{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":93558,"title":"Innovation in the Sky","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10703,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10701,"level":3,"code":"TX06.4.2","title":"Fire: Detection, Suppression, and Recovery","definition":"Spacecraft fire safety technologies ensure crew health and safety by reducing the likelihood of a fire, or, if one does occur, minimizing the risk to the crew, mission, and/or system.","exampleTechnologies":"Combustion model in low and partial gravity, cabin fire: detection system, cabin fire extinguisher","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":3,"currentTrl":6,"endTrl":6,"benefits":"There are many Government applications: The most immediate one is to do work with the Department of Homeland Security to provide UAV border surveillance along the US/Mexico border. This suggested solution will use a fleet of small UAVs flying autonomously back and forth between recharge stations to provide meaningful and accurate intelligence of border intrusion. Then, high resolution photos collected by the smart UAV would be sent via our satellites to DHS agents in a remote command facility who will then decide on the level and type of engagement. In addition to border security, this sense and avoid technology can be used to a) permit safe flight for NOAA surveillance of US waterways and landmass; b) help execute search and rescue missions for the US Coast Guard via UAVs and c) support the Department of Transportation to do long range inspection of the country's infrastructure.
The utility inspection problem for oil, gas and electric companies is also a big opportunity for small UAV flight. In this problem, the UAV would fly tens of miles along utility and gas lines looking for places of encroachment and/or maintenance issues. Encroachment occurs when non-suspecting organizations build and/or modify [i.e. dig] the land near these lines which could cause some danger. Maintenance issues are due to the common aging of outdoor elements. In both the Government application and the commercial application, the problem that we are solving is long distance inspection in which the UAV is smart enough to fly autonomously, not hit anything and offer surveillance. Also, in both cases the customer will desire imagery that is then sent back to a command site for human analysis. Our technology, along those developed in this project, will offer the first equipment to achieve this affordably.","description":"This Phase II proposal presents a scope of work to develop reliable Sense and Avoid for BVLOS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] operations. We first analyze a) the requirement for avoidance based on the UAV's ability to get away from danger and b) the suite of candidate technologies needed to detect intruders with ample time to get away. To meet this need we will build a reliable FINE TRACKING sensor for knowing where nearby objects are located and an EARLY WARNING sensor for the region outside the coverage of the Fine Tracker. The first step is to substantially improve the candidate sensor technologies [radar, LiDAR and V2V] for our specific requirements. This is because the individual technologies have typically been designed for other markets and on their own will not solve Sense and Avoid. But the combination of our improvements to these three technologies along with smart data fusion will provide meaningful Early Warning and Fine Tracking of any likely intruders. We will then run experiments to verify that we can reliably detect and then avoid our two most challenging targets; namely power lines and toy drones. We will then report on our results and provide recommendations for commercialization.","startYear":2017,"startMonth":4,"endYear":2020,"endMonth":3,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":396672,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Rob","lastName":"Reis","fullName":"Rob Reis","fullNameInverted":"Reis, Rob","primaryEmail":"Rob@Myhigherground.Com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":403810,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Robert","lastName":"Reis","fullName":"Robert S Reis","fullNameInverted":"Reis, Robert S","middleInitial":"S","primaryEmail":"rob@myhigherground.com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":215154,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Gustetic","fullName":"Jennifer L Gustetic","fullNameInverted":"Gustetic, Jennifer L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jennifer.l.gustetic@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","primaryEmail":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":3250946,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Parimal","lastName":"Kopardekar","fullName":"Parimal Kopardekar","fullNameInverted":"Kopardekar, Parimal","primaryEmail":"Parimal.H.Kopardekar@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":461333,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Theresa","lastName":"Stanley","fullName":"Theresa M Stanley","fullNameInverted":"Stanley, Theresa M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"theresa.m.stanley@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[{"file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":298530,"fileName":"briefchart","fileSize":103131,"objectId":295064,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"100.7 KB"},"files":[{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":298530,"fileName":"briefchart","fileSize":103131,"objectId":295064,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"100.7 KB"}],"id":295064,"title":"Briefing Chart","description":"Innovation in the Sky, Phase II Briefing 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We outline just a few. Secret Service: The movement of the President is a very complex operation. The process becomes quite challenging when the President moves in the public space as it is difficult to control all access. UAV's can be a meaningful advance to this problem. It would be quite valuable to have UAV's cross the sky at low altitude above the public space to provide real-time, actionable visibility of activity on the ground below. Environmental: NOAA and the Department of the Interior would like to send UAV's into rural spaces to understand better weather, environmental changes and wildlife count. UAV's provide a wonderful vehicle for this research as the landmass is enormous and access is often limited. Border Security: Unauthorized movement around any border can be inexpensively patrolled by BVLOS flights. Transportation Infrastructure: Buildings, bridges, roadways' can be explored and imaged at distance via BVLOS UAV's. Search & Rescue: A BVLOS UAV can search far more area, faster and cheaper than by humans.
There are many applications for commercial use of the BVLOS technology. We outline just a few. Infrastructure Inspection: There are many large asset-based operations [rail, pipeline, refinery...] in which periodic observations are mandated by statute. These assets need to be inspected regularly. Many of these companies have thousands to tens of thousands of miles that are today inspected monthly by manned aircraft. This inspection can be done far less expensively by UAV's. But, the savings cannot begin until we make BVLOS flight safe and approved. Videography: A UAV is a valuable new platform for capturing scenes in movies and real-time news. Agriculture: A UAV will be an important asset for pest control, monitoring plant health and vegetation efficiency. The UAV can fly at low altitude over the farm and provide real-time agricultural health reports (which due to their ease and periodicity) become quite actionable. Mapping: A UAV can be used for mapping of areas that are challenging to access. Package Delivery: UAV's can provide quick and expedient delivery of small packages.","description":"This proposal presents a scope of work to develop a total product solution for Beyond Visual Line of Sight [BVLOS] Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] operations. Our focus is on technology development to increase the safety and efficacy of the commercial UAV air transportation system. The goal is to improve autonomous and safe UAV operations for the first/last 50 feet (and beyond) under diverse weather conditions. In particular we focus on a UAV electronics package to provide the following system solution: a) BVLOS communications; b) track/locate; c) sense/avoid; d) long endurance flight; e) long range command/control; f) remote imaging and g) first person video. The solution we propose has a reasonably clear path to regulatory approval for spectrum and flight certification. First and foremost, the regulatory agencies need to be satisfied that the industry is safe. To be safe we need to develop autonomous [and semi-autonomous] concepts that can be scaled into today's airspace operations. Second, there are still features missing from a whole product solution. The commercial world invests in productivity improvements - anything less is simply too much work for the potential customer. We believe that it is possible to design/build a small, relatively inexpensive UAV that can a) reliably and ubiquitously communicate it's location vector; b) avoid obstacles; c) fly for more than 2 hours; d) do hover and horizontal flight; e) be commanded even outside of terrestrial radio line of sight; f) send back targeted high resolution images and g) (maybe) provide first person video. We suggest in the interest of time-to-market, an initial focus on semi-autonomous UAV flight instead of full autonomy. Semi-autonomous flight permits a human in the loop for unusual events and extraordinary situations that are difficult to plan (like the first/last 50 feet). Fully autonomous flight is likely not worth that substantial incremental investment.","startYear":2016,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2016,"endMonth":12,"statusDescription":"Completed","website":"","program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"
The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
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The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
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