Avionics for Scaled Remotely Operated Vehicles, Phase II

The use of UAS's in the military and the commercial field has grown tremendously over the last few years and is set to explode over next several. An open-architecture avionics system that utilizes standard communication interfaces and allows for rapid reconfiguration would be an attractive addition to the UAS market. CTSi is proposing development of such a product in phase II that provides a full Avionics Suite. This would include an avionics platform, a closed loop test environment and development tool kit and provide a turnkey solution for NASA AirSTAR program. The system will include: 1) powerful programmability, ease of integration of new sensors and actuators, and ease of expansion to new platforms and applications 2) interfaces for sensor inputs in Analog, PWM and serial stream formats 3) A high performance data link for data telemetry and control 4) reliable ground based safety piloting and augmented safety pilot control modes 5) Operations in an EMI sensitive environment 6) An autopilot fail-safe mode with basic aircraft recovery and Return-To-Base (RTB) capability and custom control law integration 7) support for a variety of GPS/INS and other aircraft sensors

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.