This is an SBIR proposal to develop a revolutionary digital schlieren imaging system that will greatly improve a widely used aerodynamics tool and render it so robust, user friendly, and productive that it will be useable in test facilities and environments that have been prohibitive before. Also, by incorporating recent advances in consumer camera and display technologies we can produce a new class of digital focusing schlieren (DFS) systems that drastically reduce the manufacturing costs as well as the size and weight, while maintaining sensitivity, improving robustness, making it more user friendly, and over all a much more powerful instrument. The digital schlieren concept represents the first major improvement in schlieren imaging in over 150 years, a true quantum jump in the technology. Conversion to digital obviates many of the long-standing problems with focusing schlieren systems that are associated with precisely matching the cutoff grid to the background light pattern. Because the system is digital, the control software can perform real-time image enhancement as well. Consequently, the most severe hardware production and alignment restrictions are now software problems that are solvable continuously, quickly, and inexpensively in real time. This capability enables the system to compute and compensate for imperfect windows and optics, optical aberrations, misalignments, and temporal changes in the system and subject.
Potential NASA Commercial Applications: (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) Applications exist in all forms of aerodynamic research, development, and testing including problems associated with turbulent flow fields, boundary layers, shock waves, flow interactions, aero optics, flow control, drag, boundary layer transition, and flow separation. The technology enables application of extremely sensitive flow visualization in locations and applications that have been prohibitive before because of cost, environmental problems, and logistics.
Potential NON-NASA Commercial Applications: (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) This technique is especially useful for viewing large-scale phase objects in transparent media, which refract light but do not absorb or emit light. Potential commercial applications include aero-optics, flow diagnostics, flow-control, free-space laser communication, active laser imaging, high bandwidth video transmission, spectroscopy, and high-resolution imaging.
Technology Taxonomy Mapping: (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.) Acoustic/Vibration Aerodynamics Image Analysis Image Capture (Stills/Motion) Image Processing Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT) Optical/Photonic (see also Photonics) Simulation & Modeling Thermal
