Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Electronic Health Monitoring for Space Systems, Phase I
Project Description
Prognostic monitoring capabilities for space exploration aircrafts are crucial to enable safety and reliability in these platforms. Nokomis proposes to develop and mature a system which exploits electromagnetic emissions to identify degradation in avionics components and determine the probability of failure and remaining useful life (RUL). Over time, the deterioration of components under stress alters the impedances of circuits, components, integrated circuits, and other electronic subcomponents which cause changes to the electronic emission's signatures. Due to the uniqueness of emission signatures, they can be related directly to specific components within the monitored system. In this Phase I effort, representative avionics components will be artificially aged to the point of failure as they are monitored using Nokomis' AELED based Electronic Health Monitoring (EHM) system. An algorithm will be developed to model the changes in emissions over a component's lifetime, thereby determining the potential for component failure at any point in its operational lifetime.
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Anticipated Benefits
Ensuring safe and reliable technology is the key to sustaining NASA's spaceflight systems. With the use of advanced health management tools such as the proposed EHM system, NASA programs have the potential to increase capabilities and reduce operational costs. Some programs that stand to benefit include; the Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) and Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD). Because programs like the AvSP already have initiatives for across the board improvements, Nokomis' health monitoring and electronic fault prediction system will integrate well into present procedures. In addition to the IVHM program and applications in commercial aircraft, the ESMD seeks better tools and methods to ensure safe launch, flight, and mission operation of the many components of the overall Constellation and Exploration architecture. Of interest for these applications are new technologies that can provide better monitoring and diagnosis capabilities while minimizing sensor mass and volume requirements such as those provided by the proposed system. In addition to NASA applications, Nokomis has identified customers in the commercial market for aeronautics health management. Because safety and system health is an important issue for vital electronics used in aerospace across the board, the system proposed in this effort has the ability to meet the needs of an ever-growing commercial market space. Commercial space systems companies developing sensor systems and launch systems will benefit from this technology in order to improve the reliability of and protect expensive systems from catastrophic failure. Compared to current market health management solutions, Nokomis is prepared to increase cost-savings, performance standards and system safety. Because of these immense advantages, Nokomis is well positioned to address the market needs of the commercial aeronautics industry.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nokomis, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Charleroi, Pennsylvania |
Ames Research Center
(ARC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Moffett Field, California |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
California
-
Pennsylvania
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.