Assistive Technologies

NASA's Langley Research Center researchers have developed a wireless, connection-free, open circuit technology that can be used for developing electrical devices such as sensors that need no physical contact with the properties being measured. At the core of the technology is the SansEC [Sans Electrical Connections] circuit, which is damage resilient and environmentally friendly to manufacture and use. The technology uses a NASA award-winning magnetic field response measurement acquisition device to provide power to the device and, in the case of a sensor application, to acquire physical property measurements from them. This fundamental new approach using open circuits enables applications such as sensors for axial load force, linear displacement, rotation, strain, pressure, torque, and motion sensing, as well as unique designs such as for a wireless keypad or wireless rotational dial, or for energy storage.

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a cost-effective method to create fabric-based circuits and antennas by combining conventional embroidery with automated milling. The technology allows for higher surface conductivity, improved impedance control, expanded design and application potential, and greater choice of materials for optimized performance. Previous efforts to automate fabric circuit and antenna fabrication have faltered on either the complexity of the manufacturing hardware and associated costs, or design and application limitations of the resulting e-textiles. This fabrication method offers benefits in cost and labor savings and provides opportunities for the development of design patterns with higher geometric complexity and performance improvements.

NASA inventors have developed a low-power wireless platform for the evaluation of sensors printed on flexible polyimide substrates. The platform simplifies development of novel environmental sensors and their end-use applications by merging Bluetooth low energy (BLE) hardware, sensors, and sensor fusion software. It consists of a printed circuit board with programmable system on a chip (PSoC) microcontroller; commercially available inertial, environmental, and gas sensors; and area for deposition of novel printed sensing elements. Outputs can be configured to send sensor data over BLE connection for recording and analysis in third party software. The platforms integrated nature reduces system size, cost, and power consumption; it includes all essential hardware to support development of IoT devices. It has been used for development of respiration and environmental monitoring sensors for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a radiation hardened 10BASE-T Ethernet solution that combines a custom circuit and a front-end field programmable gate array (FPGA) design to implement an Ethernet Physical Interface (PHY) in compliance with IEEE 802.3. The custom circuit uses available radiation-hardened parts, and handles the electrical interface between standard differential Ethernet signals and the digital signal levels in the FPGA.

NASAs Langley Research Center has developed a new solid state integrated circuit based on field effect transistor (FET). Called ergFET, the sensor characterizes the electronic properties of materials, allowing for detection of items like baggage, wiring, liquids, and can even be used for medical imaging such as remote EKG.

NASA's Langley Research Center has developed a novel shape memory polymer (SMP) made from composite materials for use in morphing structures. In response to an external stimulus such as a temperature change or an electric field, the thermosetting material changes shape, but then returns to its original form once conditions return to normal. Through a precise combination of monomers, conductive fillers, and elastic layers, the NASA polymer matrix can be triggered by two effects--Joule heating and dielectric loss--to increase the response. The new material remedies the limitations of other SMPs currently on the market--namely the slow stimulant response times, the strength inconsistencies, and the use of toxic epoxies that may complicate manufacturing. NASA has developed prototypes and now seeks a partner to license the technology for commercial applications.