Morphing Flight Control Surface for Advanced Flight Performance, Phase I

In this SBIR project, a new Morphing Flight Control Surface (MFCS) will be developed. The distinction of the research effort is that the SenAnTech team will employ our innovative High Deformable Mechanism (HDM) to develop MFCS. The utilization of energy is the important concern to accomplish this research goal. Energy is chosen because it provides a mechanism where all concepts can be represented and judged in a consistent fashion. Ultimately, this research will provide a novel methodology for predicting the type, placement, and operation of actuators and sensors for aerial vehicles that incorporate large-scale shape changing for the improved flight performances. The MFCS will consist of hardware, software and processing units. The actuators, sensors, wiring, signal conditioning and, associated electronics will be selected as required. Modern systems technology like controllability and observability of the system will be examined for the optimal actuator and sensor placements. Also, shaped or digitized electrode technology will be applied to measure the spatial energy distribution of the deformable wing.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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.