SBIR Phase I: A Novel Form of Distributed Electric Propulsion for UAVs and Air Mobility

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是提高无人机（UAV）和空中出租车在城市环境中运行的能力。 这种推进技术的形状因素将允许飞行器在狭小的空间中机动、着陆和停放，并减少或消除螺旋桨接触伤害的风险。 这些新功能将使无人驾驶飞行器和空中出租车能够在密集的城市环境中运行，并且更接近人类，而不会有受伤或与城市环境碰撞的风险。 反过来，这将加速自动包裹递送等应用，预计无人机将在不可预测的人类周围自动运行，以及空中出租车，在严格的机动和接近等待乘客方面存在固有的挑战。 此外，这些制造技术可以在诸如可穿戴和植入式混合电子系统的领域中找到其他应用。 这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将推进无人机和载人飞行器能力的最新发展。 拟议的研究将开发一种新型的推进解决方案，可以构建现有技术无法实现的形状因素。 这些形状因素可以被设计为既消除螺旋桨接触伤害人类的可能性，又允许在非常近的距离内显著更高程度的机动性。 该解决方案的实施将需要在柔性混合电子（FHE）的制造中进行新的创新，将柔性基板与支持电子相结合。 该项目将通过使用灵活的混合电子制造技术构建原型设备来评估这种拟议方法的技术可行性。 该项目将在与无人驾驶飞行器和其他城市空中交通系统的任务相关的环境中进行验证和确认测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to advance the capability for both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and air taxis to operate in urban environments. The form factor of this propulsion technology will allow air vehicles to maneuver, land, and park in tight spaces and to reduce or eliminate the risk of propeller contact injuries. These new capabilities will allow unmanned aerial vehicles and air taxis to operate in dense urban environments and in closer proximity to human beings without risk of injury or collision with the urban environment. In turn, this will accelerate applications such as autonomous package delivery, where UAVs are expected to operate autonomously around unpredictable humans, as well as air taxis, with inherent challenges in tight maneuvering and proximity to waiting passengers. Furthermore, these manufacturing techniques may find other applications in fields such as wearable and implanted hybrid electronic systems. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the state of the art in unmanned aerial vehicle and manned air vehicle capabilities. The proposed research will develop a novel propulsion solution that can be built to form factors unachievable with current technology. These form factors can be designed to both eliminate the possibility of propeller contact injuries to human beings and allow a significantly higher degree of maneuverability in very close quarters. The implementation of this solution will require new innovations in the manufacture of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), combining flexible substrates with support electronics. This project will evaluate the technical feasibility of this proposed approach through the construction of a prototype device using flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing techniques. This project will then conduct verification and validation tests in environments relevant to the missions envisioned for unmanned aerial vehicles and other urban air mobility systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.