Air force 7. Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Phase I proposal Submission Instructions
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PHASE II: Development of a prototype system that implements the Phase I design, and demonstrates/validates the prototypes performance using representative mission and information analytics. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The resulting system will support SA and general purpose analytics, which have both military and commercial applications. REFERENCES: 1. Sakliker, Samir (2013). Sharing Threat Intelligence Analytics for Collaborative Attack Analysis. RSA Conference. 2. Ransbotham, Sam (2015). Data at the Heart of the Sharing Economy. MIT Sloan Management Review. 3. Johnson, John (2016). High Performance Computing for Intensive Science. Pacific Northwest Laboratory. 4. Office of Technology Strategies (2016). VA Enterprise Design Patterns: Interoperability and Data Sharing, Enterprise Data Analytics. KEYWORDS: situational awareness, mission awareness, distributed machine learning, information fusion, information management and discovery, cross-domain solutions
TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Develop conceptual approaches that assess component degradation, flaws, and anomalies; the approaches use advanced sensors and image analysis that overcome current nondestructive inspection (NDI) limitations with real-time optical and electromagnetic sensors and algorithms. DESCRIPTION: A significant challenge in aerospace engine and airframe structural inspection is in how to reduce manpower and provide repeatable accuracy. The increasing use of composite materials and integrated components such as blisks add to the technical challenge and point to the need for development of a reliable accurate non-intrusive rapid inspection capabilities. Current state-of-the-art (SOA) aircraft and engine structural inspections are done using electromagnetic sensors (eddy current), ultrasound, and penetrant dye (FPI) techniques. These techniques are labor intensive (over 100 hours per module), are low volume, and often do not have consistent accuracy (5-mil flaws). Hot and cold section turbine blades are discarded due to poor cost of inspection versus replacement. More automated inspection techniques, such as acoustic thermography and scanning electromagnetic probes, are maturing; however, the problem is the time required to perform these inspections is a linear function of the area that the sensor can cover in time and is a serious limitation of these techniques for integrated rotor inspections. Limitations of current optical near infrared (NIR) imaging inspection are also related to labor, efficiency, and capability. Significant developments in the field of hyperspectral (HSI) and hyper temporal (HTI) imaging algorithms and hardware have occurred over the last 10 years. They have historically been applied to environmental, surveillance, and other remote sensing problems. These techniques which apply wide spectrum imaging sensors can currently be leveraged to damage assessment of aircraft and engine structural components. HSI/HTI is accomplished by collecting spectral band data at the pixel level or through spatial light modulation over time. Passive sensors, such as cameras with ambient illumination are often used for image generation. The data sets obtained can provide a complete inspection record from the images scanned. The ability to inspect a wide array of aerospace structural components using HSI/HTI with passive optics of an image of arbitrary size has benefits over current optical visible and infrared (IR) techniques. Application of spectral and temporal image processing offer significant capability improvements to aircraft and engine health management at the engine depot or repair facility. They will also augment current methods in use. The SBIR program should address development of an innovative image-based inspection capability that has the potential to replace FPI, reduce use of eddy current by 50 percent, accommodate component dimensioning, and increase parts inspected per unit time over 2X. Image inspection advances NDI technology by capturing all relevant surface data of complex parts or multiple parts in a single array for processing, compared to low rate, high cost individual component area inspection. Development of new algorithms that reduce dimensionality and increase ability to find hidden flaws in the data at high rates compared to visual and scanning NDI techniques. The effort should leverage SOA sensors and imaging components while applying new algorithms that perform data separation and intelligent processing that can assess the structural integrity of aerospace structures and components (detection of flaws, material artifacts). SOA wide spectrum imaging hardware may be considered for this application. Technology such as cameras, optics, digital array sensors, excitation sources, and mechanical controls for HSI can be leveraged to achieve this capability. Comparison of the results with baseline SOA methods should be accomplished to establish a measure of improvement in both capability and inspection time. Working with an engine or airframe vendor is recommended to enhance the relevance and transition ability of the final research product. PHASE I: Apply new NDI methodology to relevant rotor NDT image data collected by an engine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or depot. Demonstrate the feasibility of the algorithms using collected spectral image data to the detection of flaws in integrally bladed rotors (IBRs). Demonstrate the potential to achieve on-line analysis and high levels of confidence for small features on complex parts compared with SOA penetrant and eddy current. PHASE II: Develop a fully functional HSI/HTI component imaging capability, including data collection methodology and software algorithms. Select a relevant engine turbine component, such as an IBR to demonstrate the capability. Compare the accuracy and probability of detection (POD)/confidence levels achieved with SOA dye penetrant and electromagnetic methodology. Develop a preliminary transition plan and business case analysis. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Apply the concepts and capability developed in Phase II to a depot or inspection facility application. Develop an implementable hardware/software and imaging solution for industry use. REFERENCES: 1. “Hyperspectral Imagery Algorithms for the Processing of Multimodal Data, Mohammed Seghir Benmoussat,” Thesis, 19 December 2013, Fresnel Institute, Fraunhoffer IIS. 2. Yong-Kai Zhu, Gui Yun Tian, and Rong-Sheng Lu Hong Zhang, “A Review of Optical NDT Technologies,” Sensors Open Access Journal (MDPI) ISSN, 8 August, 2011, pp. 7773-7798. 3. Giovanni Maria Carlomagno, “Infrared Thermography in Materials Inspection and Thermo-Fluid Dynamics,” Carosena Meola, University of Naples, Federico II, Italy, 2011. 4. Joseph Zalameda, “Air Coupled Acoustic Thermography Inspection Technique,” NASA Langley Research Center, MS221, Hampton, VA, 2007. 5. Frank O. Clark, Ryan Penny, Jason Cline, Wellesley Pereira, and John Kielkopf, “Passive Optical Detection of a Vibrating Surface,” SPIE, August, 2014. KEYWORDS: imaging, optical imaging, NDT, inspection, flaw detection, disk crack detection, infrared (IR) thermography
TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil. OBJECTIVE: Directly mapping full ultrasonic c-scan 3D datasets to 3D models. Identify and size anomalies to allow comparison with previously stored images of the same asset at a previous inspection. DESCRIPTION: Over the years, much effort has been spent on developing a fundamental understanding of how metallic aircraft structures age through phenomena such as corrosion, fatigue, thermal cycling, impact damage, etc. In contrast, although there has been significant work done to determine how composite structures age in laboratory settings, there is a lack of research in correlating damage in composite structures using actual in-service data. Since composites have not been used in aircraft structures as long as metals, it has been difficult to make any correlations in this area based on actual flight data until recently. The United States Air Force (USAF) has been flying several aircraft that contain substantial percentages of composite structures for over 10 years, so the capability for making these comparisons to improve fleet management is now possible. Since these aircraft have been in service for long periods of time, they have accumulated a significant amount of data pertaining to their maintenance history to include repairs, replacements and inspections. Furthermore, they have also accrued operational records that detail the number of flights, flight hours, profiles, etc. Typical records for maintenance include nondestructive inspection (NDI) data. The chief subset of that NDI data is based on ultrasound techniques since they are well established and proven for providing insight into the state of composite structures. Ultrasonic c-scan data is collected to identify defects (disbonds, delaminations) and to evaluate the status of indications stemming from repairs and other previously identified items from both the manufacturing and sustainment environments. Ultrasonic c-scan data provides a two dimensional image that can be mapped directly to a 2D drawing or shell model of the article being inspected. This visualization ability enabled by the capability to map c-scan images to models has become a very powerful tool for NDI technicians and structural engineers alike. However, the c-scan image also carries 3D data in the form of greyscale levels in each image pixel that could also be utilized for visualization and analysis purposes. The USAF has a need to develop a software capability that directly maps the full ultrasonic c-scan 3D dataset to 3D models to not only provide location of interest, but to also enable depth visualization of indications. The software system must have the capability to identify and size anomalies while the user compares c-scan images with previously stored images of the same asset at prior inspection cycles. This will enable NDI technicians and engineers to identify the growth of disbonds and other defects within the structure. The software must support the capability for USAF personnel to also map and track repairs/replacements to models in a similar way to the c-scan images (area and depth). The software mapping capabilities must also be extended to other NDI modalities, visual inspections (digital photographs), and other maintenance/engineering data to the maximum possible extent. Accurately mapping all this data will provide a better holistic view of the structure. In addition, the software must incorporate analytical features that leverage the image comparisons in order to precisely determine the change of any anomaly or region of interest. Finally, USAF personnel need the ability to enter flight hour, number of flights, and flight profiles, and the USAF users must be able to correlate and extrapolate future states given current c-scan or other maintenance data and known flight operations/profiles. PHASE I: Develop a software capability that directly maps the full ultrasonic c-scan 3D dataset to 3D models to not only provide location of interest, but to also enable depth visualization of indications. Assess the ability of NDI technicians and engineers to identify growth of disbonds and other defects within the structure with mapped 3D dataset. PHASE II: Produce and test integrated software tool to automatically map c-scan 3D datasets to 3D models alongside other manually mapped NDI data and tracked repairs/replacements to provide user with full inspection and maintenance picture. Test additional user tools for historical trending and data mining to provide holistic view of the structure. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Deploy system for current Air Force military air vehicles that produce c-scan datasets to provide the program office detailed analysis of scan results. REFERENCES: 1. C. Garnier, M.L. Pastor, F. Eyma, and B. Lorrain, "The detection of aeronautical defects in situ on composite structures using Non Destructive Testing," Composite Structures, pp. 1328-1336, April 2011. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822310003594 2. G. Steffes, J. Shearer, S. Turek, W. Fong, T. Sharp, and G. Coyan, "Aircraft Management and Sustainment Using NDI Data Trending and Mapping Technologies," 2012 ASIP Conference Proceedings, December 2012.http://www.meetingdata.utcdayton.com/agenda/asip/2012/proceedings/presentations/P6271.pdf 3. N. Brierley, T. Tippetts, and P. Cawley, “Data fusion for automated non-destructive inspection,” Proceedings of the Royal Society A, DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2014.0167, May 2014.http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/470/2167/20140167 KEYWORDS: NDI, c-scan, inspection, ultrasonic, disbonds, nondestructive, composite
TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil. OBJECTIVE: This topic is intended to develop relative navigation technology needed for the refueling of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in an environment where a GPS signal is unavailable due to signal jamming or satellite disruption. DESCRIPTION: Most USAF aircraft types have a refueling capability, but USAF RPA are the exceptions. Predators, Reapers, and Global Hawks were designed to be low speed, small payload, long-endurance aircraft that can accomplish their missions without refueling. Future RPAs will likely need speed, stealth, and payloads to achieve their missions and won’t be able to use the long-endurance planforms that the current generation uses.
Electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) vision systems, laser systems, and datalink ranging have been considered for non-GPS relative navigation, but no system has established itself as the solution to the problem. The Air Force is proposing a SBIR topic for non-GPS RelNav for RPA refueling. The system could be hosted on the tanker, receiver or split across aircraft. Respondents would need to design and develop the proposed system and evaluate the performance in the context of required navigation performance (RNP) metrics. Size, weight, power, communications, antenna and aperture requirements are also relevant in evaluating systems. Refueling systems have had common interfaces and it would be desirable to keep that true with RPAs. PHASE I: - Design candidate system - Analyze expected performance in terms of RNP capabilities (accuracy, integrity, availability and continuity) - Discuss tanker and receivers’ data requirements and equipment requirements to include antennas and apertures - Identify any Government-Furnished Information (GFI) that would be required for Phase II. PHASE II: - Perform laboratory testing with hardware in the loop and simulation - Evaluate RNP capabilities - Evaluate system design and aircraft certification impacts PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: - Conduct flight testing on Air Force and/or surrogate vehicles - Analyze achieved performance REFERENCES: 1. “Automated Aerial Refueling Team Tests Advanced Sensors,”
2. “Fueled in flight: X-47B first to complete autonomous aerial refueling,”http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.NAVAIRNewsStory&id=5880 3. “Quantifying the performance of navigation systems and standards for assisted-GNSS,”http://www.insidegnss.com/node/769 4. S.M. Calhoun, J. Raquet, and G. Peterson, “Vision-Aided Integrity Monitor for Precision Relative Navigation Systems,” Proceedings of the 2015 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Dana Point, California, January 2015, pp. 756- 5. Thomas, P.R., Bhandari, U., Bullock, S., Richardson, T.S., and Du Bois, J. L., “Advances in air to air refueling,” Progress in Aerospace Sciences, Vol. 71, pp.14-35, 2014. KEYWORDS: AF, GPS, refueling, tanker, autonomy, autonomous, RPA, UAV, NGT, KC-46
TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil. OBJECTIVE: Develop algorithms, software and computer system that eliminate artifacts, enhance image quality and improve speed of microfocus cone-beam computed tomography applied to nondestructive testing of small components in ICBM systems. DESCRIPTION: Microfocus cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is used by the Air Force, for nondestructive testing, to inspect small components of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) systems. The inspections cover a breadth of applications, including verification of reliability, manufacturing defects, stress and aging characterization. Defects, material changes, wear or aging may cause a component to fail. Investigations of the causes of failures and studies into the reliability of systems and devices all warrant microfocus CT inspection. Microfocus CT systems like all CT systems have inherent problems particular to the type of system. Despite the many advantages of microfocus cone beam CT technology, it suffers from artifacts and distortion due to not having a full complement of information for a mathematically accurate inverse. Sometimes it is difficult to accurately image the axial extremes of a sample because of these issues. Scatter is severe compared to standard CT because collimation is not used. Beam hardening can be severe. Iterative solutions can suffer from long processing times, considering that cone beam datasets and the reconstructed volume are large compared to many standard CT configurations. Solutions to these problems should include innovative software algorithms and computer systems that will push the limits of the visual and 3D information currently provided by microfocus cone beam CT. Advanced scanning geometries, including the helical cone beam geometry, get around many of the problems, but require more complex equipment, scanning, data and time. This topic seeks innovative solutions which include computer algorithms, software and computer hardware methods that address all of the following limitations: (1) cone beam artifacts, including axial smearing caused by the incomplete data of the cone beam geometry, (2), data truncation, (3), resolving power and magnification limits, (4), objects that do not fit in the viewing field, (5), noise d settings, (6), aliasing, (7), Compton scatter, (8), nonlinearities caused by high Z materials, (9), beam hardening, (10), speed of computation, (11), limit in volume size. PHASE I: Conduct of one or more proof-of-concept tests of promising technologies to accomplish the objective, and develop a plan for g the proof-of-concept into a prototype solution of technologies that are viable candidates for supporting ICBM imaging technologies. PHASE II: Demonstrate prototype on actual CT images acquired at Hill AFB, UT. This demonstration will show measurable improvements over in 2D and 3D visualization, analysis of CT images and defect evaluation. End of effort: Deliver a final polished prototype with documentation. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Military: Focus is ICBM small components. Industrial computed tomography for nondestructive testing is a growing field with a growing market. Commercial: This technology could be used on any industrial cone-beam CT system with the same results. Manufacture of components for aircraft and automobiles. Yüklə 1,01 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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