SBIR Phase I: Seismic Inertial Data Fusion

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project provides the foundational work for a novel data fusion method that corrects rotational effects in seismic data. After further refinement in a Phase II program, the method will enable a commercially-viable data fusion sensor package that streams digital rotationally-corrected seismic signals for infrastructure monitoring and seismic networks. The project includes the implementation of a patent-pending correction method followed by multi-axis shake table (MAST) testing of algorithm performance as measured by key technical and market metrics. The project fills a significant research and market gap; no automated correction scheme has been demonstrated or introduced to the market despite the numerous research studies by major customers that describe and quantify the problem. The project addresses a known problem that is considered one of most significant unsolved problems in seismic sensors and instrumentation. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will directly impact the following markets and civic applications: seismic networks, earthquake hazard mitigation, structural health monitoring, structural design, building construction and site evaluation, actuarial and risk assessment, tsunami warning systems, forensic seismology and post-earthquake emergency management. The addressable market size of the proposed Phase I innovation is $35-65M/year. The innovation has a clear market foundation based on concrete, demonstrated needs that are currently unmet due to a widely recognized but unsolved problem in the current products sold to customers today. The innovation will enable a substantial improvement to the seismic and structural monitoring infrastructure by filling a major gap in the existing instrumentation marketplace. A successful commercial outcome of this project will improve the accuracy of tsunami warnings, assist in the protection of major infrastructure, and find immediate application in reducing the human and economic cost of earthquakes. With this project the team wants to lead the transformation of the seismic sensor market away from simple physical sensors and toward compound data fusion devices that synthesize data from multiple physical devices. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).