Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System

Leveraging the Phase I achievements of the Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System (DiRETHMS) including its software toolsets and system building blocks, the Phase II project seeks a comprehensive prototyping of the technology. Phase II not only expands the functionality and applications of the Phase I achievements, but utilizes evolving diagnostics due to the advanced intelligent algorithms built on AGNC's Optimized Neuro-Genetic Fast Estimator (ONGFE) framework. In this way, the Phase II effort culminates in a product that is able to adapt to unknown operating conditions and learn new failures in an unsupervised way. Additionally, a major effort consists of providing a novel, robust, and embedded software toolset for sensor Failure Detection and Identification (FDI): Sensor Data Validation and Self-Healing Scheme (SDV-SHS). To increase the commercialization potential and market values of the NASA and non-NASA applications, the Phase II project adapts DiRETHMS to the market requirements. The work in Phase II along with a modular architecture and standardization ensures a solid integration with NASA's Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) for enhanced health monitoring.

One of the main objectives of the project is the commercialization of the research results from this project. This Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System will find a large market in maintenance processes in both the civilian and government markets. DiRETHMS can be customized for a wide range of machinery application areas. Typical areas of application include the aerospace industry (aircraft engines and turbo-jets), on-ground maintenance, manufacturing, and other applications requiring smart sensors with embedded health monitoring and evolving diagnostic capabilities. Furthermore, the system can find considerable use in engine and structural health monitoring due to the thin, self-powered, and sensitive vibration sensors. Specific applications include: (a) health monitoring of steam turbines (both over and under 40 MW); (b) intelligent data acquisition systems for machinery health monitoring; (c) fluid and hydraulic systems (such as cooling systems); (d) motors; (e) pumps; and (g) health monitoring of vehicles and autonomous systems.

DiRETHMS enhances NASA's Integrated System Health Management by providing a highly distributed system with embedded intelligent health monitoring functions and the ability to learn new failures and conditions through evolving diagnostics. Due to the modular and flexible design of DiRETHMS, desirable components can be introduced within NASA's existing framework for ISHM without necessarily including the entire system. The versatility of DiRETHMS allows it to be used for a wide range of NASA's space transportation propulsion systems for performing rocket engine ground testing (J-2X Rocket Engine, SSME) as well as health monitoring of any other space, lunar, or planetary vehicle/system of interest to NASA. Application areas include: the International Space Station and Launch Vehicle Development. DiRETHMS equips NASA with on-line real-time health monitoring using advanced diagnostic and prognostic algorithms, reliable sensor validation, control over the entire maintenance cycle, and novel sensors to significantly improve health monitoring while keeping costs low.

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.