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Covert Precision Aerial Delivery System

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA8222-11-C-0005
Agency Tracking Number: F103-250-0600
Amount: $99,980.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF103-250
Solicitation Number: 2010.3
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2010
Award Year: 2011
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2011-05-23
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
1510 Springport Rd Suite C
Jackson, MI -
United States
DUNS: 005055582
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Stephen Ziegenfuss
 Mechanical Engineer
 (517) 784-8340
 sziegenfuss@sealandaire.com
Business Contact
 David Sparks
Title: President
Phone: (517) 784-8340
Email: dsparks@sealandaire.com
Research Institution
 Stub
Abstract

ABSTRACT: SeaLandAire Technologies and its team member CH Robotics propose to develop a 14 lb gliding vehicle capable of delivering a 20 lb payload. The vehicle will utilize a tandem wing arrangement. During transport, wings and stabilizers will be stored inside the glider, which will be designed to integrate with bomb racks that comply with MIL-STD-1760 through the USAF Seek Eagle effort. Before release, startup commands including altitude, airspeed, relative speed over ground, heading, GPS location, and landing coordinates will be sent to the glider. The autopilot will then calculate an optimum flight path based on this information. After release from the aircraft, the glider will deploy its lifting surfaces, and begin its controlled descent to the landing zone. Turning will be accomplished through AOA changes in the whole wing, eliminating the added complexity of additional ailerons or flaps. When the glider is nearing its landing zone, it will initiate a proprietary maneuver attenuating all ground speed and executing a very low"g"landing. BENEFIT: The commercialization strategy for CPADS is dependent upon the approach to the problem taken throughout this SBIR effort. SeaLandAire believes the best approach is to start the design effort with a specific package form factor to prove feasibility in a time and funding efficient manner, but develop a package delivery system that can be scaled up to 500 lb loads. The communication suites that will be used to transfer location information from the plane to the payload and the sensor suite that will be used to determine the current payload location will be identical between all of the different models. This will necessitate only the payload carrying module to change. Increasing the performance capabilities of the warfighter through adding reliable and cost-effective guided aerial precision standoff deployment would be an extraordinary step. Fundamentally, it would"open the door"to a host of uses, both military and civilian, for low cost guided aerial precision standoff sensor systems. In the Phase I effort, SeaLandAire will apply the same legacy engineering to the development of the CPADS hardware that it has to the low production cost and reliability of the standard expendable sonobuoy platforms. The results of the research within this SBIR will help further the development of a modular expendable CPADS hardware packages that could be applied to a number of aerial deployment systems. Scientific sensors could benefit widely from future R & D as situations could be explored where standoff deployment would be beneficial because of environmental factors such as hurricanes, volcanic explosions, lightning storms, etc. Creating guide packages for critical supplies and sensors of all sizes and shapes will creates a large commercialization opportunity. Low cost, high glide ratio, guided sensor packages could be advantageous in most branches of the military, as well to the scientific community, and relief agencies in the commercial world. Potential markets and applications include: Military: AIR FORCE: delivery of critical supplies and sensors to Special Forces located on the ground. ARMY: delivery of UGS (unattended ground sensor) units well forward of moving personnel. Such use would provide greater deployment range than current mortar launched versions. NAVY: Use of all sonobuoy platforms with increased functionality, such as seeding an entire field of interest in one pass with the P8. Scientific: Deployment of meteorological sensors into remote or unsafe environments, that is inaccessible to manned vehicles. This would include deployment of sensors into active volcanoes, forest fires, or other aggressive natural occurrences. Home Land Security: Delivery into rough geographical area along the US boarder of automatically deployed remote ground sensors. Relief Agencies: Delivery of relief supplies / medical supplies into areas that either have no infrastructure or one that has been destroyed by natural disaster. With this approach serving as the foundation to the effort, SeaLandAire will succeed in ways that many of the other precision aerial delivery systems have yet to deliver specifically in the areas of cost and modularity. Once we have a structured approach, and an initial working prototype, SeaLandAire will submit research papers for conferences such as AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) to begin to alert the community that the high glide ratio guided delivery system effort has taken another step forward. We will then begin to use a host of payload systems to prove its modularity. Along with this, SeaLandAire will work with the AIR FORCE to begin to transition this technology from prototypes to something used in the field.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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