NASA has awarded Santa Monica-based AstraQua USD1,274,990 to develop AstraSense for electrified aircraft propulsion. The project is focused on detecting degradation, diagnosing faults, predicting potential failures, and estimating remaining capability in complex electric propulsion systems.
According to a NASA statement: “Powered by AstraQua’s Agentic Physical AI, the Adaptive Quorum Foundation Model, AstraSense provides predictive health and operational self-awareness for autonomous systems and already runs on robotic hardware. In Phase I, AstraQua demonstrated real-time diagnostics and predictive-health capabilities to NASA. As autonomous vehicles increasingly fly over populated areas, their ability to understand and respond to their own health becomes critical to safe operation. Phase II builds on those demonstrations by advancing aircraft integration and health-informed reasoning, with verification and validation for safety-critical applications. The goal is to help machines use their own health information to decide whether to continue a task, adapt or stop.
“A robot should know when to slow down, not just when it has broken down,” said Loay Elbasyouni, founder and CEO of AstraQua. “That’s what we mean by teaching robots to feel pain: using their own health to make better, safer decisions in real time
AstraQua’s broader vision is machine self-awareness: autonomous systems that can understand their health, capabilities, and limitations as they operate.
AstraSense provides this health-awareness capability within AstraQua’s broader software brain designed to connect perception, onboard reasoning and collaboration across different types of robots, said NASA. “Think of a robot “calling in sick”: when its condition limits its ability to work, the team should recognize that change and assign suitable unfinished tasks to another capable machine….AstraQua’s approach emphasizes low-power onboard intelligence, reduced dependence on continuous cloud connectivity and decisions that account for each machine’s health and operating limits. The NASA-funded aircraft work advances AstraSense within that broader effort to help autonomous systems work together.”
For more information
Teaching Robots to “Feel Pain”: AstraQua Secures $1.3 Million NASA Contract
Operational Self-Awareness with AstraSense | AstraQua
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