SBIR Phase I: A Universal Technology Platform for Remote Sensing and Controlling

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims at the development of a universal technology platform for remote sensing and controlling. This technology development will be carried out with a focus on affordability, ease of use, reliability, usage of and compatibility with existing communication standards, computer platform independence, modularity/reconfigurability, scalability and expandability. One commercial application using this Internet-based technology will foster the enhancement of education through remotely accessible experimental devices, the availability of which will provide significant relief to the strain on the spatial, temporal and fiscal resources that traditional laboratories impose on educational institutions. The initial beneficiaries of the proposed technology will be students at the undergraduate and graduate college levels. Subsequently, the propagation of the technology into the K-12, corporate training, and scientific experimentation arenas as well as into industrial and consumer applications appears to be both feasible and plausible. The enabling of remote access to various experimental devices proffered by JDS Technologies will facilitate improved student learning of scientific and technical principles. The proposed technology will promote independent and asynchronous learning patterns. It will also permit experimental demonstrations in lectures and allow experimentation to be included in distance learning programs. It thus provides access to sophisticated and cost intensive experimentation for a much larger student audience than would be possible in the absence of the remote-access capabilities.