Autonomous Operations Technologies for Ground and Launch Systems (SBIR)

To support NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in the generation of innovative autonomous operations technologies (AOT) for ground and launch systems, American GNC Corporation (AGNC) is proposing the “Semiautonomous Anomaly Monitoring and Early Detection (SAMY)” System to advance NASA operations and maintenance (O&M) infrastructure while increasing ground systems availability to support mission operations. Typical health monitoring systems focus to Failure Detection and Identification (FDI) of fully developed and known fault conditions. SAMY goes beyond this traditional approach, where in addition to FDI the SAMY system focus to: (a) detecting newly emerging health behaviors that could correspond to incipient faults; (b) tracking the fault growth process; and (c) identifying system changes that may correspond to system deterioration to deeply understand and assess the availability status of NASA ground systems. Based on these capabilities Phase I address a comprehensive design of the anomaly detection and prognostics framework (in addition to FDI), which is embedded within cutting edge sensor network. Core technologies are: (1) approximate bayes discriminant by Multilayer Perceptron for anomaly analysis and prognostics; (2) AGNC-LaTech’s Variogram for change detection; (3) incremental learning based on AGNC’s eCLE; (4) health monitoring by Deep Neural Network (DNN) with optimized footprint for integration within hardware platforms with minimized Size, Weight, and Power Consumption (SWaP); (5) top layer with ensemble of reasoning applications; and (6) smart sensor network based on cutting edge ISA100 technology and Zigbee. Successful completion of Phase I will result in the implementation of an innovative smart sensor network with embedded incremental learning system for detection of anomalies and new emerging health behaviors to better understand operational status in NASA ground systems. Phase II is expanded this foundation for an enterprise implementation.

The SAMY system supports NASA’s ground and launch systems by advancing autonomous operations technologies (AOT) to reduce operations and maintenance (O&M) costs while increasing safety and system reliability. Direct applications include ground launch systems (e.g., rocket engine test facilities, and autonomous propellant management) as well as planetary and lunar surface-based infrastructure used to transition launch vehicles to flight operation. SAMY’s integral monitoring can be deployed in a broad variety of NASA applications.

SAMY is a very versatile system, where some potential markets include Condition Base Maintenance, smart sensors, and health monitoring for the military, aerospace, and industrial sectors. Applications include: (i) aircraft avionics equipment monitoring; (ii) robotic/unmanned systems; (iii) IoT; (iv) military assets in ships and submarines, among many other commercial and military systems.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.