TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Anonymous Feature Processing for Enhanced Navigation (MSC-TOPS-129)

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. 

THE TECHNOLOGY:  

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed an innovative algorithmic and computational approach to vision-based feature recognition called Anonymous Feature Processing (AFP). The ‘anonymous’ approach allows feature-based navigation techniques to be performed without the need for explicit correspondence/identification between visual system observations and cataloged map data, thus helping to eliminate costs and risks induced by identification procedures. By eliminating the error-prone and computationally burdensome identification and detection steps, AFP is designed to yield marked improvements in system robustness along with reducing algorithmic and software development costs. This novel method only requires a simple camera, or LIDAR sensor, and flight computer to track multiple targets and navigate vehicles more quickly, reliably, and safely. The AFP approach is adaptable to a wide range of sensor types and platforms, capable of supporting challenging space exploration and terrestrial navigation systems with low visibility conditions or with cluttered surroundings. A new technique such as AFP that eliminates preprocessing while adding system robustness could have commercial applications in autonomous vehicles, manufacturing, and research-based imaging. 

To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA’s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MSC-TOPS-129  

If you have any questions, please e-mail NASA’s Technology Transfer Program at Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this SAM.gov notice and your preferred contact information. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ 

These responses are provided to members of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.