Growing Research and Development Missions in Florida

The Florida Defense Support Commission provided a grant to the FSI DSTO team to execute a multifaceted approach for growing the Department of Defense (DoD) missions in Florida with the primary focus on the Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR).  The Commission grant is being used to pursue new projects that can be added to the APAFR including counter unmanned aerial system projects, space dominance projects, and missile defense projects.

The effort will also work to produce a plan to reuse the former Highlands Youth Academy property at the APAFR as a future Research, Development, Test, and Training (RDT2) Center starting by updating the deed with the U.S. Air Force to allow Highlands County to incorporate other compatible uses on the site. The effort will then assess the existing site and facilities and provide a recommended redevelopment plan to the commission, Highlands County, and the Avon Park AFR leadership team. The grant will provide the basis to integrate the Florida Advance Training Range (FATR), the US National Drone Association, and other research and training activities as future tenants of the new RDT2 Center.

Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS)

The Florida Space Institute is supporting the Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) project under NASA’s Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) Portfolio. The AMPS is a technology infusion effort for power systems and components to prove their capabilities through exploration-based ground demonstrations. The focus of the AMPS power control capability is on Earth Independent Operations and how to safely manage the power system with minimal human interaction to support deep space missions such as the Mission to Mars.

The AMPS technology portfolio includes the development of modular electronic units which, when combined with standardized interfaces, will provide commonality across a variety of exploration vehicles for future NASA missions. The project has developed a government reference modular design and the released Modular Electronic Standard for Space Power Systems (MESSPS), which defines the form, fit, and function of each modular electronic unit. The current focus is on technology maturation of the hardware designs, verification of the MESSPS standard, and infusion/transfer of the standard to industry and NASA Moon to Mars programs.

The AMPS technology portfolio includes the development of an autonomous power controller (APC) to manage space-based electrical power systems with limited interactions from human operators. The APC performs three main functions:

• Advanced energy management: Optimize the use of distributed electrical power system components to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations within the power quality requirements.
• Fault management: Detect and identify the size, location, and type of fault, and quickly isolate hazardous failures in the system. Determine proper corrective to minimize load outages facilitate system recovery.
• Contingency management: Analyze potential fault (anomalous) scenarios and create plans for power distribution during to return the electrical power system back to nominal configuration/operation.

For more details visit the NASA AMPS TechPort entry at NASA TechPort – AMPS