Project Grant 1951191

This Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will provide $704,908 to support fundamental research to enable aerial robots smaller than 100 millimeters and weighing less than 100 grams to navigate through cluttered surroundings in the presence of smoke, darkness, dust, fog, and snow. The research will focus on developing sound-based sensing capabilities for these small aerial robots, as traditional vision-based systems struggle...

This $174,660 National Science Foundation project grant supports research at the Rochester Institute of Technology to develop full automation capabilities for bird-sized unmanned aerial vehicles operating in unknown, cluttered indoor environments using only an RGB-D camera for visual perception. Funded under the NSF's Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), which supports investigator-initiated research and education across computing and information sciences, this...

This $602,286 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering Directorate (NSF ENG) will fund the design of bat-inspired drones for autonomous navigation in confined spaces like sewer systems. Northeastern University will receive funding over 30 months to develop morphing micro aerial vehicles that can mimic bat flight and operate in extremely tight quarters not accessible by current drones or robots. Key deliverables include an integrated mechanical design framework to...

This is a Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212). The $650,000 grant was awarded to Bird's Eye Robotics, Inc., a for-profit organization, to develop the "Caretaker Robot" - a fully autonomous robotic solution to reduce labor costs and improve bird welfare and performance in large-scale commercial broiler...

This EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) project grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation under CFDA Program 47.041 (Engineering), will provide $300,000 to the University of Illinois to conduct research on enabling quadrotor robots to safely interact with and assist humans through customized, user-taught functionalities. The research effort aims to develop a framework that allows anyone to safely...

This SBIR Phase II Cooperative Agreement, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, provides $999,999.00 in funding to Phlux Technologies, Inc. to develop an innovative 3D safety sensor system to enhance the efficiency and safety of human-robot collaboration. The project aims to create programmable 3D light curtains that can provide high-resolution 3D monitoring of specific user-defined boundaries, eliminating the...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program provides $1,223,668 to fund the development of an autonomous robotic system for inspecting hazardous industrial infrastructure in flammable and explosive environments. The project, led by Pike Robotics Inc., aims to advance a wall-climbing robotic platform designed to conduct autonomous inspections inside hazardous, explosive environments commonly found in...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) award of $300,000 will fund an "EAGER: TASKDCL: DRONEVISION, A PHYSICS-BASED ENVIRONMENT USING FLYING LIGHT SPECKS" project at the University of Southern California (USC). The project aims to develop a novel "physics-based environment called DRONEVISION that will enable its users to see illuminated objects with their naked eyes and to have haptic interactions with them using their bare hands." It will...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Dragoon Technology LLC $599,555.33 under the Small Business Innovation Research Program to develop a lightweight, long endurance unmanned aircraft system for tropical cyclone meteorological data collection. The SBIR program seeks to stimulate technological innovation through small business partnerships to meet federal research needs. Specifically, Dragoon will develop a sub-30 pound unmanned aircraft with over 24 hours of flight...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) program will support research by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) to develop a sustainable vertiport system and autonomous drone swarm for methane emission monitoring over orphaned oil and gas wells. The $149,999 grant will fund three technical objectives: (1) a low-cost, portable, and sustainable vertiport to enable precision...