SBIR-STTR Award

Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) may play a significant role in adapting new sensors for use in currently deployed vehicle fleets. We anticipate that miniaturized fluid pumps and metering devices that are integrated into "lab-on-a-chip" systems will allow unprecendented on-board diagnostic capabilities for critical vehicle fluids, such as powertrain lubricants and hydraulic fluids. Through SBIR activitiy, ASTI proposes to design and prototype a "micromachine robot" called the On-Board Fluid Quality Laboratory with a supporting system of on-board and off-board user-interfaces, communication busses, data acquisition and analysis, and logistics planning tools. The significance of an On-Board Fluid Quality Laboratory and its supporting systems is three-fold: (1) The innovation will nearly eliminate the per-vehicle labor time now required to manually sample vehicle fluids and package them to delivery to analysis laboratories. Assume 1 hour of labor per vehicle per sample; at four samples per year with a pool of 10,000 vehicles. Based on these assumptions, this represents a potential savings of 20,000 labor hours per year. Further assumptions based upon an average labor rate of $50.00 per hour can be used to derive a cost savings of $1,000,000. (2) The innovation will also dramatically reduce laboratory analysis expenses. Assuming the fleet size and sampling noted above and an added expense of $25.00 per sample in laboratory analysis expense, and additional $1,000,000 in savings could be realized. (3) The innovation will substantially increase the speed of fluid quality analysis (from days or weeks to minutes) and frequency of analysis (from a few times per year to every cold start), which will improve vehicle fleet readiness and reduce costs from equipment failure and fluid usage caused by operating vehicles with unsafe fluids between laboratory tests.

It is possible to dramatically improve the performance, reliability, and maintainability of vehicles and other similarily complex equipment if improved sensing and diagnostics systems are applied. Advances in microelectronics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and radio-frequency (RF) wireless communications are enabling new classes of smart, distributed sensing nodes that may be embedded in vehicles or used in highly portable and rugged diagnostics analysis units for automotive fluids. We propose to prototype and assess a lab-on-a-chip platform that allows multiple sensors to be configured for a specific application. Furthermore, the platform transmits data and receives command via industry-standard and secure radio frequency (RF) wireless signals. The platform securely allows remote updates to its resident software in the field.Improved system/subsystem diagnostics, visualization and sensing. Drastic reduction in lubricant fluid replacement in military and/or commerical vehicles and weapon-related systems and reduced waste expenses. Will allow for real-time data transmission enabling proactive logisical support including the visualization of maintenance needs for military vehicles and later in commercial vehicle fleets and distributed industrial equipment. Later embodiments of the technology can have diverse applications in distributed monitoring and analysis, including homeland security screening of food and water supplies, toxic material storage locations, and other sensitive areas. The lab-on-a-chip platform could also be commercialized for biomedical applications, such as blood analysis, DNA screening, and long-term monitoring of health indicators.

Keywords:
micro electro-mechanical systems, diagnostics, fluid analysis , radio frequency (rf), prognostics, lab-on-a-chip