Access Module and the newly named crew exploration vehicle "Orion". However, the technology can also be applied to variable power spacecraft applications as well as interplanetary space vehicles that require reliable, less complex and elegant thermal control systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Assuming successful implementation of Phase I and II activities, this enabling technology will also be of extreme value to an emerging commercial space industry. This includes the following types of spacecraft: High power commercial satellites and emerging commercial orbital flight vehicles such as Bigelow's space hotels.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Izenson
mgi@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover,  NH 03755-0071

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Manned lunar exploration will require extravehicular activity (EVA) suits that surpass existing technology. We propose an innovative thermal control system for EVA suits that uses an absorption heat pump with a flexible radiator that offers reduced size, lighter weight, conformability, rugged construction, and freeze tolerance. The heat pump absorbs a crew member's metabolic heat and rejects it via radiation to the environment. Innovative materials and construction enable a very lightweight and flexible system that is rugged and easily repairable. In Phase I we will prove feasibility by assessing material suitability for lunar operations, demonstrating the critical fabrication steps for key components, then testing these components to demonstrate thermal performance. In Phase II we will build, demonstrate, and deliver a complete prototype heat pump system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed heat pump radiator can provide thermal control in extravehicular activity (EVA) suits designed for lunar and Mars exploration, as well as EVA suits used for zero-gravity operations such as space station or satellite construction or assembly and maintenance of space-based telescopes. The absorption heat pump system offers light weight, flexibility and ease of integration, ruggedness, and freeze tolerance. NASA needs this device for future, long-duration space exploration missions—such as extended stays on the moon or Mars—in which in-situ repair is vital and freeze tolerance is required for operation in extreme thermal environments. The non-venting heat pump system is also needed for construction of scientific instruments in space that require a very clean extravehicular environment.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed heat pump can provide a lightweight, portable cooling unit to wear with sealed or heavy garments in hazardous environments, such as level A HAZMAT suits needed for homeland security missions. The absorption cooling process can be used to provide portable, regenerable refrigeration and air conditioning for recreation, transportation, and medical applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Portable Life Support

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Izenson
mgi@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover,  NH 03755-0071

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Environmental control systems for manned lunar and planetary bases will require condensing heat exchangers to control humidity. Condensing surfaces must be hydrophilic to ensure efficient operation and biocidal to prevent growth of microbes in the moist, condensing environment. The coatings must be extremely stable and adhere to the condensing surface for many years. We propose an innovative condenser that will enable highly efficient heat transfer using an innovative coating that has proven to be highly biocidal, hydrophilic, and stable. In Phase I we will prove feasibility by demonstrating the performance of the proposed hydrophilic and biocidal surface under prototypical conditions. In Phase II we will demonstrate a full-size, prototype condenser designed to meet the requirements for future lunar and planetary bases.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed condenser will enable efficient and reliable operation for environmental control systems in manned lunar and planetary bases as well as future manned spacecraft. By enabling recovery of water from the base or spacecraft atmosphere without using consumable absorber materials, the condenser enables simple operation of the environmental control system with minimal logistical support. The condenser or the coating alone will be useful for future upgrades of the environmental control system on the International Space Station, which has experienced degraded operation due to failure of hydrophilic coatings on condensing heat exchangers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Efficient, reliable condensers will be needed for fuel cell generators or fuel reforming systems for portable electric power generation or on-board vehicular fuel cells or reformers. These condensers are required for water-neutral operation, and hydrophilic and biocidal surfaces are needed for long-term reliability of the system. Efficient condensation is required to minimize parasitic power loss for water recovery. The condenser developed in the proposed program will be ideal for these applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Air Revitalization and Conditioning

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SVT Assoc
7620 Executive Dr
Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3677

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jianwei Dong
dong@svta.com
7620 Executive Dr
Eden Prairie,  MN 55344-3677

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Long shelf life food packaging is a critical to maintaining the crew's well being in NASA's manned missions to the mars. Not only does the packaging have to offer an effective means to preserve the food's nutrition and flavor over a long period of time, but the packaging material itself should be easily managed/recycled inside a confined environment like a space shuttle. Although metal cans have long been used for long term food storage in daily life, trash management poses a serious problem for NASA. Recently, biodegradable polymers attracted a lot of attention as an environmentally friendly packaging material. However, they are mainly used for short shelf life products because of poor barrier properties. To enhance its barrier protection properties to oxygen and water, in this SBIR project, we propose a new composite material of PLA coated with a thin layer of transparent and pin-hole free amorphous Al2O3. To improve PLA thermal properties and produce retorted polymer structures nanoparticles will be introduced in the polymer matrix. Moreover, to obtain the desired barrier properties for long shelf life food packaging a unique technique will be used to deposit Al2O3 films at substrate temperatures less than 80&#61616;C. This effort will greatly enhance PLA's barrier properties to provide a unique high barrier packaging material with less mass and, more importantly, totally biodegradable. This technology is easily scalable and a successful commercialization will definitely benefit NASA's manned missions. Moreover, as an environmentally friendly packaging material, the technology has the potential to have a broad impact on society.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Long shelf life food packaging using non-metallic containers is crucial for NASA's long term manned missions. The objective of this proposal is to utilize an advanced deposition process to deposit a dense and pin-hole free oxide layer to enhance the barrier properties of biodegradable polymers like PLA and form a new class of high barrier food packaging materials. When successfully completed, this technology will be used in NASA food packaging to provide an expected shelf life of 3-5 years. With its light mass, the problem of waste management associated with metal cans can be solved. In addition, the biodegradability of the packaging material further enhances its versatility.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Food packaging is a multibillion global market. The technology proposed in this project will lead to the development of a new class biodegradable polymers that can be used for long term food storage. It is an environmentally friendly, alternative packaging technology that will find widespread use in the civilian food industry.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomass Production and Storage
Ceramics
Composites
Organics/Bio-Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luminit, LLC
20600 Gramercy Place, Suite 203
Torrance, CA 90501-1821

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kevin Yu
kyu@luminitco.com
20600 Gramercy Place, Suite 203
Torrance,  CA 90501-1821

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To address the NASA need for new flexible food packaging materials with effective high barrier against oxygen and moisture to protect food, minimize weight and waste, and ensure a shelf life of 3-5 years for NASA future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, Luminit, LLC proposes to develop a new One-Component Encapsulating (ONCE) material matrix based on hybrid sol-gel technology. ONCE brings together a new chemical synthesis of sol-gel, polymer, and zirconium-dioxide nanoparticles to form a coating, which has excellent water vapor barrier properties, with a unique combination of sol-gel and polymer nanocomposite matrix in a transparent, flexible, and UV-curable conformal coating that meets the NASA requirements: high barrier flexible packaging coatings that protect from oxygen and water vapor; less mass and volume; no metallic components; transparent; heat sealable; microwavable; and they maintain the foods' 3-5 year shelf life. In Phase I Luminit will develop a polymer-based glass-like sol-gel ONCE encapsulated coating for high barrier flexible packaging materials, and demonstrate its resistance to oxygen and water vapor, 100 mg per square meter per day. Phase II will scale up and optimize the ONCE process to cost efficiently produce ONCE material matrices for more comprehensive oxygen and water vapor resistance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA applications of the ONCE coating material matrix will not be limited to coating on flexible plastic substrates and protecting food in the packaging from oxygen and water vapor. It has direct applications for transparent abrasion-resistant coatings for flexible solar panels and modules, spacecraft and aircraft windows, and many other uses that require durable exterior coatings with good adhesion properties and long lifetimes with resistance to solvents, electromagnetic radiation, and scratching. The ONCE material can be incorporated into transparent conductive coatings for aircraft canopies and landing gear.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ONCE material technology is unique in combining low-cost reliable water/oxygen barriers with high transparency in highly efficient coatings that can also survive abrasion and impact. They will combine excellent mechanical and chemical resistance, and can be scaled up readily and inexpensively. ONCE will protect not only food but commercial and military aircraft; military ground vehicles; and display devices. Many transparent components require durability with excellent mechanical and chemical properties, long life, and resistance to scratching. Military applications of ONCE technology include transparent abrasion-resistant coatings for aircraft windows, and many other applications that require durable exterior coats with good adhesion properties and long lifetimes with resistance to solvents, and scratching. The material can be incorporated, for example, into a transparent abrasion-resistant coating for helicopter windows and other applications such as sensors, lenses, and vision blocks.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Optical & Photonic Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SmartWear, LLC
2800 28th Street, Suite151
Santa Monica, CA 90405-6203

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Pottenger
mpottenger@smartwearllc.com
2800 28th Street, Suite151
Santa Monica,  CA 90405-6203

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Long-term exposure to even relatively low levels of acoustic and vibration signals has been shown to be potentially harmful to humans. A new class of piezoelectric materials is proposed to provide acoustic and vibration damping for increased crew comfort and protection for long-duration space flight. The effectiveness for piezoelectric materials to damp the kinetic energy of mechanical stimuli such as vibration, impact or acoustic signals has been previously demonstrated by the applicant and others. The proposed piezoelectric materials can be incorporated into crew clothing, seating and bedding; linings for floor, wall and/or ceilings; and integrated into composite panels for use as structural members in vehicle construction. Due to the novel nature of the materials, Phase I will focus primarily on production and characterization of mechanical and piezoelectric properties for sample materials. While issues such as off-gassing and flammability are not considered problematic for the proposed materials, these will also be evaluated during Phase I.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed materials could be used in many ways to provide acoustic and/or vibration damping: incorporated into crew clothing, seating and bedding; linings for floor, wall and/or ceilings. They could also be integrated into composite panels for use as structural members in vehicle construction.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is much evidence from various commercial transportation industries regarding adverse medical and psychological effects of long-term exposure to noise and vibration. The proposed work therefore has significant dual-use applications for vehicle operators and passengers alike in commercial air, ground and sea transportation systems such as airlines, trains, automobiles, trucks, buses and ships.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Planet LLC
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison, WI 53717-1961

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Abe Megahed
megaheda@orbitec.com
1212 Fourier Drive
Madison,  WI 53717-1961

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Long-duration missions may one day present the most demanding situations ever encountered in manned spaceflight. Success will therefore depend on the knowledge and flexibility of the crew and the critical tools at their disposal. This Phase I proposes to combine intelligent tutoring with highly interactive 3D simulation software to create an on-demand situational training and operations support system. This platform will provide a means for Astronauts to assess necessary actions in routine and emergency situations, quickly select from a software-determined selection of simulation-based training materials or job aids, and link to information including logistics or vehicle health status to more effectively conduct tasks in a just-in-time scenario. The Phase I prototype will demonstrate key system functionality as applied to a critical EVA procedure. The Phase II will create a tool for authoring training in this environment, along with a prototype interfaced with an integrated vehicle health management system to provide instant access to repair and maintenance procedures based on system status. Intelligent simulations can also be used in a non-scripted mode for testing of new procedures in emergency situations. Pre-flight, they also serve as more effective ground trainers and provide an interface to simulated equipment for optimization of human interactions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
PLANET can immediately create payload or ISS task trainers to replace paper text-based instructions with portable just-in-time simulations that reduce training time and hardware trainer costs. Simulations can also be used now to optimize user interactions with equipment for far less cost than prototypes. On long-duration missions, this technology provides intelligent guides for training since astronauts will likely perform off-nominal procedures or actions trained for several years in the past. For extensive in-space assembly, Hypercosm could model procedures and assembly information into the display helmet on the next generation spacesuit. These trainers embedded in a vehicle health maintenance system could also greatly improve the crews' ability to perform rapid diagnosis and repair. Simulations would visually map the location of problems and link to simulated repair procedures. Intelligent simulations would also react to errors, external inputs, or changes in data, increasing safety and reliability through faster response time.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Hypercosm has been available commercially for six years, and this proposed work will greatly improve its ability to create the intelligent training applications now in demand by the military, aerospace and commercial maintenance and operations communities. This new simulation method also improves Hypercosm's ability to provide complex medical simulations for non-invasive surgical techniques, procedure training and anatomy guides. PLANET LLC would immediately work to apply this technology to existing contracts with the U.S. Navy and RocketPlane-Kistler for improved operational simulations and design visualizations. The capability for intelligent, interactive simulation will provide a distinct competitive advantage for future partnerships with large-scale training suppliers. The Phase II tool development will also result in a commercial product for intelligent training authors.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Development Environments
Tools
Mission Training

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luna Innovations Incorporated
2851 Commerce Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060-6657

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bryan Dickerson
submissions@lunainnovations.com
2581 Commerce Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6657

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Real-time dosimetry is needed to provide immediate feedback, so astronauts can minimize their exposure to ionizing radiation during periods of high solar activity. Optical radiation monitors provide continuous detection of e- and n. Radiation induced changes in the optical properties of each sensor's active material are interpreted via software to estimate the dose from each type of particle. Compared to traditional scintillation detectors, Luna's radiation monitors are more compact and better able to identify particle types. Luna's unique sensor design and detection capabilities enable estimation of the energy and direction of the most energetic particles. Advanced optical radiation monitors are also less prone to the radiation induced degradation that plagues diode dosimeters.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
•Health & safety radiation detection in space craft and surface outposts. •Satellite monitoring of solar activity. •Tracking performance of nuclear propulsion engines.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
•Automatic surveillance at International Atomic Energy sites. •Checking cargo terminals for smuggled nuclear material. (DHS) •Monitoring nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain and at power plants. (DOE) •Early warning for soldiers evaluating potential dirty bombs. (DOD

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Particle and Fields
Optical & Photonic Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt St
Watertown, MA 02472-4699

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Christian, PhD
JChristian@RMDInc.com
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., 44 Hunt Street
Watertown,  MA 02472-4699

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Many commercially available digital dosimeters are bulky and are unable to properly measure dose for space radiation. The complexity of space flight design requires reliable, fault-tolerant equipment with the capability of providing real-time dose readings during a mission, which is not feasible with the existing thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD) technology. The project will create a compact, lightweight, energy-efficient dose meter comprised of a tissue-equivalent scintillation crystal coupled to a solid-state photomultiplier (SSPM), which is an array of CMOS photodiodes, operated in Geiger avalanche mode. The ubiquitous nature of CMOS technology provides a standardized development platform, and the ability to integrate all the supporting electronics into a miniature, simple design. In Phase I, we will model the expected dosimeter performance and characterize the performance of a prototype dosimeter exposed to high-energy protons, which simulates radiation in the space environment. We will also determine the TLD-dose equivalence of our measurements. In Phase II, we will create the support software and design and fabricate a finalized chip that includes readout electronics, power supply, memory storage, and other interfacing components.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
During spaceflight, both the immediate rate and total exposure information can be recorded simultaneously by these high-efficiency digital dosimeters. The compact size and inexpensive nature of these sensors also opens the possibility of monitoring many areas for comparison of radiation exposure, including individual monitors for each crewmember with online data for the whole mission. Ground-based research and comparisons will also become easier and less expensive with the SSPM dosimeter.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Inexpensive radiation dosimeters are in general demand for commercial applications, such as personnel or waste monitoring; other applications include border monitoring for homeland security and protecting satellites and ground-based equipment from solar flares. The ability to inexpensively mass-produce these devices creates an entirely new market for arrays of distributed sensors.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Particle and Fields
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Payload Systems, Inc.
247 Third Street
Cambridge, MA 02142-1129

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Liping Sun
liping@payload.com
247 Third Street
Cambridge,  MA 02142-1129

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Payload Systems Inc. proposes the Radiation Target Area Sample Environmental Chamber (RTASEC) as an innovative approach enabling radiobiologists to investigate the real-time, long-term radiation effects on living cells and tissues. Most current research into radiation effects on living cultures is limited to short duration radiation exposure because of the lack of in-situ equipment to provide the environment needed to support cell/tissue culture growth while in the radiation field. While these short-term experiments are vital to understanding cell and tissue culture reaction and adaptation to the radiation environment, long-term exposure at low dose rate is more likely to occur in space, and is more representative of long duration space missions of interest to NASA. We propose developing the RTASEC to enable long-term radiation exposure studies at the Brookhaven National Lab by providing the proper environmental conditions (such as temperature, relative humidity, gaseous oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration, and ambient lighting) needed for the study of a variety of cell/tissue cultures, including mammalian, plant, microbial cells, and tissues, in both suspension and attachment culture modes. The RTASEC can be used with a variety of existing culturing systems, including standard vials, wells, and flasks, such as the T-25, and NASA's rotary bioreactor. As an added benefit, the RTASEC will also be capable of supporting studies involving laboratory animals such as mice and rats.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed RTASEC will enable long duration radiation exposure studies at NSRL. A variety of cell/tissue cultures, including mammalian, plant, microbial cells, and tissues, both in suspension and attachment culture modes, and rodent experiments will be supported in the RTASEC, making it a flexible tool for NASA radiobiology research at NSRL to increase its efficiency and capability, and help achieve the goals of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications include use as an incubator for cell/tissue culture and rodent research and development in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical industries, and as a portable incubator that can be used in remote field sites.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Thermal Insulating Materials
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomass Production and Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tesla Laboratories
2711 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Suite 200
Arlington, VA 22202-4015

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick James
pijames@tesla.net
3666 Chase Court
Boulder,  CO 80305-5531

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR project will demonstrate and develop a novel micro-pump capable of controlled and selective chemical transport. Phase I will create, characterize, and model a robust and readily fabricated low-power miniaturized pump achieving "forceless" dissolved ion transport compatible with microgravity conditions. The compact technology will be extremely versatile, low-cost, stable, easily tailorable, and readily scaleable to higher fluxes via structure duplication and application in parallel. The device will be physically stable, chemically inert, and pH insensitive while its small dimensions result in lower power consumption and reduced mass. The result will be a more versatile and general pump capable of moving a variety of drugs. Phase I will explore the pump performance, stability, and design optimization using selected ionic compounds as model transport subjects by running designed experiments exploring pump operations as a function of key pump structural and operation variables. This data will determine the controlling variables, their effects on the system performance, and will be utilized with first-principles system physics analysis to develop a pump operation model. This model will allow rapid technology configuration exploration, operation performance refinement, and will provide critical insights into preferred, better optimized, structures to be evaluated during Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology could benefit NASA by providing smaller, lower power, microgravity compatible pumps for safe and reliable intelligent drug delivery. It could also assist resource recovery/generation or waste disposal/processing through controlled water and mineral reclamation. Additionally it could enhance on-site process and synthesis control, product purification, and fuel cell operation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Mature technology should find widespread industrial utility in small scale pumping and micro-actuator operation, separation of mixed charged species, fine chemical synthesis/purification, feedback controlled drug delivery, and sensor enhancement through selective preconcentration for example. Additionally, this technology could provide the basis for artificial muscle and/or nerve cell development.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomedical and Life Support
Biomolecular Sensors
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Biochemical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ZIN Technologies, Inc.
2001 Aerospace Parkway
Brook Park, OH 44142-1001

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Marcus Just
marcus.just@zin-tech.com
2001 Aerospace Parkway
Brook Park,  OH 44142-1001

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ZIN Technologies, Inc. proposes a novel Miniature Treadmill with resistive exercise capability for use in spaceflight exercise countermeasures and broad terrestrial therapeutic applications. The treadmill device we propose will offer excellent periodic impact exercise to stimulate bone remodeling and cardiovascular activity as well as an added component of resistive exercise to encourage all-body muscle maintenance. The goal of this project is to demonstrate by design and analysis that the proposed treadmill will satisfy the stringent volumetric, power, and performance requirements demanded by lunar missions and provide the active feedback necessary to control the treadmill and display Daily Load Stimulus (DLS). We along with our partner the Cleveland Clinic believe that a hybrid compact exercise device along with the direct feedback of DLS is a unique and new approach that will provide a superior in space exercise system than ones currently in use on ISS. This project will culminate at the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) level having requirements defined and performance verified through analysis and technology demonstration on existing facilities. The technical aspects of the work can be divided into three key areas: Dual Track Treadmill Technology, Resistive Subject Loading Device, and Active Feedback Bio-Instrumentation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
With the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) calling for long term extended missions to the moon and Mars, there is a pressing need to equip astronauts with an effective exercise countermeasure system to maintain astronaut musculoskeletal health and ensure mission success. Countermeasures such as cycling, treadmill, resistive exercise, and rowing have been employed extensively on the International Space Station (ISS), however the space and power requirements will be much more stringent on lunar missions than on ISS. The treadmill design of this effort will aim to address the inherent challenges of spaceflight along with the specific implementation of the Daily Load Stimulus (DLS) theory to mange musculoskeletal health of astronauts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The aging of our population will require exercise devices that manage musculoskeletal health in particular osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans or 55 percent of the people 50 years of age and older. The proposed mini-treadmill exercise device with real-time Daily Load Stimulus (DLS) measurement has the potential to provide an effective mechanism to combat or manage osteoporosis. The patient would be provided by doctors with a prescribed amount of bone loading quantified by DLS that they should try to fill by running, jogging, or walking on a daily basis. The bio feedback device (BioWATCH-Pedar) worn by the subject would give the patient an indication of when they have achieved the required dosage.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Erectable
Kinematic-Deployable
Biomedical and Life Support
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Biophysical Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Redondo Optics, Inc
811 N. Catalina Avenue, Suite 3120
Redondo Beach, CA 90277-2198

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Edgar Mendoza
emendoza@redondooptics.com
811 N. Catalina Avenue, Suite 3120
Redondo Beach,  CA 90277-2198

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Redondo Optics Inc. (ROI), proposes to develop, demonstrate, and deliver to NASA an intrinsically safe, miniature, low power, autonomous, and self-calibrated, respiratory health monitor (ResHealth<SUP>TM</SUP>) system for monitoring of the oronasal activity associated with respiratory activity during extravehicular activity (EVA) sorties on Lunar surface exploration. In Phase I of this program, ROI will conclusively demonstrate the concept of the ResHealth<SUP>TM</SUP> monitoring device by extensively testing a conceptual prototype of a multi-sensor array microchip and optoelectronic sensor readout unit capable of detecting, analyzing, and separating vital respiratory activity signatures associated with inspiratory and expiratory air flow. In Phase II, ROI will integrate the ResHealth<SUP>TM</SUP> monitoring device into a field deployable autonomous unit and installed and qualified on a spacesuit PLSS system at a selected NASA test site and delivered to NASA for performance validation. The ResHealth<SUP>TM</SUP> system's wireless communication mode offers true Tele-medicine capabilities to communicate remotely its sensor status and alarm condition to the crewmember EMU computer control and communications system, to other close proximity crewmembers, lunar habitat stations, and to flight doctors in the Mission Control Center. No other available commercial device on the market today offers such capabilities at an affordable cost.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA's Human Space Exploration program has a critical need for breakthrough technologies, including human health countermeasures and autonomous medical care for monitoring astronaut health during Extravehicular activity on the lunar surface and that can find dual use for intravehicular medical monitoring and care. A key physiological parameter to monitor during EVA sorties is the respiratory health activity of the astronaut associated with oronasal oxygen consumption rate, CO2 level and CO2 generation, as well as breathing temperature and humidity within the helmet assembly of the extravehicular activity unit (EMU) or reusable spacesuit. Other NASA applications include atmospheric air quality control in space habitats, space shuttles, and the space station.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
ROI's ResHealth<SUP>TM</SUP> oronasal respiratory monitor system is poised to revolutionize the field of non-intrusive respiratory monitors used in personal life support systems such as NASA's extravehicular mobility unit. Although, there are commercially available respiratory monitors in the market, ROI's InOSense-Sleep<SUP>TM</SUP> monitor represents a new, highly reliable, technology that can be used to accurately monitor for respiratory breathing disorders such as sleep apnea, SIDS, AOI, AOP, ATEA, and other clinical high risk, life threatening, situations in a user friendly and affordable price. ROI also believes that the ResHealth multi-parameter gas sensor concept will result in an extremely promising product capable of gaining a significant share of the existing gas sensor market.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Pilot Support Systems
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomedical and Life Support
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Instrumentation
Optical
Portable Life Support
Suits

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Andrea Hill
ahill@nanosonic.com
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-5556

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NanoSonic proposes to develop a low-weight, non-invasive in situ autonomous health-monitoring system for crewmembers' lunar extravehicular activity (EVA). This novel sensor technology aims at monitoring health status to improve comfort and efficiency of astronaut as well as to eliminate catastrophic failure to the individual and mission. The sensor system would consist of a fully-interconnected, non-invasive, and wearable Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP>-Textile sensor, which would be worn underneath the protective spacesuit (outer-vehicular wear) and/or can also be integrated into the inner lining of suits worn inside NASA exploratory lunar vehicles. The comfortable, durable, and low mass density fabric sensor network would be developed via Metal Rubber(TM) technology and nanostructured materials for mapping crewmembers' health status via advanced intrinsic physiological monitoring. Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> is fabricated as a conformal coating or free-standing material via layer-by-layer, molecular self-assembly, which enables thickness and placement control over multiple constituents for true nanostructured multifunctionality; while advanced polymers have allowed scale-up to free-standing materials (several mm thick). Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> requires less than 0.03 volume % of metal, allowing the manufacturing a cost effective, low-weight material. NanoSonic's proposed health-monitoring system would address monitoring the astronauts' metabolic rate, heart rate, electrocardiogram (ECG), and body temperature for both EVA and intra-vehicular activities.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications for Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> sheet stock and textiles include use as ultra-lightweight wearable health-monitoring systems (as proposed here), deployable antennas, wiring and cabling, and coatings that are protective against electrostatic charging, EMI, radiation and abrasion. Low modulus Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP>-based materials can also function as conducting electrodes for high strain mechanical actuator and sensor devices, and as low-weight, electrically conductive and mechanically flexible coatings for systems requiring physically-robust electromagnetic shielding, ground planes or electrical interconnection.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> and Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP>-Textiles can be used as replacements for conventional metallic wire sensors, heavy and bulky antenna components, and as a replacement for tin-lead solder for the mechanical, electrical and thermal interconnection of electronic and mechanical components. Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP>-Textile materials may also be used in high performance, highly flexible and mechanically robust wearable sensor systems, electronic flex circuits, antennas, flexible displays and smart electronic fabrics.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Mobility
Perception/Sensing
Inflatable
Kinematic-Deployable
Large Antennas and Telescopes
Reuseable
Pilot Support Systems
Biomedical and Life Support
Biomolecular Sensors
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Manned-Manuvering Units
Portable Life Support
Suits
Organics/Bio-Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Wireless Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Orbital Research Inc
4415 Euclid Avenue, Suite 500
Cleveland, OH 44103-3757

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aaron Rood
rood@orbitalresearch.com
4415 Euclid Avenue, Suite 500
Cleveland,  OH 44103-3757

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Orbital Research has successfully demonstrated a dry electrode (no electrolyte or gel required) for heart rate and ECG monitoring. Preliminary data has indicated that the electrode can be incorporated into a garment that does not require an adhesive for successful data collection. Further preliminary data indicates that respiration rate can be deduced from the ECG waveform captured from the dry electrodes. The Orbital Lunar Health Monitor (LHM) will incorporate the patented dry electrode with other commercially available sensors in a garment resulting in fully wearable monitor of Astronaut Health. The data from each of the sensor is processed, yielding a comprehensive image of overall health. Environment sensors are also incorporated to detect longer term health threats. The LHM is comfortable and non-inhibiting. The Orbital Lunar Health Monitor is intended to enable continuous monitoring of health status of Astronauts both in intra- and extra-vehicular sorties.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Lunar Health Monitor will be a fully wearable health monitor specifically proposed for continuous monitoring of Astronauts during intra- and extra-vehicular activity. The overall function of the system is not limited in any way to lunar missions. The wearable system could be used for physiologic monitoring during training exercises or continuous monitoring of day to day physiologic profile. The Lunar Health Monitor can easily be worn under flight gear or with civilian clothing, making the system completely versatile for any applications where continuous physiologic monitoring is needed.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Orbital Research believes the wearable Lunar Monitor System can be applied to health/lifestyle management, clinical assessments, drug trials and first responders. The continuous monitoring allows detailed understanding of health factors such as activity levels and duration and caloric demand. The health monitor allows verification of lifestyle management practices. Clinicians and health care practitioners can use the technology for out of hospital assessment, much like a Holter monitor is currently used. The Orbital Research technology will enable drug studies to monitor the chronic response and change over time. Finally, persons such as first responders or war fighters can use the monitor to assist in making life or death decisions.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomedical and Life Support

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nyx Illuminated Clothing Company
5314 south slauson avenue
Culver City, CA 90230-6060

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Bell
niccollc@earthlink.net
5314 south slauson avenue
Culver City,  CA 90230-6060

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing a wearable health monitoring system for the human body that is functional, comfortable, bendable in 3 dimensions, durable, water-proof, washable, and light-weight. This new technology area of wearable health systems, sometimes referred to as smart-clothing, promises to allow for a secondary human nervous system that connects various different electronic devices positioned on or around the human body. As the shrinking in size and weight of electronic circuits has progressed, it is now possible for the modern human astronaut to carry increasing numbers of different electronic devices and sensors such as thermometers, gas monitors, microphones, altimeters, digital processors, digital memory, and push-button controls. These devices allow the astronaut to access data about their current environment and health status, and communicate with other astronauts and/or databases to send and receive information of value. As the variation in the number of devices and sensors that can be deployed increases greatly, a new technology is required to allow the seamless integration of these devices with the human astronaut so that the devices can be electrically powered, operated, re-charged, and communicate with each other over a digital pathway.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed invention for monitoring human vital signs in-situ will allow the health of an astronaut to be monitored at all times by the individual themselves and if desired, stored in digital memory for later use in a medical database. With additional wireless communication technology it will be possible for these vital signs to be monitored by other personnel in real-time, during flight preparation, take-off, travel, landing, eating, sleeping, exercising, working, and during any other general activity. In mission critical situations, wireless health monitoring allows remote personnel to assess the health of an unconscious individual even if they are unable to verbally communicate directly.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The use of wearable health monitoring systems for human beings promises wide potential use in various different sectors of the health industry. It allows medical researchers to monitor the daily vital signs of one or many patients participating in medical trials in a non-invasive manner. For example, it seems likely that a wearable monitor system could be linked to a central medical database through telephony or internet access such that patients may go about their daily routine without having to remain under strict supervision at a hospital or clinic. It also allows personal physicians to monitor the health status of individual patients during normal lifetime pursuits, or before and after surgical procedures. Individuals themselves will have access to greater personal health knowledge and in certain cases alarm triggers may be set to warn of excessive risk activities, e.g., core temperature critical status prior to onset of heat stroke. Wristband and armband health monitors are now commercially available along with hand-held blood sugar monitors. Wearable health monitoring systems appear to be a continuation of this trend.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Data Input/Output Devices
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Highly-Reconfigurable
Composites
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alliance Spacesystems, LLC
1250 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 100
Pasadena, CA 91103-2466

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scott Stanley
sstanley@alliancespacesystems.com
1250 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 100
Pasadena,  CA 91103-2466

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Current science for Mars and lunar exploration demands that fairly small diameter intact rock cores be acquired for geologic evaluation. Tools to acquire these cores must be light weight, draw minimal power, and induce low loads on their robotic platforms. Unfortunately no tools have yet been produced that meet these requirements and produce a viable core. Alliance Spacesystems, LLC produced a rotary percussive drill designed for space use under a NASA-funded Mars Instrument Development Program (MIDP) project – the Low-force Sample Acquisition System (LSAS) – that successfully drilled and acquired samples from a variety of rocks and soils including the hardest anticipated Martian rock (basalt) and frozen soil not only in ambient conditions but also in a thermal/vacuum chamber replicating Mars pressure and extreme temperatures. Alliance now proposes to adapt the design approach to rock coring, using the demonstrated performance and advantages of rotary percussive drilling to solve the problems currently being encountered with the state of the art coring approaches.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed rotary percussive coring tool (RPCT) could contribute directly to several NASA missions planned for the immediate future including the Mars Science Laboratory. Future mission applications include the Mars Sample and Return (MSR) mission, a number of proposed Mars Scouts, and any of the Discovery or lunar missions that entail geologic evaluations. While a purely commercial terrestrial application is not envisioned, the RPCT directly supports the current emphasis on robotic exploration and investigations of the geology of Mars and the Moon.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Currently no non-NASA applications are envisioned since terrestrial commercial applications are more concerned with the economics of time, and mass and power are typically free variables.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Manipulation
Tools
General Public Outreach
K-12 Outreach
In-situ Resource Utilization
Metallics
Tribology

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Zubrin
zubrin@aol.com
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood,  CO 80215-5516

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Mars Gas Hopper, or "gashopper" is a novel concept for propulsion of a robust Mars flight and surface exploration vehicle that utilizes indigenous CO2 propellant to enable greatly enhanced mobility. The gashopper will first retrieve CO2 gas from the Martian environment to store it in liquid form at a pressure of about 10 bar. When enough CO2 is stored to make a substantial flight to another Mars site, a thermal storage bed is heated to ~1000 K and the CO2 propellant is warmed to ~300 K to pressurize the tank to ~65 bar. A valve is then opened, allowing the liquid CO2 to pass through the hot thermal storage bed that heats and gasifies the CO2 for propulsion. Gashopper can be designed to function as either ballistic flight vehicles or winged airplanes, with the former offering simplicity and the latter greater range. The advantage of the gashopper is that it provides Mars exploration with a fully controllable aerial reconnaissance vehicle that can repeatedly land and explore surface sites as well. The key technical issue that determines the potential performance of a gashopper is the overall specific heat of the thermal storage bed. In previous work, Pioneer Astronautics has demonstrated working gashopper airplanes and ballistic flight vehicles that utilized magnesium oxide pellets for thermal storage. While convenient for test purposes, MgO has a specific heat that is only roughly equal to CO2. This severely limits the attainable mass ratio and thus vehicle range. In contrast, lithium has four times the specific heat of CO2, so its use as a gashopper thermal bed material would greatly improve vehicle performance. The low density and liquid nature of high temperature lithium makes its utilization for gashopper engines a challenge. In the proposed program, Pioneer will resolve this challenge by designing, building, and testing high specific heat gashopper engines using liquid lithium for thermal storage.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The gashopper concept is primarily designed to enable greatly enhanced mobility for robotic Mars exploration vehicles. However the advanced gashopper engine system (AGE) has many potential important commercial applications in space. Small AGE thrusters could be used for stationkeeping and reaction control system (RCS) propulsion for satellites. Currently the propellant of choice for such applications is monopropellant hydrazine, which is extremely toxic, dangerous, expensive, and offers a rather low performance (Isp = 220 s). Small AGE based propulsion systems with ammonia propellant will be much cheaper, safer, and easier to integrate than hydrazine, while offering comparable or even superior specific impulse performance. If the AGE operates above 1200 K, there can also be an extension of satellite life. With their ability to store thermal energy over time and release it suddenly, advanced gashopper engines offer all the flexibility, reliability and safety of resistojets with much higher thrust. Thus, gashopper engine technology could find a major commercial market in the satellite industry. Advanced gashopper engines could also be used to great advantage to provide stationkeeping propulsion for the International Space Station employing waste CO2 from the life support system as propellant and the AGE to provide thrust at a much higher level than would be possible using resistojets.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Another possible commercial application for advanced gashopper engine (AGE) technology is for rocket assisted takeoff (RATO) units for small aircraft. The AGE can easily be made to deliver large amounts of thrust, and because it can use water as propellant it poses no danger of fire to the surrounding area. Therefore an AGE RATO system offers interesting practical possibilities, which in fact were demonstrated by the short takeoffs achieved by the aircraft flown in the LaRC Phase 1 gashopper airplane program. One concept would be to build droppable integrated tank/engine units that would be heated on the airfield using locally available electric power. It sometimes happens that under emergency conditions an airplane might be forced to land at an airfield that is to short for it to takeoff from. Using a detachable RATO unit to augment thrust, the airplane could be made airborne again. Propellant could be obtained from local water sources, and autogenously pressurized by heating. Since the use of a RATO engine in such a case would avoid loss of an entire aircraft, the sale of such a RATO assist could be priced high enough to justify using such a system, even if it had to be expended after being dropped from a single flight. A suitable parachute system attached to the RATO unit might make expending such systems unnecessary. AGE systems could also be used to store solar thermal power acquired during the day and then generate electricity at very high efficiency at night.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Monopropellants
Mobility
Cooling
Reuseable
In-situ Resource Utilization
Metallics
Energy Storage
Renewable Energy
Thermodynamic Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc.
305 E. Haley Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101-1723

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bradley Short
bshort@advancedscientificconcepts.com
305 E. Haley Street
Santa Barbara,  CA 93101-1723

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. (ASC) has developed a 128 x 128 frame, 3D Flash LADAR video camera capable of a 30 Hz frame rate. Because Flash LADAR captures an entire frame of data from a single pulse of light, platform motion and vibration will not affect the measurements. This is not true for any other laser-ranging system, such as scanning LIDAR. Additionally, with no moving parts, the system is smaller, lighter, and requires less power than traditional approaches. The proposed project will use an ASC camera in a flight test. Hazard identification, and Entry Decent and Landing applications will be investigated. Multiple data sets will be generated at various resolutions and frame rates. This data will be analyzed, and together with inputs from JPL scientists, will be used to breadboard the camera design for NASA applications. Industry inputs will define a pathway for space qualification. An optimized breadboard camera will be fabricated and delivered in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The 3D Flash LADAR Camera developed on this project can support future EDL requirements for lunar or planetary exploration. Not only will the camera be able to support hazard mapping and navigation but it can also support other terrain mapping requirements. The camera includes a fog, dust and liquid penetration mode, which will allow landing and navigation in hazardous conditions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The compact, low power 3D Flash LADAR Camera developed on this project will have direct applications to collision avoidance and navigation for military autonomous air and ground vehicles. These cameras will also be directly applicable to terrain mapping for military and commercial applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Mobility
Perception/Sensing
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Apparati, Inc.
221 Carpenter DR
Hollister, CA 95023-9320

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Charles Bryson
cbryson@att.net
221 Carpenter DR
Hollister,  CA 95023-9320

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This innovation is the design of a monochromatic x-ray source to be used in a mission compatible XPS spectrometer. Existing x-ray sources for XPS are large, require high power and a will have difficulty meeting the vibration specifications for a mission type instrument. The small x-ray sources developed for medical applications are exciting but are designed for high energy x-rays and require refractory anodes. This program will develop a new design suitable for mission applications. It will focus on small sources similar to the medical devices that will use low power. The monochromator will be designed for low mass and use a feedback based stabilization to keep it aligned independent of temperature and vibrations associated with missions launch. The feedback system will use x-ray detectors in a plane near the sample to since the x-ray beam direction and an interment angular vibration to make sure the monochromator is on the optimum angle for diffraction. After a suitable design is implemented with thermal electron sources, a nanotube excitation sources will be considered.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We anticipate three types of NASA applications All will use the very small XPS for direct measurements of the chemical state of materials on, or in, the surface of Mars, other planetary objects and Earth. These experiments will examine the in-situ chemical state of surfaces of interest. From this data there will be a better understanding of the reactions that actually occur on these surfaces, the presence and type of biomarkers present, the levels and nature of toxic materials and the amount of water present. All of this information will be obtained with out a pre-knowledge of what may be found. The mass of the instrument will vary depending on the place used. The high vacuum nature of Lunar type surfaces will reduce the mass of the housing and eliminate the vacuum pumps while the low pressure of the Mars atmosphere simplifies the pump needed.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Three semiconductor Defect Review Instrument manufactures are interested in this project and will participate in the phase III effort. This market will approach $1B in the next few years. Apparati Inc. (AI) expects to supply the analytical base tool and can expect sales to grow to $100 M per year as the product matures. During Phase III AI will ship $3M in shipments and NRE. Another application area will be the use of the XPS with the small x-ray source to pursue dedicated analysis products. There have been very few for electron spectroscopy tools developed for this market because of the cost and speed of the current instruments. As a result there is very little market size data available. At Surface/Interface Inc., a previous company the PI founded, a successful tool was developed for the Hard Disk business. It is a viable product in a market that is developing.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Perception/Sensing
Particle and Fields
Biochemical

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Srivatsa Venkatasubbarao
sbirproposals@intopsys.com
2520 W. 237th Street
Torrance,  CA 90505-5217

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Life on Earth is unique in many ways; one of its great mysteries is that all the biomolecules of Earth's life are chiral and non-racemic. In our pursuit of life on Mars and beyond, it is likely that one of the clues to extant or extinct life is non-racemic chiral molecules. This proposal describes the development of a highly miniaturized and ultrasensitive lab-on-a-chip polarimeter to determine the chirality of samples. This proposal is based on a novel technology to achieve the miniaturization and high sensitivity desired for this application. In Phase 1 of this project, we will design and construct the miniaturized polarimeter and develop the software to run the instrument. The polarimeter will be tested with representative samples and with plans to integrate the device to the Mars Organic Analyzer that is being developed at the University of California, Berkeley. In Phase 2 we will carry out the optimization and ruggedization of the device for space-use and will carry out additional testing and integration to the Mars Organic Analyzer.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed device will assist NASA in its pursuit to seek life beyond Earth. It is assumed that the detection of chirality of Martian and other samples might provide insights into the existence of life, either previously or currently. The miniaturized size and light weight of the proposed polarimeter, in combination with its expected sensitivity, make it suitable to monitor extraterrestrial samples for chirality.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology has applications in many disciplines. The pharmaceutical industry will find the device valuable as the trend has been to develop drug molecules that are chirally pure. Research institutions can use this device in studying the efficacy of drugs in clinical applications. The device can also be very useful to educational institutions for research and training.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomolecular Sensors
Biochemical
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Novawave Technologies
900 Island Drive
Redwood City, CA 94065-5176

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hans-Jurg "H.-J." Jost
hjjost@novawavetech.com
900 Island Drive
Redwood City,  CA 94065-5176

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Small Business Innovative Research Phase I proposal seeks to develop a dual channel, compact mid-infrared laser spectrometer for planetary atmosphere exploration. The device will be capable of measuring trace gases at 3.3 and 4.6 um without the need for cryogens. By using novel, fiber-coupled, solid state lasers, performance will be improved over traditional tunable diode laser sensors.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications for the instrument described in this proposal include the interrogation of extraterrestrial atmospheres for trace species, as well as in the study of Earth's atmosphere. The described instrument will have applications in atmospheric chemistry and satellite validation performed on uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The worldwide market for gas sensors with the capabilities of the proposed system is quite large. Numerous potential applications can be found in trace gas monitoring, pollution monitoring, industrial process control, and medical diagnostics.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biochemical
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
MICROWAVE POWER TECHNOLOGY
1280 Theresa Avenue
Campbell, CA 95008-6833

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Espinosa
micpwrt@aol.com
1280 Theresa Avenue
Campbell,  CA 95008-6833

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of the proposed work is to develop a design model for a CNT cold cathode, low power, passively cooled, and grounded-anode X-ray tube that is compatible with a miniature XRD system designed for future space exploration. We propose to develop a miniature X-ray source for instruments for in situ measurements on planetary surfaces.This X-ray source will integrate an X-ray emitting vacuum tube and both low and high-voltage power supply into a compact and lightweight unit. This X-ray source will enable further miniaturized X-ray instruments to be deployed for surface and subsurface exploration of the solar system. The basis of this innovation is in the application of state of the art materials to produce a low power passively cooled grounded-anode X-ray tube. These objectives will be achieved with an X-ray source that combines the advantage of easy thermal management and simple control electronics. The concept relies on the use of state of the art ceramic materials that combines very good electrical insulation properties with good thermal conductivity. This source will allow using the grounded cathode geometry for simple and compact electronics, and rely on the heatsink properties of the ceramic electrical insulator for heat dissipation to the ground. The most promising material is for this application is Aluminum Nitride (AlN). Objective specifications for the source to be developed are as follows: Accelerating voltage, ……….....25 kV Electron Beam current, …….....200 micro Amps X-ray spot size……………….........50 microns, Max. X-ray Tube Dimensions, (lxd)….45 mm x 15 mm X-ray tube mass………………......... grams Power conditioner volume…….... cc Power conditioner mass………..... grams

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
X-ray diffraction is widely used for in situ analysis of crystalline structures for identification and analysis of minerals and organic crystals both on the surface and subsurface of earth and distant planets and moons. The compactness needed for the hand held instruments is readily transferable to mounting on small rovers and landers for unmanned missions or left behind to monitor changes induced by changing environments. The cold CNT cathodes are also much better suited to the rigors of space travel and landings because the emitter can be hard mounted directly to the device structure so they are resistant to high levels of shock and vibration and nearly immune to changes induced by extreme temperatures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Development of the miniature, focused beam, x-ray source will immediately extend the utilization of hand held and portable x-ray fluorescence and diffraction instruments because of smaller size and greater efficiency. They will find uses in imaging applications that require small focal spots and higher intensity for in situ locating flaws in small assemblies on factory floors. The cold CNT cathode and metal ceramic construction of the tube adds a degree of ruggedness and environmental tolerance that will enable them to be used for in situ identification of hazardous compounds in industrial spills. The small size will allow deployment in confined spaces to monitor quality or identify contaminants.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Biomolecular Sensors
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Biochemical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Manned-Manuvering Units
In-situ Resource Utilization
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
THORLEAF RESEARCH, INC.
5552 Cathedral Oaks Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93111-1406

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paul Holland
pholland@thorleaf.com
5552 Cathedral Oaks Road
Santa Barbara,  CA 93111-1406

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Thorleaf Research, Inc. proposes to develop a rugged, miniaturized, low power MEMS-based gas chromatograph (GC) capable of handling the high inertial loads encountered during planetary missions. This will provide key enabling technology for mission planners, especially where hard landers or penetrators may be required to meet science objectives within challenging mass, volume and power constraints. Our innovative approach employs high strength inert materials to provide a direct interface between components such as a MEMS-GC injector chip, valves and GC column. This eliminates fittings and tubing connections to greatly enhance robustness, improve system inertness and reduce mass. We believe it will be possible to develop the miniaturized GC system at a mass of about 200 grams, with an average power consumption of less than 50 mW for isothermal operation. Our use of a modular design approach will make it possible to interface the proposed miniaturized GC to miniature mass spectrometers, ion mobility spectrometers, or other detectors of interest to NASA. The goal of our proposed SBIR Phase 1 effort is to demonstrate feasibility for a miniaturized, high inertial load MEMS-based gas chromatograph, and to develop a detailed design for fabricating and demonstrating prototype instrumentation in Phase 2.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Miniaturization and robustness of in situ instrumentation are key drivers in the overall payload mass required for NASA missions. In the tradeoffs associated with mission design, instrumentation that can survive higher inertial loads allows propellant mass to be reduced. This can be used to increase the science payload or reduce launch vehicle requirements. Thorleaf Research's proposed GC system addresses this need in an innovative way, providing enabling technology for "hard" entry into the atmospheres of Venus or the giant planets, and hard landers or penetrators at the surface of Mars, Europa or other bodies. Our miniature GC will be especially useful when coupled to miniature mass spectrometers or ion mobility spectrometers currently under development at NASA/JPL and NASA/ARC. With our modular design approach, this system can be adapted for NASA Space Exploration Initiative needs, such as environmental monitoring in space habitats and process monitoring for the extraction of planetary resources.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Analysis of commercial instrumentation markets shows that two of the three major growth areas for analytical instrumentation are real-time analysis and environmental monitoring, with projected annual growth rates of more than 15%. Our modular design approach for the miniaturized, low power gas chromatograph designed to resist high inertial loads will help it be adapted for field measurement needs in scientific, energy exploration and environmental monitoring applications where ruggedness and reliability are especially important. Thus, technical developments in the proposed program could have a significant market impact.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Biochemical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Q-Peak Inc
135 South Road
Bedford, MA 01730-2307

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bhabana Pati
pati@qpeak.com
135 South Road
Bedford,  MA 01730-2307

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In response to the solicitation for advances in critical components of instruments for enhanced scientific investigations on future planetary mission, Q-Peak proposes to develop an extremely compact, robust, efficient, Q-switched, solid state laser, producing 10-mJ, nanosecond-duration pulses, for use as a source for laser-induced breakdown spectrometers and lidar systems. One of our innovations is the application of "D-rod" laser-diode side-pumping technology to the laser material Nd:YLF, which possesses substantially higher energy storage and will provide significantly higher output energies for the same volume compared to the more common Nd:YAG laser crystal. The negligible stress-induced birefringence and greatly reduced thermally induced distortion of Nd:YLF will allow us to provide linear polarization and excellent laser-beam quality from a conduction-cooled system. Another innovation is the use of passive Q-switches, Cr4+: YAG or F2-: LiF saturable absorbers that will greatly improve laser reliability and also eliminate the size and weight associated with active Q-switching. A key factor of our design is quasi-CW pumping with a variable duty cycle, which will not only reduce power consumption but will allow for developing a variable repetition rate source (as high as a 1 kHz), thereby reducing the data acquisition time.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications are in systems requiring compact, efficient, reliable, moderate-energy, nanosecond-pulsed lasers. For planetary exploration, these applications are in LIBS systems used for planetary surface characterization and in lidar systems for atmospheric measurements of aerosol concentrations and distributions, as well as precision ranging for planetary surface mapping from satellites and other spacecraft. The laser we propose to develop is compact, efficient, rugged and reliable, making it ideal for planetary missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications are in portable LIBS systems to replace the current bulky, inefficient and less reliable lamp-pumped lasers now employed. LIBS, besides having numerous scientific applications in materials characterization, can also be used in industrial applications for process control through monitoring of exhaust streams, analysis of pharmaceuticals, profiling of metals, composition determinations of minerals in mining and detection of contamination in the environment.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical
Photonics
Optical & Photonic Materials
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scribner Associates Incorporated
150 E. Connecticut Ave
Southern Pines, NC 28387-5528

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kevin Cooper
kevin@scribner.com
150 E. Connecticut Ave
Southern Pines,  NC 28387-5528

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Future planetary exploration missions such as those planned by NASA and other space agencies over the next few decades require advanced chemical and biological marker measurement technologies that will help answer fundamental questions about the composition of the Solar System and the possibility of past and present extraterrestrial life. Electrical/electrochemical array-based systems are highly suited for space and terrestrial applications because of their robustness, high-sensitivity, low-power requirement, inherent miniaturization capability through microfabrication, and diverse transducer mechanisms which permit detection of a broad range of chemical and biological targets. Scribner Associates will leverage its expertise in analytical instrumentation for arrays and impedance spectroscopy to develop an advanced array impedance analyzer for use with existing (e.g., Mars Oxidation Instrument) and future chemical and biological sensor arrays for planetary exploration. The instrument will be versatile: It will be capable of conducting DC and multi-frequency AC impedance measurement of arrays with large numbers of sensing elements. Successful development of the impedance array analyzer will facilitate multiple mission deployments with arrays tailored to specific mission objectives therefore ensuring efficient investment of NASA resources.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The array analyzer system will find direct application in NASA's Space Science program as it seeks to answer fundamental questions about the Solar System and life. As one component of a space science package, the multi-mission array analyzer could be deployed on orbiters, landers, and/or rovers sent to planetary bodies such as Mars. For each mission, the analyzer could be configured for the specific mission objectives at hand such as analysis of the planetary atmosphere (gases and particles), chemical and mineralogical analysis of materials (soil, dust, rock, liquid, and ice) and detection and identification of biomarkers of extinct or extant life such as pre-biotics, bio-molecules and bio-minerals. Finally, variants of the instrument could be used in portable electrical/electrochemical-sensor based laboratory and astronaut medical screening devices for manned missions similar to those being developed for use on Earth.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Small, low-power array analyzers will find numerous commercial applications. They are essential platforms on which to build chem/bio detection and assay devices for a broad range of applications including remote and automated environmental monitoring; medical diagnostics and near-patient clinical testing monitoring (such as bio-assays and blood analysis); utility and industrial process stream monitoring (such as waste water treatment evaluation); and homeland security (such as portable detectors for explosives and chemical and biological weapons). Growth in the sensor market indicates the need and demand for such technologies. Additional commercial applications of the proposed technology are as a research tool for accelerated sensor and sensor array development through the ability to adopt combinatorial materials and sensor development methods, and data analysis techniques. The proposed array analyzer is a unique, innovative technology with tremendous commercial potential as the basis for a range of portable chem/bio detection systems for on-site, remote, and laboratory application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biochemical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-4236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jerri Ji
ji@honeybeerobotics.com
460 W. 34th Street
New York,  NY 10001-2320

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In response to the need for motors and actuators that can operate in the harsh venusian environment for extended periods of time, on the order of several hours to days, Honeybee Robotics proposes continued development of an extreme temperature brushless motor and a position feedback device (resolver or tachometer) and a demonstration of both in simulated Venus surface conditions. During Phase I a first-generation prototype motor/resolver will be designed, built, and tested in Venus-like conditions (486<SUP>o</SUP>C temperature and mostly CO2 gas environment). Phase I testing will verify the feasibility of the designs and confirm that the motor/resolver combination can operate at 486<SUP>o</SUP>C for an extended period of time. Fully developed and optimized versions of this motor/resolver could be used to actuate drills, robotic arms, and other devices outside of an environment-controlled landed platform on the surface of Venus. The device's ability to survive for hours (and potentially longer) in that environment is a major benefit to future Venus science missions. It would permit time for communication ground loops to optimize sampling and drilling target selection as well as allow for multiple samples to be acquired from the subsurface. In a potential Phase II effort, an extreme environment brushless motor/resolver combination will be developed to TRL 6.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High temperature motors are needed for future Venus surface exploration missions, and these missions provide the most immediate need for such devices. According to NASA's latest mission roadmap document, three different in situ Venus exploration missions are planned, with the first to be developed under the New Frontiers program with a potential launch date of 2013. The successful completion of the proposed effort would be essential to a New Frontiers Venus mission proposal as it would offer significant new opportunities for improved science, data gathering and operational life. According to the New Frontiers program schedule, the next Announcement of Opportunity is scheduled for release in about one to two years, which would be timed well with the proposed motor development here. Following a New Frontiers Venus In-Situ Explorer mission, two missions are planned in order to prepare for sample return, the first is a planned surface mission to demonstrate critical technologies and the second would be a fully equipped sample return mission. In addition to actuating a drill and sampling devices, high temperature motors are needed to actuate robotic arms, additional sample manipulation and comminution devices, and any other devices that require actuation exterior to the temperature- and pressure-controlled landed vessel.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Electrical submersible pumps are down-hole pumps used in oil and geothermal applications such as steam floods (used in many fields to improve mobility of heavy oil and bitumen), geothermal wells, and other high temperature/ poor cooling applications. The trend in the application of ESPs has been toward installation in higher temperature reservoirs. An extreme temperature brushless motor could potentially allow oil and water pump operation at greater depths than those attainable using these existing ESPs. The Iceland Deep Drilling Project currently employs ESPs that operate in the 200<SUP>o</SUP>C to 300<SUP>o</SUP>C range. However, the wells the project desires to explore approach temperatures of 400<SUP>o</SUP>C to 650<SUP>o</SUP>C. Currently, ESPs do not exist that can handle these temperatures, but a brushless motor could be integrated with an ESP to accommodate the harsh environments of the IDDP. Other potential applications identified include gas turbine starter/generators for aircraft engines, actuators for turbine fuel and steam control, inlet guide vane positioning, bleed heat valve control and remote sub-sea system actuation, high temperature electromechanical actuation systems for expendable launch vehicle thrust vector control and gimbaling of engines and adaptable aerodynamic surfaces , and furnace tending for glass/ceramic manufacturing.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Control Instrumentation
Superconductors and Magnetic

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
FMW COMPOSITE SYSTEMS, INC.
1200 W. Benedum Industrial Drive
Bridgeport, WV 26330-9687

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steve Spear
sspear@fmwcomposite.com
1200 W Benedum Industrial Drive
Bridgeport,  WV 26330-9687

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
For over 15 years, FMW Composite Systems has developed Metal Matrix Composite manufacturing methodologies for fabricating silicon-carbide-fiber-reinforced titanium components, also known as Titanium Matrix Composites (TMC), for the aerospace industry. These efforts have resulted in successfully flight qualifying three TMC components, including a piston rod used in the divergent exhaust nozzle actuator for the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine (F-22), and two exhaust nozzle actuator links for the GE F110 engine (F-16). TMC weight savings over the monolithic titanium and steel components being replaced typically varies from 35 to 45% depending upon the application load requirements. The relatively low density of TMC (10% lower than Titanium) combined with its excellent mechanical behavior, results in significantly higher specific static properties than conventional material systems. Additionally, creep resistance of TMC is dramatically enhanced over monolithic titanium due to the presence of the SiC fibers, which do not exhibit discernible creep at the temperature regime of interest. Currently, FMW is working with closely with the aerospace industry to develop TMC structural components for both Military and Commercial airframe applications. FMW proposes to use this same technology to work with the Jet Propulsion Lab to develop a TMC pressure vessel for the Venus Lander mission.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Expansion of FMW's TMC manufacturing base to include compound curvature parts with integral monolithic attachment points will facilitate the use of TMC in a variety of potential applications. In addition to the targeted NASA application of pressure vessels for planetary probes and landers, other hot metallic structure applications requiring compound curvature would also benefit. Near leading edge surfaces of future hypersonic vehicles and exhaust path surface structure on military aircraft are potential applications that would benefit from the development of the manufacturing methods needed to produce TMC pressure vessels.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
See above.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
UTRON Inc
8506 Wellington Rd. Suite 200
Manassas, VA 20109-3988

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Karthik Nagarathnam
karthik@utroninc.com
8506 Wellington Rd. Suite 200
Manassas,  VA 20109-3988

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In response to NASA's need to develop advanced nanostructured thermolectric materials, UTRON is proposing an innovative high pressure powder consolidation manufacturing to fabricate near net shape and net shape thermolectric components with improved densification and properties than possible conventional powder metallurgical methods. Potential candidate materials such as Tellurides, TAGs and SiGe micro/nano composites will be developed at high compaction pressures (150 tsi) using select geometries/shapes and optimized disk samples will be characterized for geometrical, shrinkage, mechanical, microstructure/microchemistry and thermolectric properties. The proposed work has been planned in close subcontract/collaboration with Teledyne and Auburn University-Space Research Institute. Other advanced nanocomposite alloys and scaling up to fabricate complex geometries will be done in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Deep Space Mission Thermolectric Power Devices/Modules, Nanostructured Electrodes for High Energy Storage Batteries, High Temperature Propulsion Rocket Nozzle Liners, Ablative Liner Inserts, High Density Refractory and Composite Parts, Heat Pipes, Valves for Advanced Engine Systems, Solid Lubricant Composites for Spacecraft Bearings and Tribological Applications, Erosion Resistant High Temperature Materials, Heat Sinks, Dissimilar Bonded Materials.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The anticipated applications of CDC technology for near net shape net-shape fabrication include high performance engine parts such as valves/valve seats, connecting rods, gears, brake parts, bushing, spring retainers, washers, roller bearings, pump parts, x-ray targets, sputtering targets, ammunitions, heat sinks/shields/nozzle parts, electrical contact brushes for motors/generators, commutator rings, nuclear plasma components, electromagnetic devices, vacuum seals, welding electrodes, microwave components, microelectronic interconnects/thermal management systems, permanent/superconducting magnets and wear/corrosion/high temperature parts.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Superconductors and Magnetic
Tribology
Energy Storage
Thermoelectric Conversion

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The overall program objective is to develop a high temperature variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP) backup radiator, and integrate it into a Stirling radioisotope power system. A VCHP is similar to a heat pipe, but has a reservoir and a controlled amount of non-condensable gas (NCG) inside the reservoir. At low power, most of the condenser is blocked by the NCG. As the power increases, more and more of the condenser becomes active. This allows a VCHP to passively control the temperature while the power varies. Aluminum/ammonia VCHPs are commonly used in spacecraft thermal control. The proposed program will extend this concept to the alkali metal heat pipes that will be required for a Stirling system. During normal operation, the VCHP will be inactive. If the Stirling engine stops working for any reason, the VCHP will passively remove the heat from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) preventing the GPHS from overheating. The benefits of the VCHP radiator include increased safety and reliability, and the ability to design an optimum Stirling engine.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The immediate NASA application is to provide backup cooling for a radioisotope Stirling system. This design has three benefits, the first two related to safety, and the last to performance. First, if the Stirling engine stops operating during ground testing, the VCHP radiator will prevent overtemperature of the MLI insulation. Second, the VCHP radiator will prevent overtemperature of the GPHS modules when in near earth orbit, preventing excessive grain growth from harming the integrity of the iridium shell on the GPHS module. Finally, the VCHP can be used to remove the excess heat at the beginning of the mission, allowing an optimum engine design.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercially, ACT believes that there is a commercial application for alkali metal VCHPs in fuel cell reformers. In a fuel cell reformer, diesel fuel and air pass through a series of high temperature reactors to generate hydrogen. The operating temperature of the reactors must be closely controlled to maintain their chemical equilibrium. A typical system must maintain inlet and outlet temperatures within ±30<SUP>o</SUP>C despite a turndown ratio of 5:1 in reactant flow rate. The current scheme uses a bypass valve, which has several drawbacks: it requires active control, requires power, and has a large pressure drop. ACT believes that alkali metal VCHP heat exchangers can replace the current heat exchanger and control system with a passive system that automatically maintains the output stream from the heat exchanger at a constant temperature.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Nuclear Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
EpiWorks, Inc.
1606 Rion Drive
Champaign, IL 61822-9598

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Ahmari
dahmari@epiworks.com
1606 Rion Drive
Champaign,  IL 61822-9598

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposal is to study and demonstrate novel GaAsNP/GaP/AlGaP technology for use in extreme photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion. NASA and the scientific community are interested in solar missions that go as far as Saturn or even into near sun conditions. Such missions present a challenging problem for PV technology. In addition to the requisite high efficiency and reduced solar cell payload mass, these missions require a PV technology that can withstand the increased solar intensity, radiation and temperature. We propose studying two possible solar cell designs: The first design utilizes novel, wide gap GaP-based materials to provide bandgaps well suited for high-temperature operation and to enhance function in high radiation and near sun missions. Such an approach will enable solar cells to operate at and above 450 Celcius with the highest possible efficiency. As part of this study we would investigate the deposition of AlGaP on GaP to provide materials with bandgaps at or above 2.4 eV. The second design we will investigate uses more standard materials that EpiWorks has already developed for different applications. This design would employ InAlP (2.4eV bandgap) lattice-matched to GaAs as the key wide gap material. We will study the expected temperature dependence and other key thermal properties of such a design and compare to the GaP-based approach.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
efficiency solar cell arrays for NASA missions and DoD satellites. For NASA, future missions will continue to probe closer and closer to the sun. A potential, but unlikely application would be solar probes, but the most likely application would missions such as a Mercury surface station with an equilibrium temperature of ~450 Celsius. In these future missions, it is critical to develop solar cell PV technology that can operate from 450-1000 Celsius in high radiation and high intensity environments. Our near term commercialization strategy will be to develop a solar cell PV technology that can operate at high-efficiency in these conditions. It is also important to note that our technology could be utilized with "Solar Clipper" concentrator systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
EpiWorks plans to pursue NASA, military and potential commercial customers with a new GaP-based solar cell technology. In addition to NASA Saturn, near-sun and related missions, we will initially focus on the DoD and commercial space-based solar cell market. This market demands solar cell technology with high efficiency and low weights. If a lightweight, and thermally robust, efficient solar cell technology were available, it could provide significant opportunity with other space-based applications. These capabilities are especially important for next-generation DoD and commercial satellites. In phase II we will be developing an initial prototype device. In parallel, EpiWorks plans to team with at least one commercial partner as well as 1-2 government partners (preferably AFRL and NREL) to complete product development and begin production.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical & Photonic Materials
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials
Photovoltaic Conversion
Renewable Energy

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amit Singhal
asinghal@neicorporation.com
201 Circle Drive N., Suite 102/103
Piscataway,  NJ 08854-3723

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to develop high figure of merit (ZT) oxide-based thermoelectric materials. This will be accomplished by engineering a novel microstructure that will lead to reduced lattice thermal conductivity, a large Seebeck coefficient and high electronic conductivity. A new processing route to achieve the desired microstructure is proposed, which builds upon our core competency in nanomaterials synthesis and processing. The proposed oxide materials can be used at higher temperatures than currently available non-oxide based thermoelectrics. The Phase I effort, a collaboration with a leading thermoelectrics research group in the United States, will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating a dense oxide leg with high ZT and conversion efficiency at elevated temperatures. Prototype thermoelectric devices using p- and n- oxide legs will be fabricated and tested, and efforts will be undertaken to transition the technology into the commercial arena, especially in industrial waste heat recovery.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Metal-based thermoelectric materials are currently used in RTGs in NASA spacecraft. The service life is fairly long since thermoelectric devices have no moving parts. Thermoelectric devices generate clean energy with high power density, and are easily scalable. The proposed program to develop novel oxide-based thermoelectric materials will enhance the capability of current RTGs, including allowing higher operating temperatures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
With the advent of thermoelectric coolers and heaters for consumer applications, thermoelectric devices now have the potential to be used in technologically challenging applications, such as recovering industrial waste heat and utilization of waste heat in automotives. These applications demand low cost and durable materials that can be used at high temperature and in the presence of oxidizing/reducing environment. The proposed program will address this market need.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ceramics
Thermoelectric Conversion

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

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

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Photovoltaic arrays for future deep space NASA missions demand multiple functionalities. They must efficiently generate electrical power, have very large areas and very low areal mass densities, mechanical flexibility to allow them to be compactly stowed and deployed in space, and the ability to simply survive and operate in the deep space environment. The objective of this NASA program is to develop ultra low mass density fabric materials with patterned conductive traces capable of conducting high electrical current densities and able to survive the harsh thermal and mechanical environmental conditions required by deep space missions. Such multifunctional Gossamer materials would provide both adequate mechanical support and low loss electrical interconnect network functionalities for power generation arrays. NanoSonic won one of NASA's 13 "nanotechnology product awards" for 2006, recently announced in NASA Technical Briefs, for its electrically conducting and mechanically flexible Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> sheet materials. The proposed program would build on this successful Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> technology to synthesize patterned, electrically conductive, low-weight fabrics rather than sheet materials. During Phase I, NanoSonic would produce prototype high performance, ultra low mass density support fabrics with integrated patterned electrically conductive vias and demonstrate properties, and demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale rapid production of such materials.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications for the patterned Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> fabrics developed on this program include (1) ultra low areal density fabrics and electrical wiring interconnects for very large PV arrays, (2) low weight RF and EMI shielding materials, (3) low weight antenna array and ground plane components for space-based radar and other communication systems, and (4) in lightweight flex circuits and electronic fabrics.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications include replacements for lead-based electrical solder, as low weight flexible interconnect electrodes for human prostheses and biomedical sensors, and as low weight RF shielding for consumer products.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Rugate Technologies Inc
353 Christian Street
Oxford, CT 06478-1053

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Thomas Rahmlow, Jr.
trahmlow@rugate.com
353 Christian Street
Oxford,  CT 06478-1053

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The feasibility of radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) power systems has been shown. The best efficiencies reported to date for a TPV module test include front surface spectral control filters. This program will address the technical challenges to developing and qualifying highly efficient spectral control filters that can survive high temperatures(above 150 degrees C)for long periods of time. In earlier work, we have identified thermally stable filter materials and demonstrated their use as high index filter materials, however they are quite sensitive to deposition conditions. In this program, we will (1)optimize deposition conditions to improve reliability, repeatability, uniformity, and filter performance, (2)develop and optimize filter designs for radioisotope power, (3)conduct extended high temperature, long life, radiation, and environmental durability testing, (4)identify other potential high temperature materials, (5) address the use of multiple spectral control architectures including spectrally selective emitters, back surface reflectors (BSR) and photonic crystals, and (5) integrate the spectral control architectures with RTPV technology to address NASA missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Exploration goals for the moon, Mars and the planets require the ability to move about on the surface at will and perform the required science and engineering tasks. Concepts for returning to the moon require the construction of a lunar base and full operational readiness of that base before any manned missions are made. Power systems for rovers and robot explorers are a key to meeting mission goals. Radioisotope power systems (RPS) offer the advantage of long duration operation (7 to 14 years), operation without regard to solar lighting conditions or shadows and without regard to low external temperatures. Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) RPS direct energy power converters take advantage of recent developments for high efficiency TPV cells, spectral control filters and spectrally selective emitters. The TPV RPS has no moving parts. It can be constructed to withstand high mechanical shock and the 'G' forces of landing or a potential 'driving' accident.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
TPV energy conversion systems have no moving parts and are, therefore, very quiet and reliable. TPV systems are suitable for portable generation of electricity for remote sites or on boats or recreational vehicles. TPV can be combined with solar photovoltaics (PV) to provide electricity 24 hours a day. This program seeks to improve efficiency and thermal stability, as well as reduce TPV cost. As TPV efficiency improves and cost decreases it will find commercial applications such as recovering industrial heat waste, as a replacement for an automobile alternator, and in hybrid electric vehicles. High efficiency TPV can be a cleaner, more efficient solution to the growing electric generation concerns.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Photonics
Optical & Photonic Materials
Nuclear Conversion
Photovoltaic Conversion
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Winzen Engineering Inc
23350 Southfork
San Antonio, TX 78255-2108

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Rand
winzen@sbcglobal.net
23350 Southfork
San Antonio,  TX 78255-2108

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This innovative research effort is directed at determining, quantitatively, the convective heat transfer coefficients applicable to a Montgolfiere balloon operating in an atmosphere simulating that of Titan. It is anticipated that a platform such as this will provide the mobility desired to explore that part of the solar system. Utilizing only the waste heat available from an on board power source, it should be possible to circumnavigate Saturn's largest moon. Accurate knowledge of free convection is essential for predicting the performance and mitigating the risk for such a mission. In order to simulate a volume of gas large enough to inflate a model balloon at 77K, vacuum insulation panels will be used to minimize the thermal losses. At the conclusion of this Phase I effort, a final report will establish the feasibility of this approach and describe the future applications of this technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology developed by this research will enable NASA engineers to properly evaluate the operational capabilities of a buoyant platform currently being considered for use in the exploration of the solar system. In addition, this technology will enable others to produce a significant volume of gas simulating the Titan atmosphere. Other NASA offices may use this technology to simulate other features of the mission to Titan.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The experience gained in creating a large volume of gas suitable for testing buoyant vehicles will be of great interest to others in the aerospace industry. The current emphasis on near space opportunities has attracted interest in terrestrial stratospheric platforms for remote sensing and communications. Non-NASA applications include the HAA and ISIS programs as well as a variety of commercial ventures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Thermal Insulating Materials
Fluid Storage and Handling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 3000
Woburn, MA 01801-6580

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sanjeev Seereeram
sanjeev@ssci.com
500 West Cummings park, Suite 3000
Woburn,  MA 01801-6500

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Recent work has developed a number of architectures and algorithms for accurately estimating spacecraft and formation states. The estimation accuracy achievable during spacecraft operation depends not only on the algorithm, but also on its implementation. Typically, the algorithm will be implemented on a real-time multi-tasking processor that allocates on-board computational resources to multiple tasks and functions according to some scheduling policy. The processor's task scheduler may induce delays that were unaccounted for at design-time and may sometimes preempt estimation tasks in favor of other tasks. Hence, estimation accuracy and in general the performance of any embedded algorithm can be significantly lower than expected during execution. The goal of this project is to develop distributed spacecraft state estimation algorithms that account for real-time multi-tasking processor and other implementation related resource constraints. We bring together modeling techniques from multi-class queuing, well-known Kalman filtering techniques and recent advances in embedded systems to develop an innovative co-design framework for the design of embedded state estimation algorithms and software. During the proposed effort, we will design, implement and evaluate estimation algorithms on a network of real-time processors or hardware emulations of processors on-board formation spacecraft.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Directly addresses concerns in embedded control systems for formation flying spacecraft. NASA's Next Generation Air Transportation System will use real-time multi-tasking environment for control, estimation and integrated vehicle health monitoring tasks. Another NASA applications include embedded jet engine control systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Embedded control and estimation systems are used in a wide range of commercial and military applications. This SBIR effort uses a co-design approach to develop state estimation algorithms for implementation using real-time multi-tasking operating systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Teleoperation
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
Attitude Determination and Control
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation