NASA SBIR 2012 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Optical Air Data Systems, LLC
10781 James Payne Ct.
Manassas, VA 20110 - 2042
(703) 393-0754

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Elizabeth Dakin
bdakin@oads.com
10781 James Payne Ct.
Manassas, VA 20110 - 2042
(703) 393-0754

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Karyn Kraft
kkraft@oads.com
10781 James Payne Ct.
Manassas, VA 20110 - 2042
(703) 393-0754

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 3

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Planetary Entry, Descent and Landing Technology is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Optical Air Data Systems (OADS) L.L.C. proposes a LIDAR based remote measurement sensor suite capable of satisfying a significant number of the desired sensing requirements in a compact, lightweight, and extremely power efficient form factor. OADS all-fiber optic LIDAR and Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) technology is capable of measuring precise height above ground, ground speed, ground drift, range-gated relative winds, ambient temperature, as well as ambient pressure through the entire entry and descent phase of the spacecraft. Unlike other LIDAR solutions that would require imaging around or through the aeroshell, OADS patented LDV solutions can directly measure a range map of the terrain while simultaneously providing surface relative velocity information for navigation near the ground. OAD LDV solutions include a remote wind sensor capable of measuring wind information at multiple distances ahead of the spacecraft during the entry and descent phases. Once descent is complete, the sensor can be used on the ground to collect local environmental data (including surface winds) as advance information for the fetch rover, the planetary ascent vehicle, and for future missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Technology advancements resulting from development of the proposed sensor suite would lead to the commercialization of long-range standalone sensors for airborne platforms. The sensor suite developed could be integrated with weather sattelites to provide terrestrial wind data as well as on launch platforms to provide wind at launch sites. Furthermore, these sensors can act as remote weather stations on all future exploration missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Technology advancements resulting from development of the proposed sensor suite would lead to the commercialization of long-range standalone sensors for airborne platforms. The resulting next generation navigation sensor suite can be standard equipment on military, commercial, a well as government rotary wing as well as fixed wing aircraft. Furthermore, the resulting technology enhancements in wind sensing will lead to commercialized sensing solutions for the renewable wind energy applications to enhance the efficiency of utility scale wind turbines. These sensors also can be used to perform wind resource assessment for the next generation wind energy market. Finally, they can be used by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to enhance weather reporting and modelling for the future.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Aerodynamics Air Transportation & Safety Airship/Lighter-than-Air Craft Attitude Determination & Control Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring) Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring) Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors) Detectors (see also Sensors) Electromagnetic Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Astronautics) Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry) Fiber (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Photonics) Inertial (see also Sensors) Lasers (Guidance & Tracking) Lasers (Ladar/Lidar) Lenses Navigation & Guidance Optical Optical/Photonic (see also Photonics) Positioning (Attitude Determination, Location X-Y-Z) Relative Navigation (Interception, Docking, Formation Flying; see also Control & Monitoring; Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry) Space Transportation & Safety Spacecraft Instrumentation & Astrionics (see also Communications; Control & Monitoring; Information Systems)