Modular, Fault-Tolerant Electronics Supporting Space Exploration, Phase I

AeroAstro's innovative design approach for implementing reconfigurable electronics frees the spacecraft designer to concentrate on the mission at hand with significant assurance that single-point failures can be automatically corrected. It also uses dynamic reconfiguration to change circuit functions which will create the opportunity to conserve mass, volume, and power while providing capabilities that may have been valuable, but deemed to be less important or infrequently needed so that they could not justify dedicated hardware. The system operates at a much finer level of granularity than with other reconfigurable approaches, which increases not the only adaptability and versatility, but also reduces the redundancy required to assure the success of the mission. Unlike traditional approaches that employ redundant systems, there are no mass penalties, and affordability is achievable. Significant benefits include dramatic orders of magnitude reduction in mass, volume, and cost.

Potential NASA Commercial Applications: Military systems, to destroy sensitive equipment if capture is imminent, to cloak equipment by stealth or to enable graceful degradation after battle damage. Electronic systems not used simultaneously can be combined into a single reconfigurable system. The aircraft industry. Critical system failure might cost hundreds of souls. Other transportation systems, including automotive, trucks, railroads, and ships. Power plants, electrical transmission/distribution systems, financial networks, homeland security-related systems. Medical systems, vital in operating rooms and other areas of hospitals, and personal electronic systems that sustain life benefit from increased reliability.

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.