NASA Dryden Aerostructures Research Design Competition
Proposal Deadline: February 23, 2007
The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), in cooperation with the AERO Institute and the California Space Grant, is soliciting proposals from university/college teams that are composed of students at the junior-senior level. These student team proposals will focus on one or more of the following DFRC Aerostructures Research areas:
- Wing Shape Sensing
- -Develop innovative technique(s) for determining the deflected shape of aircraft structures using differential GPS technology.
- -Validate the technique(s) in a laboratory demonstration of a simulated wing or control surface tested under both quasi-static and simulated flight dynamic loading.
- Wing Shape Control
- -Develop innovative technique(s) for performing real-time active shape control of high-aspect aerospace structures.
- -Validate the technique(s) in a laboratory demonstration.
- Flexible Wing Ground Vibration Test Technique Development for Structural Dynamics
- -Develop new ground vibration test technique for high aspect ratio flexible wings, i.e. wings with geometric nonlinearities.
- -Measure pitch, yaw, & roll moments of inertia.
- -Develop ground flutter test technique, i.e. simulate unsteady aerodynamic loads on the ground.
- Fiber Bragg Grating Demodulation Algorithm Development
- -Develop an efficient demodulation algorithm to advance the overall system speed performance of a Fiber Bragg Grating system by a factor of four over the current state-of-the-art of four updates per second. Consider algorithms that incorporate wavelet transforms, sliding or hopping fast Fourier transforms, etc.
- -Validate the algorithm through a laboratory demonstration utilizing data provided by NASA.
- Aeroservoelastic Simulation Development
- -Develop enhanced batch and real-time aeroservoelastic model simulations.
- -Use rapid model development techniques with a reduced set of aeroelastic modes.
- -Add structural flexibility and unsteady aerodynamics in current simulation models.
- -Create real-time simulation with sufficient aerodynamic fidelity.
- -Validate the technique(s) in a simulation laboratory demonstration.
NASA invites university student teams (junior-senior level) to submit proposals for a two-phase opportunity relating to DFRC Aerostructures Research.
Phase I: Aerostructures Research Team Design Phase
(February 23 - May 7, 2007)
NASA asks that accredited U.S. universities and colleges electronically submit to katrina.emery@dfrc.nasa.gov a proposal (not to exceed five pages) in one or more of the Aerostructures-oriented research areas above. Researchers from the NASA-DFRC Research Directorate will competitively evaluate qualifying proposals and five to six student team proposals will receive Phase I funding. The selected teams will receive $15,000 to develop and complete their designs and present their project designs to NASA-DFRC by May 7, 2007.
Phase II: Team Design Implementations at DFRC
(June 10 - August 15, 2007)
After the proposal Design Review, two teams will be selected for Phase II implementation of their project designs at DFRC during the 2007 summer period (June 10 - August 15, 2007). Each selected team must nominate two team members to participate as resident DRFC research interns. In Phase II, funds will be provided to support the interns (travel, lodging, stipends) and the development of the team design. Mentors from the Aerostructures Research area will be assigned to each team to assist them. An Internet -based portal will be implemented that will allow all team members (even though they are not resident at DFRC) to participate on a day-to-day basis during the summer.
Proposal Format and Content
Proposals should not exceed five pages excluding the title page and budget, and should be prepared in the following format:
Proposals should be single spaced on a standard 8-1/2" by 11" paper, no smaller than 12-point font and with one-inch margins throughout.
Title Page:
(Not included in the page count) Include the name of the University/College, the name, address, phone/fax numbers, and e-mail and original signature of the faculty advisor. And the name, e-mail address, major department, and academic level of education of each student team member.
Body of Proposal:
(5 pages maximum) Describe your goals and objectives for the Phase I Aerostructures Design Project and briefly describe the team's capabilities promise, and interest in ARMD's Aerostructures research. Explain how the proposed suite of team activities will contribute to the Aerostructures design target. A handy tool to use in the development of your design project goals and objectives in SMART:
Specific- Provide enough detail to let us know exactly how the team and project will be structured and what will be done. Student teams will be chosen for research expertise, intellectual promise, and interest in DRFC Aerostructures Research.
Measurable- Your design project should be such that the team has achievable milestones that can be tracked and you can successfully reach the design review in June.
Acceptable- Aligned with the NASA DFRC Aerostructures Research goals.
Realistic - Set appropriate targets based on the Aerostructures goals and budget level.
Time Frame - Divide the Phase I period into manageable chunks to meet the proposed goals.
Schedule:
(Not included in page count) One-page review of the proposed schedule should include, but not be limited to, achievement milestones and expected dates of tangible outcomes.
Budget:
(Not included in page count) Total funding requested cannot exceed $15,000 for Phase I. Budget should contain sufficient supporting information (student scholarships, prototype supplies, documentation costs, etc.) to facilitate a speedy evaluation and award.
For proposal evaluation criteria, please visit http://aeroi.org/2007design
Electronic copies of proposals must be received no later than: 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Friday, February 23, 2007 (late proposals will not be considered).
Submit a single electronic file of proposal (Microsoft Word or PDF) to:
Katrina Y. Emery, MPA
AERO Institute (Aerospace, Education, Research, and Operations Institute)
38256 Sierra Highway Suite A
Palmdale, CA 93550
Phone: 661-276-5807
E-mail: katrina.emery@dfrc.nasa.gov
Applicants will be advised by electronic mail when selections are made. Announcement of awardees will be on February 27, 2007.
Questions or clarification regarding the technical aspects of the DFRC Aerostructures Design Competition should be directed to:
Larry D. Hudson
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Edwards, CA 93523-0273
Phone: 661-276-3925
Email: Larry.D.Hudson@nasa.gov
For more details please visit: http://aeroi.org/2007design/
All of this information was obtained from NASA's 2007 announcement brochure.
