Geisel Software wins NASA contract to develop collaborative mobile robotics for space program

Geisel Software, a Massachusetts-based custom software development company, and University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) have been awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The award will support the development of a solution that will allow for collaborative mobility and manipulation in a heterogeneous robotic environment.

The research is critically important to solving problems such as mapping, localization, atmospheric transmission spectroscopy, electromagnetic radiation detection of all kinds, seismic and other planetary sensing, and more.

Woosoon Yim, PhD and professor of mechanical engineering in UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, will serve as principal investigator and his team at UNLV will work in tandem with Geisel Software’s engineers to address the complex issues inherent in swarming applications.

Brian Geisel, CEO at Geisel Software, says: “Geisel Software is honored to be selected for this Phase I STTR in cooperation with UNLV.

“We’re excited to be working with such a well-regarded university that’s committed to serving minority and underrepresented students. This STTR will give students an opportunity to grow not only in the initial phase as students, but also through the eventual productization phase as engineers.”

Yim says: “Space is a challenging experimentation environment and developing a realistic simulation platform for studying coordination and control of swarms of the ground and aerial vehicles is integral to safe space exploration.

“Geisel Software has technical expertise in solving complex software challenges and experience building custom solutions for government organizations. This partnership builds off our combined strengths to help NASA achieve their exploration goals.”

The STTR program is a highly competitive three-phase program that reserves a specific percentage of federal research and development funding to award to small businesses in partnership with nonprofit research institutions to move ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, to foster high-tech economic development, and to address the technological needs of the federal government.