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Autonomously deployed energy harvesting system in coastal and riverine…

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
N/A 		Award ID:
 Program Year/Program:
2011 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
N111-072-0900 		Solicitation Year:
2011 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N111-072 		Solicitation Number:
2011.1
Small Business Information
Infoscitex Corporation
303 BEAR HILL RD WALTHAM, MA -
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Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 2011
Title: Autonomously deployed energy harvesting system in coastal and riverine environment
Agency: DOD
Contract: N00014-11-M-0258
Award Amount: $79,942.00
 

Abstract:

The capabilities and mission profile of underwater sensors and autonomous systems are often significantly limited by the availability of onboard energy. The issue of energy limitation becomes more severe for autonomous systems deployed in the littorals, in surf zones, and in rivers due to the difficulties of deploying and retrieving these systems to replace batteries. Environmental energy harvesting systems based on solar or wind may be impractical due to high visibility and unreliability of the energy source. However, there exists the potential to extract the abundant hydrodynamic energy in these environments and use it to recharge the batteries onboard deployed systems. Infoscitex Corporation (IST) and SRI International (SRI) will address this opportunity by developing a modular hydrokinetic energy harvesting solution that is easy to transport and handle, adaptable, durable, and self deploying. This solution will be accomplished by utilizing a relatively new energy generation technology based on electroactive polymers (EAP). EAPs are elastomeric materials that are able to efficiently convert mechanical strains into electrical currents. IST and its collaborators at SRI have already successfully developed and evaluated a number of energy harvesting systems based on these materials.

Principal Investigator:

Jeremiah Slade
Manager
(781) 890-1338
jslade@infoscitex.com

Business Contact:

Andrea Hicks
Contracts Supervisor
(937) 429-9008
ahicks@infoscitex.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

Infoscitex Corporation
303 Bear Hill Road Waltham, MA -

EIN/Tax ID: 043537120
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No