Project HELIOS (High-altitude Environmental Life & Intelligence Observation System)
Green Guard – A Multi-Tier Intelligent Network Architecture for Smart Farming
NOVAflair Sentry is a wildfire response drone that helps firefighters understand whether a fire is likely to cross a firebreak, a gap in combustible material near residential areas that acts as a barrier to stop the spread of a wildfire. Using NASA’s Airborne Machine Learning Estimates for Local Winds and Kinematics technology, the drone estimates local wind conditions onboard and combines them with fire observations such as flame length, burn time, and firebreak width. The system then produces a firebreak crossing risk estimate and visual alert for responders. Our goal is to give fire teams a decision support tool that can operate near hazardous fires, adapt their strategy during changing wind conditions, and support faster containment/evacuation decisions. By pairing drone sensing, AI fire segmentation, wind-aware navigation, and a live risk model, NOVAflair Sentry turns NASA’s wind estimation research into an emergency response application.
Nearly every driver has experienced it: an oncoming headlight so bright it briefly blinds you. ORBEES (Optical Redirecting Beams for Enhanced Efficiency & Safety) transforms this everyday problem by adapting NASA’s TOP2-184 optical fiber technology for automotive lighting systems. Rather than relying on cameras, sensors, or complex software, ORBEES uses passive optical control to manage high-angle stray light before it leaves the headlight assembly. This reduces glare while preserving the light needed for safe nighttime driving. Designed as an add-on optical layer, the system can integrate into existing headlight architectures without requiring a complete redesign. By improving how light is distributed rather than simply making headlights brighter, ORBEES offers a practical, scalable approach to enhancing nighttime visibility, increasing driver confidence, and improving roadway safety, with future potential beyond the automotive industry.
Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, yet there is currently no affordable way to continuously monitor the heart’s mechanical activity outside of a hospital. HeartSense is a lightweight wearable device designed to fill this gap by continuously detecting and recording the subtle mechanical vibrations produced by each heartbeat. Unlike smartwatches and ECG devices that measure pulse or electrical activity, HeartSense captures the heart’s physical motion using a compact chest-mounted motion sensor. The system filters out noise from breathing and movement, then wirelessly streams the heartbeat waveform to a nearby device in real time. Machine learning then enables automatic detection of early cardiac dysfunction. Our team has built and tested a working prototype that successfully detects live heartbeat signals and is now being validated against a commercial monitor. HeartSense supports earlier insight into cardiac changes on Earth and improves astronaut health monitoring in space.
Project HELIOS, standing for High-altitude Environmental Life & Intelligence Observation System, is a low-cost bioaerosol sampler that flies on a weather balloon. It is used as a workforce and educational development kit for researching microbes in the air, specifically in the stratosphere. HELIOS utilizes a modular design to allow it to be applicable for many purposes. HELIOS utilizes a simple flight computer to determine its altitude and maintain the system as the conditions get harsher. There are four chambers, each housing an instance of our patent, a reliable container created by NASA (MSC-TOPS-147). Within these containers is a bio filter that collects the microbes when exposed. As the payload goes up, different chambers open based on what altitudinal zone the payload is in and collect the microbes in the air. This would be used as a lab or project for students, and the research could help analyze disease travel patterns.
SensorTrust turns NASA technology into a tool that makes industrial machines more reliable. Factories depend on vibration sensors to catch equipment problems early, but when a sensor itself is loose, corroded, or failing, it sends bad data that triggers false alarms, wasted repairs, and lost trust. Unplanned downtime already costs U.S. manufacturers an estimated $50 billion a year. Built on NASA’s SSC-TOPS-1 patent, SensorTrust adds a small inline module that checks whether each sensor is trustworthy before its readings drive any maintenance decision. Paired with AI software, it separates real machine faults from sensor faults, prioritizes the right fix, and learns from every technician’s report. It works alongside existing systems with no rip-and-replace. SensorTrust gives industry a missing layer of confidence: verifying the data before anyone acts on it.
Using NASA’s Puncture-healing Engineered Polymer Blends patent, we plan to transform this patent into a self-healing liner for air-filled (pneumatic) tires. The proposed liner would be 4mm thick and rest inside the tire. Upon reaching a certain temperature threshold, the liner can heal small punctures (e.g. nails, small sharp rocks) almost immediately. This results in safer manual driven cars and self-driving cars as punctures can happen at any moment and can save people time and money in contrast to road-side assistance. However, any damage taken to the sidewall of the tire is irreversible as this is an inevitable issue in all pneumatic tires. This project will benefit the average customer, fleet operators, and the environment as these liners are able to retain the tire’s lifespan. The same technology can be used for space exploration by using materials that absorb and release energy to simulate the heat needed for the sealing.
By 2050, the world will need to produce an estimated 56% more food while facing shrinking arable land, climate change, and increasing threats from crop disease and pests. Green Guard is a smart farming platform developed by electrical engineering students at the University of Massachusetts Boston for NASA ORBIT’s Earth track to help farmers meet this challenge. The system combines distributed ground sensors, artificial intelligence, and NASA’s Skyvator aerial platform to continuously monitor crop and soil health across entire fields. Machine learning analyzes data from both ground and aerial observations to identify early signs of plant stress, allowing farmers to respond before significant crop losses occur. By making advanced precision agriculture more affordable and accessible, Green Guard aims to improve food security, reduce water and pesticide use, and demonstrate how NASA technologies can create meaningful benefits for communities on Earth and support future space exploration.
Chronic wounds such as diabetic foot and ulcers have persisted as a challenge for the healthcare industry. From their prolonged healing time and risk for infection, patients often find themselves facing drastic measures including amputation, debridement, or other surgical interventions. One contributing factor to chronic wound persistence is the disruption of the body’s endogenous bioelectric signaling, inhibiting tissue remodeling during the healing process. Our solution? PATCH it up! The device is a multilayered system that leverages NASA’s polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) technology to generate a continuous voltage when stimulated with body heat or mechanical deformation requiring no external power source. PATCH utilizes three layers with a bioactive ionogel base, PVDF core, and a silicone protective covering. PATCH is a promising self-powered wound dressing with the potential to reduce treatment complexity, improve patient mobility, and potentially support autonomous medical care during future space missions serving as an acute wound therapeutic as well.
As drone delivery and air taxi systems move closer to everyday use, rotor noise remains a major barrier to public acceptance. Sol Invictus Engineering of Arizona State University is adapting NASA-derived rotor technology from U.S. Patent 10,414,485, “A New Twist Makes Rotating Machinery More Efficient and Quieter,” into a propeller blade scaled for drones. By reshaping the twist along the blade, the design reduces the load on the blade tip, the main source of noise, and quiets the propeller without sacrificing performance. In testing, the modified blade was about 2.2–2.7 dB quieter than a standard propeller, with computer simulations confirming the same trends. This has direct applications to delivery drones, air taxis, HVAC, and ventilation, while also having potential for marine propulsion and NASA mission systems. By reducing noise where it is created, this technology turns the loudest barriers today into a better advantage tomorrow.
