The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $75,000 - Monday the 17th of March 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN PHASE 1, RIDGETOP GROUP DESIGNED A HIGH-SPEED, YET LOW-POWER SILICON GERMANIUM (SIGE)-BASED, ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER (ADC) TO BE A KEY ELEMENT FOR DIGITAL BEAM FORMING (DBF) SYSTEMS THAT WILL BE USED IN NASA'S FUTURE RADAR APPLICATIONS. THE ADC WILL EMPLOY A NOVEL COMBINATION OF TIME INTERLEAVING, HIGH-SPEED SILICON-GERMANIUM BICMOS TECHNOLOGY AND LOW-POWER TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS THE DOUBLE-SAMPLING TECHNIQUE, PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL SAMPLING SPEED OF 500 MSPS, 1.5 GHZ ANALOG BANDWIDTH,12 BITS OF RESOLUTION, AND BELOW 500 MW POWER DISSIPATION, EXCEEDING NASA'S REQUIREMENTS. ORDINARILY, ADC DESIGN REQUIRES LARGE TRADE-OFFS IN SPEED, RESOLUTION, AND POWER CONSUMPTION. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS INNOVATION IS THAT IT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES A HIGH-SPEED, HIGH-RESOLUTION, AND LOW-POWER ADC THAT IS WELL AHEAD OF THE STATE OF THE ART. THESE THREE CHARACTERISTICS ARE NEEDED FOR DBF SYSTEMS THAT CONTAIN LARGE ADC ARRAYS. THE POWER CONSUMPTION OF EXISTING ADC CHIPS PROHIBITS IMPLEMENTATION OF LARGE DBF ARRAYS IN SPACE. RIDGETOP'S INNOVATIVE DESIGN LEVERAGES NEWER SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES THAT COMBINE SILICON AND GERMANIUM INTO A COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR. RIDGETOP HAS IDENTIFIED TWO PHASE 2 OBJECTIVES, WHICH ARE: 1. DESIGN, FABRICATE AND CHARACTERIZE TEST CHIP 1 THAT CONTAINS CRITICAL ADC SUBCIRCUITS. 2. DESIGN, FABRICATE AND CHARACTERIZE TEST CHIP 2 THAT CONTAINS THE COMPLETE RADIATION TOLERANT, DIGITALLY CALIBRATED, TIME-INTERLEAVED ADC DESIGN. DURING PHASE 1 RIDGETOP IDENTIFIED THE TOPOLOGIES FOR ALL OF THE CIRCUIT BLOCKS THAT WILL BE INCLUDED ON TEST CHIP 1 AND TEST CHIP 2. RIDGETOP HAS ALSO COMPLETED TRANSISTOR-LEVEL DESIGNS FOR THE KEY COMPONENTS ON THESE CHIPS. ESTIMATED TRL AT BEGINNING AND END OF PHASE 2 CONTRACT: BEGIN 4; END 8.

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• $75,000 - Thursday the 16th of January 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  RIDGETOP DEVELOPED AN INNOVATIVE, MODEL-DRIVEN ANOMALY DIAGNOSTIC AND FAULT CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATOR (EMA) SYSTEMS TO MITIGATE CATASTROPHIC FAILURES. RIDGETOP DEVELOPED A MIL-STD-1553 BUS MONITOR AND A MIL-STD-1553 BUS CONTROLLER THAT SIMULATES THE AIRCRAFT DATA BUS, READS THE ENVIRONMENTAL (I.E., ALTITUDE) AND OPERATIONAL (I.E., RESPONSE OF SYSTEM) DATA OF A SYSTEM AND DETERMINES IF A FAULT IS MANIFESTING; AND IF TRUE DETERMINES THE ROOT CAUSE AND SYMPTOMS OF THE FAULT. ONCE AN ANOMALY IS DETECTED, THE MODEL-BASED AVIONIC PROGNOSTIC REASONER (MAPR) SOLVES A USER-OUTLINED STATE-SPACE MODEL, SYMBOLICALLY, USING A GAUSS-NEWTON OPTIMIZATION METHOD AND THE INFORMATION FROM THE MIL-STD-1553 BUS. THIS ALGORITHM OUTPUTS A LIST OF BEST FITTING PARAMETERS TO MATCH THE COMMAND TO THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. RULES ARE PROGRAMMED IN, BASED ON RESULTS FROM PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS . THE RULES DETERMINE BOTH FAULT MODE AND THE SEVERITY OF THAT FAULT. THE RULES CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TWO FAILURE MODES: MECHANICAL JAM AND MOSFET FAILURE, AND HEALTHY. THE REAL-TIME PROCESSING WILL ALLOW FOR CRITICAL EVOLUTIONS IN FLIGHT SAFETY AND PROVIDES A GAME-CHANGING APPROACH TO CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE. ONCE DEPLOYED, FLIGHT SAFETY CAN BE IMPROVED BY ALLOWING THE ON-BOARD FLIGHT COMPUTERS TO READ FROM THE MAPR AND UPDATE THEIR CONTROL ENVELOPE BASED ON ITS EVALUATIONS, REDUCING DAMAGE PROPAGATION AND INCREASING OPERATIONAL SAFETY. IN PHASE 2, WE WILL DEVELOP A FUNCTIONING GROUND-BASED PROTOTYPE OF THE TECHNOLOGY TO SHOW THE EFFICACY OF THE METHOD. A GROUND-BASED VERSION OF THE TOOL IS THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR DEVELOPMENT TO EASE ADOPTION BY TESTING IN A LOW-RISK ENVIRONMENT; THIS TOOL WILL BE DEMONSTRATED AT THE END OF PHASE 2. THE MAPR CONCEPT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO ANY SYSTEM WITH A STATE-SPACE REPRESENTATION BUT AT THIS POINT IT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WITH EMAS IN MIND. THE MAPR PROTOTYPE IS AT TRL 5 AND WILL REACH A TRL 7 BY THE END OF PHASE 2.

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• $713,306 - Tuesday the 14th of August 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA8571 AFSC PZIO MXW
  SBIR TOPIC AF093-208, PHASE II, CONTRACT

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• $50,000 - Monday the 6th of January 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  RIDGETOP'S INNOVATION ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR IMPROVED CAPABILITIES FOR DETECTING WEAR IN THE DRIVE GEARS INSIDE HELICOPTER GEARBOXES. ROTORCRAFT DRIVE TRAINS MUST WITHSTAND ENORMOUS PRESSURE WHILE OPERATING CONTINUOUSLY IN EXTREME TEMPERATURE AND VIBRATION ENVIRONMENTS. CAPTIVE COMPONENTS, SUCH AS PLANETARY AND SPIRAL BEVEL GEARS, SEE ENORMOUS STRAIN BUT ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE TO FIXED INSTRUMENTATION SUCH AS A PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER. THUS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIRECTLY MONITOR COMPONENTS THAT ARE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO DAMAGE. RIDGETOP HAS DEVELOPED AN EMBEDDED DATA ACQUISITION MODULE THAT OVERCOMES THESE LIMITATIONS. THIS INNOVATION IS A SELF-CONTAINED DATA PROCESSING UNIT WITHIN A SPECIALIZED FIXTURE THAT INSTALLS DIRECTLY INSIDE THE HUBS OF ROTATING GEAR PARTS. FROM THIS LOCATION, IT AND DETECTS AND TRANSMITS HIGH FIDELITY PROGNOSTIC DATA TO A FIXED TRANSCEIVER. THE SENSOR IS BASED ON MEMS TECHNOLOGY AND USES INNOVATIVE CIRCUIT DESIGNS TO CAPTURE HIGH BANDWIDTH DATA AND TRANSMIT IT WIRELESSLY FROM INSIDE AN OPERATIONAL HELICOPTER TRANSMISSION. IN PHASE 2, RIDGETOP WILL BUILD THE MODULE AND ACQUISITION SYSTEM, AND DEMONSTRATE IT AT THE NASA GLENN ROTORCRAFT TRANSMISSION TESTBED. WE WILL PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT THE INNOVATION GIVES SUPERIOR FIDELITY BY MAKING SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISONS WITH CURRENT FIXED-SENSOR SETUP. RIDGETOP WILL TIE IN DATA COLLECTION WITH PROGNOSTICS AND ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC APPROACHES, MAKE ENHANCEMENTS, AND SHOW AN IMPROVEMENT IN FAILURE DETECTION HORIZON TIMES. WE WILL ALSO DEVELOP A DATA INTERFACE BETWEEN THE WIRELESS SENSOR PORT AND A STANDARD HUMS COMMUNICATION BUS. FINALLY, RIDGETOP WILL DEVELOP A COMMERCIALIZATION PATH BY DEMONSTRATING THE TECHNOLOGY TO AIRFRAME MANUFACTURERS.

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• $376,024 - Friday the 10th of August 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA8650 USAF AFMC AFRL/RQK
  POWER SYSTEM ROBUSTNESS ASESSMENT TOOL FOR ALL-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT

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• $375,000 - Friday the 19th of October 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9453 DET 8 AFRL PKV8
  RADIATION-HARDENED, ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER WITH HIGH-BIT PRECISION

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• $373,241 - Wednesday the 7th of March 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA8650 USAF AFMC AFRL/RQK
  POWER SYSTEM ROBUSTNESS ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ALL-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT

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• $369,877 - Monday the 6th of February 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-RSA
  INCREMENTAL FUNDING MODIFICATION

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• $200,000 - Monday the 17th of March 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN PHASE 1, RIDGETOP GROUP DESIGNED A HIGH-SPEED, YET LOW-POWER SILICON GERMANIUM (SIGE)-BASED, ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER (ADC) TO BE A KEY ELEMENT FOR DIGITAL BEAM FORMING (DBF) SYSTEMS THAT WILL BE USED IN NASA'S FUTURE RADAR APPLICATIONS. THE ADC WILL EMPLOY A NOVEL COMBINATION OF TIME INTERLEAVING, HIGH-SPEED SILICON-GERMANIUM BICMOS TECHNOLOGY AND LOW-POWER TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS THE DOUBLE-SAMPLING TECHNIQUE, PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL SAMPLING SPEED OF 500 MSPS, 1.5 GHZ ANALOG BANDWIDTH,12 BITS OF RESOLUTION, AND BELOW 500 MW POWER DISSIPATION, EXCEEDING NASA'S REQUIREMENTS. ORDINARILY, ADC DESIGN REQUIRES LARGE TRADE-OFFS IN SPEED, RESOLUTION, AND POWER CONSUMPTION. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS INNOVATION IS THAT IT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES A HIGH-SPEED, HIGH-RESOLUTION, AND LOW-POWER ADC THAT IS WELL AHEAD OF THE STATE OF THE ART. THESE THREE CHARACTERISTICS ARE NEEDED FOR DBF SYSTEMS THAT CONTAIN LARGE ADC ARRAYS. THE POWER CONSUMPTION OF EXISTING ADC CHIPS PROHIBITS IMPLEMENTATION OF LARGE DBF ARRAYS IN SPACE. RIDGETOP'S INNOVATIVE DESIGN LEVERAGES NEWER SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES THAT COMBINE SILICON AND GERMANIUM INTO A COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR. RIDGETOP HAS IDENTIFIED TWO PHASE 2 OBJECTIVES, WHICH ARE: 1. DESIGN, FABRICATE AND CHARACTERIZE TEST CHIP 1 THAT CONTAINS CRITICAL ADC SUBCIRCUITS. 2. DESIGN, FABRICATE AND CHARACTERIZE TEST CHIP 2 THAT CONTAINS THE COMPLETE RADIATION TOLERANT, DIGITALLY CALIBRATED, TIME-INTERLEAVED ADC DESIGN. DURING PHASE 1 RIDGETOP IDENTIFIED THE TOPOLOGIES FOR ALL OF THE CIRCUIT BLOCKS THAT WILL BE INCLUDED ON TEST CHIP 1 AND TEST CHIP 2. RIDGETOP HAS ALSO COMPLETED TRANSISTOR-LEVEL DESIGNS FOR THE KEY COMPONENTS ON THESE CHIPS. ESTIMATED TRL AT BEGINNING AND END OF PHASE 2 CONTRACT: BEGIN 4; END 8.

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• $199,965 - Monday the 6th of January 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  RIDGETOP'S INNOVATION ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR IMPROVED CAPABILITIES FOR DETECTING WEAR IN THE DRIVE GEARS INSIDE HELICOPTER GEARBOXES. ROTORCRAFT DRIVE TRAINS MUST WITHSTAND ENORMOUS PRESSURE WHILE OPERATING CONTINUOUSLY IN EXTREME TEMPERATURE AND VIBRATION ENVIRONMENTS. CAPTIVE COMPONENTS, SUCH AS PLANETARY AND SPIRAL BEVEL GEARS, SEE ENORMOUS STRAIN BUT ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE TO FIXED INSTRUMENTATION SUCH AS A PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER. THUS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIRECTLY MONITOR COMPONENTS THAT ARE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO DAMAGE. RIDGETOP HAS DEVELOPED AN EMBEDDED DATA ACQUISITION MODULE THAT OVERCOMES THESE LIMITATIONS. THIS INNOVATION IS A SELF-CONTAINED DATA PROCESSING UNIT WITHIN A SPECIALIZED FIXTURE THAT INSTALLS DIRECTLY INSIDE THE HUBS OF ROTATING GEAR PARTS. FROM THIS LOCATION, IT AND DETECTS AND TRANSMITS HIGH FIDELITY PROGNOSTIC DATA TO A FIXED TRANSCEIVER. THE SENSOR IS BASED ON MEMS TECHNOLOGY AND USES INNOVATIVE CIRCUIT DESIGNS TO CAPTURE HIGH BANDWIDTH DATA AND TRANSMIT IT WIRELESSLY FROM INSIDE AN OPERATIONAL HELICOPTER TRANSMISSION. IN PHASE 2, RIDGETOP WILL BUILD THE MODULE AND ACQUISITION SYSTEM, AND DEMONSTRATE IT AT THE NASA GLENN ROTORCRAFT TRANSMISSION TESTBED. WE WILL PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT THE INNOVATION GIVES SUPERIOR FIDELITY BY MAKING SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISONS WITH CURRENT FIXED-SENSOR SETUP. RIDGETOP WILL TIE IN DATA COLLECTION WITH PROGNOSTICS AND ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC APPROACHES, MAKE ENHANCEMENTS, AND SHOW AN IMPROVEMENT IN FAILURE DETECTION HORIZON TIMES. WE WILL ALSO DEVELOP A DATA INTERFACE BETWEEN THE WIRELESS SENSOR PORT AND A STANDARD HUMS COMMUNICATION BUS. FINALLY, RIDGETOP WILL DEVELOP A COMMERCIALIZATION PATH BY DEMONSTRATING THE TECHNOLOGY TO AIRFRAME MANUFACTURERS.

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