Abstract: The present invention provides a traffic management system for managing unmanned aerial systems (UASs) operating at low-altitude. The system includes surveillance for locating and tracking UASs in uncontrolled airspace, for example, in airspace below 10,000 feet MSL. The system also includes flight rules for safe operation of UASs in uncontrolled airspace. The system further includes computers for processing said surveillance and for applying the flight rules to UASs. The traffic management system may be portable, persistent, or a hybrid thereof.

Abstract: An energy storage system includes a hermetically-sealed casing defining a volume whose relative humidity is a range of 30-90%. At least one energy storage capacitor disposed in the volume has a solid dielectric sandwiched between two electrodes with the solid dielectric being a lanthanum-doped barium titanate-based ceramic material.

Abstract: A portable thermal protection system is provided for protecting equipment, facilities, and personnel in a region from a high intensity incident heat source. The system can be formed as a sleeping bag, a tent, a blanket, a sleeping bag, a vertical barrier, a curtain, a flexible rollup doorway, or a wrap. The system includes an outer textile layer first layer, an insulator second layer, and a non-porous film third layer which forms a gas barrier. Some embodiments include a fourth layer formed of a material to provide radiation protection. In some embodiments, the first and/or second layers are integrally formed with the materials that reflects radiation. The layers are joined together by high-temperature adhesives, stitching, needling, or tacking.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining a color and brightness of an LED, when the LED is biased with a current pulse. The apparatus includes a sensor having a plurality of filters and an output probe connected to the sensor, the output probe providing a color output and a brightness output in a single signal. The sensor may further include an input probe connected to the sensor providing power and a ground probe connected to the sensor providing a grounded connection to the sensor. The plurality of filters in the sensor are preferably configured in a matrix array of color receptors having different colors. The method of this invention utilizes pulsing/dynamic sampling to determine a frequency and/or a brightness of the LED output.

Abstract: Systems, methods, instruments and devices of the various embodiments enable improved characterization and comparison of the level and species of surface contaminants from photo-induced emission analysis. The various embodiments may provide flexibility for calculating and analyzing the time-dependence of emission efficiencies. Irregular and heterogeneous surfaces, including regionally multiply-connected surface compositions, may be analyzed according to the various embodiments, and the various embodiments include techniques that support specific contaminant identification. Various embodiment focusing techniques may enhance assessment of spatially differential regional analysis of the substrate for more critical applications. The various embodiments may also include differential comparison with reference surfaces, either through differential comparison while scanning, or by comparison to digitally stored responses to known contaminants.

Abstract: A bi-stable pin actuator includes a soft magnetic core and having a first central portion and a second central portion spaced apart from the first central portion. The first central portion has a first passage extending there-through and the second portion has a second passage extending there-through which is coaxial with the first passage. A first coil is wound about the first central portion and a second coil is wound about the second central portion. A pair of permanent magnets are located in the space between the first central portion and second central portion and attached to the core. An armature is movably positioned between and spaced apart from the permanent magnets. A pin is attached to the armature and extends into the first passage and second passages such that movement of the armature results in movement of the pin within the first passage and second passage.

Abstract: Various embodiments provide methods to identify and characterize remote objects by use of electric charge distributions generated by charge tunneling, charge injection, and charge induction. Various embodiments may use selective electrostatic charging to change the electrostatic potential throughout volumes for identification and characterization. In various embodiments, objects of interest may be selectively charged by tunneling, injection, and induction of electrical charges or free carriers. Tunneled, injected, and induced charges may migrate to sites or locations internal to volumes to yield electrostatic potential differences and electrostatic fields. In various embodiments, variations in the electrostatic potential created by the presence of the tunneled, injected, and induced charges may be quantitatively measured to identify and characterize remote objects.

Abstract: Biometric analysis of vascular patterning may be performed in 3D and 2D as an integrative biomarker of complex molecular and mechanical signaling. The vascular patterning may facilitate the coordination of essentially unlimited numbers of bioinformatics dimensions for specific molecular and other co-localizations with spatiotemporal dimensions of vascular morphology. The vascular patterning may also apply geometric principles of translational versus rotational principles for vascular branching to support the transformation of VESGEN 2D to VESGEN 3D.

Abstract: Methods and systems for controlling a physical system (plant) are disclosed. The plant is modeled as a linear, finite-dimensional system having a state vector, a control input vector, a plant output vector, and a disturbance vector comprising disturbances having known basis functions and unknown amplitudes. An adaptive control law is used with separate adaptive gains for an error vector associated with the plant output vector, and the disturbance vector, plus a fixed gain for a disturbance estimator. The adaptive control law is operable to adjust the control input vector so as to minimize the error vector. The plant includes modes which are not Almost Strictly Positive Real (ASPR).

Abstract: A multi-layer radiation reflector/emitter includes first and second materials. The first material is transparent to radiation in a wavelength spectrum ranging from approximately 0.2 microns to at last 6 microns. The first material is a self-supporting arrangement of randomized particles having an average dimension in a range of approximately 0.2 microns to approximately 0.4 microns and defining a fill factor of approximately 0.1 to approximately 0.5. The second material reflects radiation having a wavelength greater than approximately 2 microns.

Abstract: A slat cove filler is utilized to reduce airframe noise resulting from deployment of a leading edge slat of an aircraft wing. The slat cove filler is preferably made of a super elastic shape memory alloy, and the slat cove filler shifts between stowed and deployed shapes as the slat is deployed. The slat cove filler may be configured such that a separate powered actuator is not required to change the shape of the slat cove filler from its deployed shape to its stowed shape and vice-versa. The outer contour of the slat cove filler preferably follows a profile designed to maintain accelerating flow in the gap between the slat cove filler and wing leading edge to provide for noise reduction.

Abstract: Interactive diagnostic modeling evaluator (i-DME) for repairing a diagnostic matrix of a system. The diagnostic modeling evaluator cause steps to be performed comprising: evaluating a first diagnostic performance of a diagnostic unit using supervised data that includes one or more instances of a fault of a system; proposing a repair to the diagnostic unit based on the evaluated diagnostic performance; evaluating a second diagnostic performance of the diagnostic unit having the proposed repair; and upon determining that the second diagnostic performance meets a performance metric criterion, repairing the diagnostic unit according to the proposed repair.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments described herein enable an energy conversion system comprising a radioactive element for generating conduction-band electrons in an avalanche cell and generating heat, wherein the conduction-band electrons are provided to an anode to generate avalanche cell power, and the heat is provided to a thermoelectric generator to generate thermoelectric power. In an embodiment, the avalanche cell is irradiated with gamma rays, which excite electrons within the avalanche cell, generating a current. In an additional embodiment, the thermoelectric power and avalanche cell power can comprise a dual power system.

Abstract: A check valve's housing has a valve disposed therein to open or close a flow path from the housing's inlet to its outlet based on a difference between pressures at the inlet and outlet. The valve includes a bellows, a poppet, and a spring. The poppet includes a hollow structure extending through the poppet's plate and terminating in a first open end disposed within the bellows, an annular flange between the second face of the poppet's plate and the housing's outlet, and an open-ended tube extending from the annular flange into the housing's outlet. The spring, disposed within the hollow tubular structure, positions the annular flange to seal the outlet when the pressure difference is less than a predetermined amount and compresses when the difference exceeds the predetermined amount wherein the annular flange is unsealed from the housing's outlet to open the flow path.

Abstract: Various embodiments may provide a strain-sensing apparatus configured to be attached to a micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shielding layer and data collection equipment in communication with the strain-sensing apparatus configured to detect an occurrence, a time, a location, and/or a severity of a MMOD strike on the MMOD shielding layer. The various embodiments may enable detection and/or location of potentially harmful MMOD strikes on both human occupied and unmanned spacecraft.

Abstract: A method of communicating between one or more modules while executing a plan for a controlled system includes transmitting, by an execution manager, a request to a planner to create a plan in response to receiving a planning goals file. The method also includes transmitting, by the execution manager, the created plan to an adaptive controller for execution of the created plan within a controlled system, and receiving, by the execution manager, state estimates reporting diagnosis information of a controlled system.

Abstract: Surface energy of a substrate is changed without the need for any template, mask, or additional coating medium applied to the substrate. At least one beam of energy directly ablates a substrate surface to form a predefined topographical pattern at the surface. Each beam of energy has a width of approximately 25 micrometers and an energy of approximately 1-500 microJoules. Features in the topographical pattern have a width of approximately 1-500 micrometers and a height of approximately 1.4-100 micrometers.

Abstract: A novel radiation hardened chip package technology protects microelectronic chips and systems in aviation/space or terrestrial devices against high energy radiation. The proposed technology of a radiation hardened chip package using rare earth elements and mulitlayered structure provides protection against radiation bombardment from alpha and beta particles to neutrons and high energy electromagnetic radiation.

Abstract: An electronic device includes a trigonal crystal substrate defining a (0001) C-plane. The substrate may comprise Sapphire or other suitable material. A plurality of rhombohedrally aligned SiGe (111)-oriented crystals are disposed on the (0001) C-plane of the crystal substrate. A first region of material is disposed on the rhombohedrally aligned SiGe layer. The first region comprises an intrinsic or doped Si, Ge, or SiGe layer. The first region can be layered between two secondary regions comprising n+doped SiGe or n+doped Ge, whereby the first region collects electrons from the two secondary regions.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices may enhance the apparent sample rate of data collected using Nyquist sampling from a system, such as Continuous Wave (CW) Light detection and ranging (“Lidar”), Radio detection and ranging (“Radar”), or Sound Navigation and Ranging (“Sonar”), that has been modulated with a repeating waveform, such as linear swept frequency, by reordering of the data in the frequency domain. The enhancement of the apparent sample rate may result in a highly interpolated range profile where the data resolution may be enhanced by a factor equal to the number of repeats in the signal being processed, and may result in a highly detained range measurement with a high precision. The various embodiments may combine data from multiple modulation repeats into a single highly interpolated pulse, which may result in a real-time finer range measurement from CW Lidar, Radar, or Sonar systems.