DoD 2017.1 SBIR Solicitation

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate lightweight, durable, low cost recuperators for 5 Kilowatt turbo-generators to power DoD Group 2/small Group 3 unmanned aerial systems (UASs) for increased reliability and operational capability. 

DESCRIPTION: Tactical requirements for unmanned aerial systems are exceeding current capabilities for performance (payload, range), reliability, maintainability, and supportability. Mission requirements such as increased power, extended endurance, low altitude maneuverability in urban environments without detection, and high reliability are becoming paramount. These combined requirements are currently not fully realized with conventional rotary, internal combustion, or turbine-based propulsion. Improved engine reliability is a critical need area. The electrical power requirement for advanced payloads is also increasing, which adds weight to the air vehicle. Turbine based propulsion systems offer good power to weight ratio over typical internal combustion engines, however, do not compete well in fuel efficiency in small size engines due to increased clearances and losses. The addition of recuperation can improve micro-turbine fuel consumption across the operational spectrum, such that it is competitive with internal combustion engines. This would allow small UASs to take advantage of the turbine engines inherent reliability and durability, while reducing the weight advantages somewhat. Additionally, the high frequency of the noise generated by turbine engines makes it inherently easier to meet detection requirements. Therefore, for a successful recuperated small turbo-generator (5 Kilowatts) to be developed for application to Group 2/small Group 3 UASs, it will be critical for the recuperator to be lightweight, have reasonable effectiveness for good fuel consumption characteristics, use low-cost and repeatable manufacturing techniques, and be durable/reliable so that overall engine performance, cost, and reliability/durability is achieved. The objective of this topic is to develop lightweight, low cost, and durable/reliable recuperators for small turbo-generators, which offer potential for high power to weight ratio and reliability, in order to meet current and anticipate future needs of Group 2/small Group 3 UASs. Program goals/metrics consist of greater than or equal to 75 percent effectiveness and less than or equal to 4 lbs weight for a recuperator designed to integrate with a 5-8 kilowatt turbo-generator. Advanced manufacturing techniques are encouraged to be explored, such as additive manufacturing; moreover, use of brazing, in the manufacturing process, is not of interest due to reliability and repeatability concerns. The resulting advanced recuperated propulsion system would need to be able to meet different operational requirements of a Group 2/small Group 3 UAS, which include full power takeoff capability, high part-power cruise fuel efficiency for improved endurance, and quiet operation capability. Additionally, commercialization of the advanced manufacturing techniques used in this effort will benefit industry officials with applications for high-efficiency recuperators and heat-exchangers where size and weight are critical design factors. Moreover, this effort will aid in reducing costs for advanced manufacturing techniques to further help commercial entities with a need advanced recuperator design applications. 

PHASE I: Key components/geometry features of the proposed recuperator concepts should be studied by the company with design work, analysis, computational studies, and key idea tests to substantiate the ability to provide a lightweight, low cost, and durable/reliable recuperator that can be effectively integrated into a current or future 5-8 kilowatt turbo-generator system. 

PHASE II: Phase II will fully develop and fabricate the recuperator, integrate it with a 5-8 kilowatt turbo-generator (that will operate on heavy-fuel (JP-8, diesel) and provide power to electrical payloads in additional to motor driven propulsors), and demonstrate the fully recuperated turbo-generator system in a ground test environment. 

PHASE III: Phase III options would include further design enhancements, endurance/reliability testing of the recuperated micro-turbine engine, and potential integration into a representative UAS system and demonstration of the performance of the system with flight testing in a UAS mission environment. 

REFERENCES: 

McDonald, C.F., 1996, Heat Recovery Exchanger Technology for Very Small Gas Turbines, International Journal of Turbo and Jet Engines, 13, pp.239-261.

McDonald, C.F., 2000, Low Cost Recuperator Concept for Microturbine Applications, 2000, ASME paper 2000-GT-0167, Am. Soc. Mech. Engin., New York, NY.

Ward, M.E., 1995, Primary Surface Recuperator Durability and Applications, Turbomachinery Technology Seminar paper TTS006/395, Solar Turbines, Inc., San Diego, CA.

Oswald, J.I., Dawson, D.A., and Clawley, L.A., 1999, A New Durable Gas Turbine Recuperator, ASME paper 99-GT-369, Am. Soc. Mech. Engin., New York, NY.

KEYWORDS: Unmanned Aerial System, Recuperated Small Turbo-generator, Heavy Fuel Engine, Power To Weight Ratio, Fuel Efficiency, Low Noise, Low-cost Manufacturing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate lightweight, durable, high power density electric motor technologies for main/auxiliary propulsors to enable future turbo-generators to power DoD Group 2/small Group 3 unmanned aerial systems (UASs) for increased reliability and operational capability. 

DESCRIPTION: Tactical requirements for unmanned aerial systems are exceeding current capabilities for performance (payload, range), reliability, maintainability, detectability, and supportability. Mission requirements such as increased power, extended endurance, low altitude maneuverability in urban environments without detection, increased tactical capability, and high reliability are becoming paramount. These combined requirements are currently not fully realized with conventional rotary, internal combustion, or turbine-based propulsion architectures. Improved engine reliability is a critical need area. Electrical power requirements for advanced payloads is also increasing, which adds weight to the air vehicle. Micro-Turbine based hybrid more-electric architectures offer the potential for a new paradigm for increased UAS system level flexibility, efficiency, readiness level, weight reduction, reliability, mission capability, and survivability. A weak link in this type of hybrid architecture is the electric motor drive. Improvements in electric motor performance at lower power settings while addressing thermal issues are needed. The following goals/metrics will be followed: motor input voltage will be 270VDC; nominal output RPM will be 3200-3500 rpm; Continuous Shaft Power at Nominal RPM will be 20HP; weight goal is less than or equal to 6lbs; motor efficiency goal is greater than or equal to 95% at 50-100% power and 90-95% at 25-50% power. The electric motor will be air cooled and operate up a pressure altitude of 18,000 feet without detrimental effects to its operation. Additionally, the motor will be required to pass MIL-STD-810G testing for altitude, high and low temperatures, rain, sand and dust, and salt fog at a minimum. The resulting advanced electric motor propulsion system would need to be able to meet different operational requirements of a Group 2/small Group 3 UASs, which include full power takeoff capability, high part-power efficiency for improved cruise endurance, and quiet operation capability. 

PHASE I: During the Phase I effort, the electric motor should be designed, fabricated and validated to substantiate the ability to provide a lightweight, low cost, and durable/reliable system that can be integrated into a current and future 5-20 HP micro-turbine/more electric hybrid UAS systems. 

PHASE II: Phase II will fully develop, fabricate, and demonstrate the electric motor, in a bread-board simulated UAS environment. Various realistic mission profiles will be used during testing. Environmental tests will be executed. Additional validation to be performed at an Army facility to corroborate evidence of performance goals. 

PHASE III: Phase III options should include endurance testing and integration of the enhanced hybrid propulsion system into an appropriate UAS airframe and demonstrate the performance of the advanced electric motor/system with flight testing in a UAS mission environment. DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: UAS performing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), targeting and target acquisition missions. Commercial Application: Law enforcement, Homeland Security, and emergency service Unmanned Air Systems performing intelligence, surveillance, search and rescue, and disaster relief missions. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Petro, John, 2011, "Achieving High Electric Motor Efficiency", EEMODS 2011Energy Efficiency in Motor Driven Systems, Paper 060, European Commission, Luxenbourg, EU

2: Macheret, J., Teichman, J., and Kraig, R., 2011, Conceptual Design of Low-Signature High-Endurance Hybrid-Electric UAV, Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), IDA Doc NS D-4496, Washington D.C.

3: Harrop, P., Harrop, J., 2015, Electric Drones: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) 2015-2025, ID Tech Exchange, Automotive & Electric Vehicles Report, Cambridge, MA

4: Bullis, Kevin. 2015, Hybrid Power Could Help Drone Delivery Take Off, MIT Technology Review, Cambridge, MA

KEYWORDS: Unmanned Aerial System, Electric Motor, Micro-turbine Engine, Electric Hybrid Propulsion, Heavy Fuel Engine, Electric UAS 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate in-process monitoring and closed-loop feedback methods that can be utilized in metallic additive manufacturing processes to improve repeatability for geometric dimensions, material properties, and quality. 

DESCRIPTION: Army rotorcraft components require structural integrity to be flight safe. Traditional manufacturing methods have been refined over time to achieve high reliability such as casting processes used for gearbox housings or machining used for mounts, fittings, and pitch-link horns. Recent progress with use of Additive Manufacturing (AM), especially powder bed fusion processes, has demonstrated manufacture of complex components as a single part, which may save manufacturing labor, cost, and reduce production time. The application of optimized topology in design of parts can have the added benefit of weight savings unfeasible using traditional manufacturing processes. In order for additive manufacturing to transition to widespread use in aerospace, the AM processes must be repeatable and reliable to meet aerospace qualification standards. There are several challenges with AM processes that limit the use for manufacturing. Some of the common challenges/limitations for metal are: 1. Residual stresses can be high in AM parts, which limit the loading of parts. Optimization strategies must be developed as part of the effort. 2. Density of the material throughout the part can be inconsistent. Density can be influenced by un-melted entrapped powders. Overcoming this challenge needs to be addressed as part of the effort. 3. The rapid cooling rates associated with AM processes can affect the microstructure of the base material resulting in variations in desired strength, ductility, toughness, and modulus. The new AM process control system must mitigate the effects to material properties. 4. Geometry and surface finish of parts can be inconsistent from part to part. The relationship between AM process parameters and part quality have been studied and reported [1]. Porosity/density is affected by laser power, laser speed, and layer thickness. Temperature can affect residual stresses, material microstructure, and geometry. Many of the process parameters such as temperature and laser speed, can be controlled. In-situ sensors can provide information such as melt pool temperatures, layer thickness, laser power, and laser track. Methods are needed for in-process monitoring and closed-loop feedback for AM processes to improve repeatability for geometric dimensions, material properties, and quality. The methods need to monitor and control the AM process parameters, identify flaw areas, and provide feedback to AM equipment during the build of each layer. It is also desired that any flaws, such as un-melted powder or voids, be corrected by the AM equipment prior to building the subsequent layers. The closed-loop feedback methods must integrate with AM equipment computer controls. Technologies should enable determination of the boundaries of the molten pool within 0.001 (in order to define the size and shape), measurement of temperature over the range from 700 °F to 3000 °F (representative of the molten pool and surrounding regions) to within 25 °F, measurement of geometric features to within +0.005, detect flaws in the range of 0.010 - 0.001, and determine chemical composition within 1 weight percent. For Phase I and Phase II, the technology shall concentrate on aluminum alloy applications to achieve equivalent or superior mechanical properties of Aluminum A357 (AMS 4219). The demonstration of the technology should be the manufacturing of an Army helicopter gearbox (e.g., intermediate or tail rotor gearbox). Offerors are encouraged to team with a helicopter Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of sensors for use as an in-process monitoring and feedback system for additive manufacturing. Efforts should show that the sensors can meet the demands of the AM process environment and provide feedback to the computer control system. 

PHASE II: Create a closed loop feedback system to optimize the AM processes for flaw density control, thermal stresses, surface finish and material properties. Demonstrate the improved AM processes by manufacturing several sets of coupons and testing them for yield strength, ultimate strength, fatigue strength, hardness testing, etc. Test the system on AM metallic powders. Compare coupon performance to baseline properties using other AM and traditional processes. Manufacture at least two full-size gearboxes for testing to demonstrate the technology in a relevant part. 

PHASE III: Transition the new or optimized AM process closed loop feedback system via aerospace Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and/or qualified suppliers for Army rotorcraft. Demonstrate the AM process for actual aircraft components. Potential commercial / dual-use applications include aviation, medical, automotive, marine and industrial applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Mani, Mahesh, et al. Measurement Science Needs for Real-time Control of Additive Manufacturing Powder Bed Fusion Processes, NISTIR 8036. National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8036

2: Manfredi, D. et al. Additive Manufacturing of Al Alloys and Aluminum Matrix Composites (AMCs), Contract FP7-2012-NMP-ICT-FoF-313781. European Space Agency. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58534

3: Measurement Science Roadmap for Metal-Based Additive Manufacturing, NIST, May 2013 http://www.nist.gov/el/isd/upload/NISTAdd_Mfg_Report_FINAL-2.pdf

4: McLellan, D., "Tensile Properties of A357-T6 Aluminum Castings," Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1980, pp. 170-176, http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/JTE11609J

5: AMS 4219. Aluminum Alloy Castings 7.0Si - 0.55Mg - 0.12Ti - 0.06Be (A357.0 T6) Solution and Precipitation Heat Treated, SAE International. October 2015. http://standards.sae.org/ams4219/

6: Hu, Dongming, Radovan Kovacevic. Sensing, modeling and control for laser-based additive manufacturing, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture. Volume 43, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 51-60.

7: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0890-6955(02)00163-3

8: ASTM E1479 “ 99 (2011), Standard Practice for Describing and Specifying Inductively-Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometers, ASTM International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/E1479-99R11

9: ASTM B822-10, Standard Test Method for Particle Size Distribution of Metal Powders and Related Compounds by Light Scattering, ASTM International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/B0822-10

10: ASTM B311-13, Standard Test Method for Density of Powder Metallurgy (PM) Materials Containing Less Than Two Percent Porosity, ASTM International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/B0311

KEYWORDS: In-process, Closed-loop, Monitoring, Additive Manufacturing, Rotorcraft 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a non-destructive bondline inspection technique suitable for assessing structural integrity of high-efficiency composite structures. 

DESCRIPTION: Trends indicate aircraft structural components are increasingly being designed using composite materials. Because continuous-fiber composites allow a material to have great strength in the fiber direction, designers are able to tailor plies to create laminates that have strength in the direction where it is needed. The resulting composite systems, with fiber supported in polymer matrix, have high strength-to-weight efficiency. Current aerospace composite components are often joined using mechanical fasteners, which add weight, increase stress, and essentially damage the component. The drilled fastener holes act as static stress raisers. Structural composites are known to be static notch sensitive due to drilled holes, as opposed to the fatigue notch sensitivity of aluminum. Holes in composite can lead to additional ply build-up to ensure a slow crack growth failure mechanism by greatly surpassing static loads requirements. Minimizing mechanical fasteners in composite structures can reduce weight, manufacturing complexity, and assembly labor. Advancement in composite joining methods is needed. Adhesive bonds are already inherent to composite materials at the laminate level where plies are bonded. Joining composite structure through bonding could minimize or completely replace mechanical fastening methods; however, there currently exists no way to validate the integrity of the bond. To realize aircraft design of primary structure using adhesive bonding, the structural integrity must be ensured throughout the service life. The Army desires an inspection technique capable of detecting any degradation of bondline strength due to combined loading and environmental effects such as temperature and moisture. Previous efforts of Hennige and Cribbs (2008) have explored ultrasonic inspection methods which generate pulse amplitudes that produce strains just below the accepted bond strength. A drawback of this approach is the destructive effect on strength degraded bonds. A truly non-destructive solution is sought which will not degrade the load carrying ability of structure. Possible directions for solutions that can achieve the desired state may include in-situ monitoring methods which have potential for manufacturability, light weight, and reliability. Another avenue for a solution may be a rapid inspection technique to be used with existing maintenance inspections, while remaining cognizant of life-cycle cost associated with the tradeoffs in maintenance and benefits from bondline design. Solutions should be consistent with the Armys desired maintenance free operating period concept and have enough fidelity to ensure bond integrity, and ultimately structural integrity, between inspections. 

PHASE I: Develop an inspection method for bondlines of aerospace composite material systems. This phase should determine limitations of material system, limitations to joint types, limitations for size resolution, limitations to geometric configuration, and precision tolerances of fracture energy for proposed bondline inspection method. At the end of Phase I the Offeror shall perform proof-of-concept testing to show that system can non-destructively inspect a bondline for meeting the minimum threshold for strength. 

PHASE II: Further refine and mature the developed bondline inspection method. This phase should test a variety of materials and joint configurations with good and poor quality bonding to build confidence in the inspection method as a universal solution. Verify detection of any degradation of bondline strength due to environmental effects. Provide analytical and experimental verification that inspection technique has sufficient fidelity (probability of detection and confidence) to ensure structural integrity of bondline between inspection periods. This phase should develop a prototype device as a deliverable. 

PHASE III: Refine the design for commercialization for aerospace applications. A successful Phase II will provide evidence that the technology is promising for both use in field applications and in manufacturing quality assurance. A business case analysis should be conducted. Single or multiple product development will include design of user-interface and software verification and validation. Fully characterize the inspection reliability, including probability of detection and confidence interval. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Hennige, C. W. and Cribbs, R. W., Composite-Bonded Joint Strength Evaluation System, Phase II SBIR Final Report, Project Number 0010195477, 2008. Public: https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/detail/311341

2: Department of Defense Joint Service Specification Guide Aircraft Structures (JSSG-2006)

3: What the Customer Wants. Maintenance-Free and Failure-Free Operating Periods to Improve overall System Availability and Reliability. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/p010429.pdf

4: Kendall, F., Better Buying Power 3.0 http://www.acq.osd.mil/fo/docs/betterBuyingPower3.0(9Apr15).pdf

KEYWORDS: Adhesive Bond, Composite Bonding, NDE Bondline, Composite Structures 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a wet layup laminating resin and a paste adhesive that remain viable in diverse environments for an extended time period, while maintaining the strength, stiffness, and weight efficiency of modern high-strength composite materials. 

DESCRIPTION: The Army seeks long-life, shelf-stable, wet layup laminating resins and paste adhesives, to enable improved operational availability and decreased maintenance costs. Long-life is defined as a minimum of three years of useful life and an objective of five years of useful life; shelf-stable refers to the ability to remain viable in diverse environments. Currently fielded composite repair materials have limited life and shelf stability; six to eighteen months is the useful life of currently fielded composite repair technology, dependent on storage conditions. Current state-of-the-art composite repair techniques include IM7/Benzoxazine prepreg and Hysol EA9359 paste adhesive demonstrating twelve months of useful life and shelf-stability. Under a recent research and development effort, this prepreg / paste adhesive system was used to demonstrate repair of an IM8-F3HT airframe test article, completely restoring the strength of the article. IM7/Benzoxazine prepreg patches were contoured to the damaged surface using sacrificial, low temperature, IM7/EA956 8HS scaffold plies; vacuum bag; and low temperature cure. Afterwards, the contoured patches were removed from the airframe; cured off of the airframe in a 350 °F oven; and bond cured to the airframe with the paste adhesive via vacuum bag pressure. While this composite repair technique proved functional in a laboratory setting, the materials are neither long-life nor shelf-stable. Limited life and shelf stability negatively impact operational availability and maintenance costs; wet layup laminating resins and paste adhesives which are both long-life and shelf-stable are desired. 

PHASE I: Effort in this phase shall develop a wet layup laminating resin and a paste adhesive that are long-life and shelf-stable. Proof of concept testing shall be performed to demonstrate the strength, stiffness, and weight efficiency of the wet layup laminating resin and paste adhesive when compared to currently fielded resins and paste adhesives. Additionally, environmental testing, such as testing defined in MIL-STD-810G, shall be performed to verify long-life and shelf-stability of the wet layup laminating resin and paste adhesive. Minimally, environmental testing shall be conducted in accordance with the Warm Moist Atmosphere Model at zero altitude defined in MIL-STD-810G as 90°F/32.1°C, greater than or equal to 85% relative humidity, and a dew temperature that is greater than or equal to 85°F/29°C. Required deliverables for this phase shall be a project management plan, progress reports, and a final report. The final report shall document the scientific methodology underlying the concept, anticipated benefits, and lessons learned. Additionally, the final report shall include a cost analysis of the developed technology solution compared to currently fielded resins and paste adhesives. 

PHASE II: Effort in this phase shall mature and demonstrate the long-life, shelf-stable wet layup laminating resin and paste adhesive developed in Phase 1 through completion of composite repair. Strength and environmental testing of the composite repair shall be completed to demonstrate a minimum strength, stiffness, and weight efficiency of a modern, high-strength composite material system such as IM7/8552. Minimally, environmental testing in accordance with the Warm Moist Air Model at zero altitude as defined in MIL-STD-810G shall be completed. The composite repair methodology and procedure shall be documented such that independent verification and validation by a third party can be accomplished. Other required deliverables for this phase shall be a project management plan, progress reports, test plans, composite repair samples for independent testing, and a final report. The final report shall document the Phase 2 effort in detail, lessons learned, and the future plan for commercializing the developed technology solution. 

PHASE III: Effort in this phase shall further mature and commercialize the long-life, shelf-stable, wet layup laminating resin and paste adhesive for fielded composite repair. Consideration shall be given to improving manufacturing readiness level, generation of material allowables through testing, and generation of bonded joint analysis methodology. The vision for long-life, shelf-stable, wet layup laminating resins and paste adhesives is to address the issue of rapidly expiring composite repair materials while enabling fielded composite repairs in diverse environments. Future Vertical Lift, legacy Army aircraft, and the commercial aircraft industry are likely transition paths for the technology solution 

REFERENCES: 

1: Baker, A. Development of a Hard-Patch Approach for Scarf Repair of Composite Structure. Retrieved June 14, 2016 from http://dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a458447.pdf

2: Baker, A., Chester, R., and Mazza, J. Bonded Repair Technology for Aging Aircraft. Retrieved June 14, 2016 from http://dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP01408

3: Harris, C. and Shuart, M. An Assessment of the State-of-the-Art in the Design and Manufacturing of Large Composite Structures For Aerospace Vehicles. Retrieved June 14, 2016, from http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20040086015.pdf

4: Sutter, D. Three-Dimensional Analysis of a Composite Repair and the Effect of Overply Shape Variation on Structural Efficiency. Retrieved June 14, 2016 from http://dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA469311

5: Tomblin, J., Salah, L., Welch, J., and Borgman, M. Bonded Repair of Aircraft Composite Sandwich Structures. Retrieved June 14, 2016, from http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar03-74.pdf

KEYWORDS: Long-Life, Shelf-Stable, Wet Layup Laminating Resin, Paste Adhesive, Composite Repair, Diverse Environments 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Reduce aviation mission system integration testing time and effort and increase assurance by developing testing tools that support a model-based system development process. Develop a software tool that will check instrumentation data collected from an integrated mission system to see if the observed system behaviors of an integrated mission system conforms to required and allowed behaviors defined in an Architectural Analysis and Design Language (AADL) model of the integrated aviation software and hardware mission system. 

DESCRIPTION: Model-Based Engineering (MBE) is widely-used for design, analysis and implementation of mission system components, including some model-based testing of components. System integration testing currently depends largely on tests that are manually created from structured natural language specifications augmented with engineering annotations and diagrams. Confirming that the test results are correct is also a manually-intensive and error-prone process. Future aviation mission systems will use Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) methods for integrated system requirements and architecture definition. Department of Defense (DoD) programs, including the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) project for the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) unmanned aerial systems research, and commercial industrys Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institutes Systems (AVSI) Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI) project, are using models of integrated systems captured in the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL). A variety of existing analyses can be used verify and validate these aviation mission system models during the early development phase. However, methods and supporting tools are needed to provide assurance that as-built integrated aviation mission systems comply with their requirements specified in an architecture-level model. Note that it is expected that future mission system requirements can and will be captured in architectural models. Model-based testing of a physical instance of an integrated aviation mission system (referred to as the System Under Test or SUT) are tests that are done on the SUT to see if it conforms to its specification model. Model-based testing of integrated aviation mission systems poses some difficult challenges. Controllability and observability of such systems may be limited. An example is model-based checking of flight test data of the realized system, where the available data is limited by the capabilities of onboard instrumentation, and the test inputs are outside the control of the model-based testing tools. A primary goal of this effort is a tool that checks to see if available observation data conforms to behaviors required and allowed by the specification model. The supplied capability should not be limited to tests generated only by the supplied tools, the tools should be usable with existing test suites (i.e., automatic test generation is not the primary goal of this solicitation). The goal is not a new controllability or instrumentation capability; solutions should adapt to existing test execution and instrumentation capabilities with minimal intrusiveness and effort. Proposers should define metrics to be used to determine tool coverage and thoroughness as part of their proposal (e.g., compute model-based test coverage metrics). The tool should minimize the assumptions and requirements placed on the instrumentation in the SUT so that it can be used with a variety of instrumentation and testbed capabilities. At the architectural level, many defects are due to inconsistencies between the protocols used by different components that interact with each other. Many defects are due to incorrect coordination of system modes such as start-up, recovery, or operating modes. The tool should check for protocol inconsistencies, mis-coordination of system modes of operation, and timing defects. Instrumentation data is collected at multiple different points in an aviation mission system. The content and format used for instrumentation data and the degree to which causality and temporal relationships are captured or can be inferred may vary. Some events of interest may not be captured (e.g., may be hidden, may be missed in sampling). The tool should be adaptable to handle variability in the available instrumentation data such as with word formats and sampling rates. The tool should provide features to manage large amounts of instrumentation data collected from a large and complex system. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate prototype AADL tool(s) that check notional instrumentation data collected from a pseudo-real-time simulation or real-time laboratory prototype against an architectural model containing a defined selected set of AADL properties related to timing and scheduling, flow, and/or behavior specifications for a notional distributed system-under-test (SUT) (distributed means there should be multiple sets of instrumentation data collected at different observation points in the system). Assess scalability to very large data sets for large and complex models and systems. Assess the likelihood of false positive and false negative results and evaluate tool capabilities to deal with these cases. Performers are expected to provide example models and instrumentation data for the Phase I demonstration. Success for Phase I will include proving the tool can verify the instrumentation data matches the architecture modeled flow, mode and/or behavior specification. Expected technology readiness level (TRL) for end of Phase I is TRL 3. 

PHASE II: Extend the set of AADL features supported and mature the tool for use by early adopters. These would include verifying properties of the integrated system related to safety and security. Demonstrate and evaluate the tool using data collected from an instrumented distributed real-time system (e.g., data from an DoD aviation SIL or aircraft). Implement features that allow the tool to be adapted to a range of SUTs and a variety of instrumentation formats and capabilities. Optimize relative to a proposed set of performance, usability, etc. quality metrics. Success for phase II will include ensuring that scalability can be achieved. Test will be conducted using data sets and models that are representative of large and complex aviation mission systems to prove scalability. Also, the tools will be evaluated against a government defined set of quality metrics. Expected technology readiness level (TRL) for end of Phase II is TRL 6. 

PHASE III: Military application: A mature tool with an adaptor for instrumentation data collected from a specific mission system, either a prototype mission system or for instrumentation data collected during flight testing, would benefit any DOD or NASA mission system developer or tester. Commercial application: A similar tool would benefit commercial vehicles such as civil aviation and automotive. Success will include transitioning to a product of use to industry and government. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Patrick Reynolds, Charles Killian, Janet L. Wiener, Jeffrey C. Mogul, Mehul A. Shah and Amin Vahdat, Pip: Detecting the Unexpected in Distributed Systems, 3rd Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation, May 2006, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeffrey_Mogul/publication/22083203

2: Saddek Bensalem, Marius Bozga, Moez Krichen and Stavros Tripakis, Testing Conformance of Real-Time Applications by Automatic Generation of Observers, Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Runtime Verification, January 2005. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Moez_Krichen/publication/222561659_Testi

3: Simon Perathoner, Ernesto Wandeler, Lothar Thiele, Arne Hamann, Simon Schliecker, Rafik Henia, Razvan Racu, Rolf Ernst and Michael Gonzalex Harbour, Influence of Different System Abstractions on the Performance Analysis of Distributed Real-Time Systems, Proceedings of the 7th ACM & IEEE International

4: AADL wiki: https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/aadl/index.php/Main_Page

KEYWORDS: Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE), Model Based Engineering (MBE), Model-Based Testing, Architecture Description Language, AADL, Cyber Physical Systems, Avionics, Aviation, Mission Systems 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a tool suite for supporting rapid integration of aviation mission system prototype equipment and emulators in System Integration Labs (SILs) and then into federated System-of-Systems (SoS) test and evaluation simulations. Given an architecture description language model specified in the SAE AS 5506 Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) of a mission system and an overall federation of simulations, provide a suite of tools to analyze that model to assure important quality metrics such as performance, timing, latency, safety, security and interface compatibility and automatically generate the configuration data needed to assemble and execute the overall federated simulation. The tool suite should provide a capability that allows collaborating organizations to assemble and test fly aviation mission systems in various configurations and stages of development in simulated aviation mission scenarios. 

DESCRIPTION: Modeling and simulation of Systems-of-Systems (SoS) pose complex software and system integration problems, especially where live avionics or ancillary equipment must be combined with simulations. There are increasing demands to create a larger variety of configurations quickly, for example for equipment evaluation and training exercises. Strict requirements (e.g., security, performance, assurance of correctness, etc.) must be met. Model-based methods to specify, verify, and automate the integration and operation of aviation related SoS simulations that include the architectural software, hardware system execution behavior are needed, analogous to the model-based system and architecture integration methods and tools that will be used to develop the aviation/weapon system physical platforms. A number of simulation architectures (protocols) have been developed for collaborative simulation, such as Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) and High Level Architecture (HLA) within the human-in-the-loop and federated SoS simulation domains. However, it is a challenge to integrate a mixture of live equipment and simulations with these protocols. Test and Training Enabling Architecture (TENA) and Common Training Instrumentation Architecture (CTIA) have been developed to address these issues, but only within the live training domain. With aviation mission systems, several hardware and software operating environment standards have been defined to facilitate mission system integration and interoperability, such as the Hardware Open Systems Technologies (HOST„) and Future Airborne Capabilities Environment (FACE„). In addition, the Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL) provides a means for predictive analysis of integrated execution behavior, analysis of critical architectural properties and generative integration. What is needed is a model-based approach to specify, integrate, and verify heterogeneous SIL and SoS simulations that include aviation mission systems during the early development and evaluation phases. This tool would bridge the development and the test/training domains. Creating this capability requires a selection and extension of existing tools together with some new model based tool development. The suite should use one or more standard collaborative simulation architectures/protocols, such as one or more of those cited above. The generated federated behavior configuration should include runtime communication characteristics of each federated component, such as messaging frequencies and latencies, inter-federate dependencies, messaging paradigm(s), and processing rates and latencies. Typical avionics bus interconnections such as MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, ARINC 664/AFDX, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet and Time Triggered Ethernet (TTE) should be considered. This capability will reduce the cost of system integration testing in a SIL or distributed simulation environment by reducing operator and participant downtime during configuration. This capability will increase the validation of early equipment prototypes using simulated use cases and increase the availability of tailored aviation training simulations by making such SoS federations more affordable. Department of Defense (DoD) programs, including the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) project for the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) unmanned aerial systems research, and commercial industrys Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institutes Systems (AVSI) Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI) project, are using models of integrated systems captured in the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL). AADL is an industry standard means for describing the components of a real-time system and how they are integrated to form an overall system, which is applicable to the defense market and beyond. Tools capable of reasoning about AADL will be well positioned for commercialization (see Phase III below). The tools developed on this effort should be compatible with existing AADL analysis tools (such as security, timing, and interface consistency) to provide assurance that the configured system will behave as defined in the architectural specification. This cohesion between the model and the simulation environment should provide evidence that may streamline Verification, Validation & Accreditation (VV&A) of the overall SIL and/or SoS federation. For example, by leveraging security analyses of the AADL model with automated configuration and verification, it should be possible to demonstrate that the overall simulation satisfies the security requirements for specific exercises. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate a tool or tool suite to execute a simulation using both hard-real time and soft real-time components in a federated aviation system running in HLA, DIS, or a similar standard framework. Success for phase I will include demonstration of the generation of configuration for the simulation and verification of the specification of that simulation against the architecture model defined in AADL. Expected technology readiness level (TRL) for end of Phase I is TRL 3. 

PHASE II: Mature the tool or tool-suite based on the Phase I results to provide a user-friendly product. Success will include the development and demonstration of a workflow that generates a configuration from AADL, exercises it using a federated simulation framework, and verifies requirements stated in an AADL model of the architecture for the simulated system. Expected technology readiness level (TRL) for end of Phase II is TRL 5 or 6. 

PHASE III: Phase III Dual Use Applications: Simulation of SoS with hard real-time constraints is increasingly applicable as automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicles become more interconnected. Medical Device manufacturers are also starting to use AADL to describe their systems, which also have a mix of hard and soft real-time requirements and for which there is demand for early-phase pre-clinical-trial evaluation using simulations. Success will include transitioning to a product of use to industry and government. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization: https://www.sisostds.org/

2: Distributed Interactive Simulation Standard: https://standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/1278.2-2015.html

3: High Level Architecture Simulation: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=694563&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel4%2F5662%2F15168%2F00694563.pdf%3Farnumber%3D694563

4: Test and Training Enabling Architecture, http://www.ndia.org/Divisions/Divisions/SystemsEngineering/Documents/Committees/M_S%20Committee/2013/August2012/NDIA-SE-MS_2012-08-21_Powell.pdf

5: Common Training Instrumentation Architecture (CTIA): http://www.peostri.army.mil/PRODUCTS/CTIA/

6: AADL Code Generation for Avionics Systems: https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/sei_blog/2015/06/aadl-code-generation-for-avionics-systems.html

7: Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Mission Systems Architecture Demonstration (MSAD) https://www.army.mil/article/158626/Joint_Multi_Role_Program_is_preparing_for_Future_Vertical_Lift_Mission_Systems_Architectures

8: Boydston, Lewis, Feiler, Vestal, Joint Common Architecture Demonstration Architecture Centric Virtual Integration Process (ACVIP) Shadow Effort, https://vtol.org/store/product/joint-common-architecture-jca-demonstration-architecture-centric-virtual-integration-process-acvip-shadow-effort-10125.cfm

9: James Barhorst, Boeing; Todd Belote, Lockheed Martin; Dr Pam Binns, Honeywell; Jon Hoffman, AFRL; Dr James Paunicka, Boeing; Dr Prakash Sarathy, Northrop Grumman; Dr John Scoredos, Northrop Grumman; Peter Stanfill, Lockheed Martin; Dr Douglas Stuart, Boeing; Russell Urzi, AFRL, A Research Agenda for Mixed-Criticality Systems, PA case number: 88ABW-2009-1383

10: Systems Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI), http://savi.avsi.aero/

KEYWORDS: AADL, Aviation, System Integration Lab, Systems Of Systems, Federated Simulations 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop magneto-electric composites with (a) power bandwidth >10MHz; (b) core-loss scaled with frequency, flux-density, & weight/volume; (c) textured magnetization to maintain high efficiency; (d) system-driven tunable magnetization to optimize efficiency. 

DESCRIPTION: Smaller size and longer mission lifetime are among the critical changes being implemented in next generation missile systems. Such efforts demand the miniaturization of launcher and/or on-board missile electronics in power systems with high power handling capability and low power consumption. Efficiency and power density should be high without compromising any transient responses due to fluctuations in the source, load, or environment. Technologies are being addressed at all fronts - from material to component, converter, control, system architecture, and integration technology - to constantly improve the performance of the power-electronic systems. Progress being made in the design and development of tunable components utilizing magneto-electric materials with low loss and wide bandwidth indicates a potential for dramatic improvements in the efficiency and further reduction in the size of components, especially in field tunable inductors and transformers. The observation that higher switching frequency would lead to smaller and lighter systems has driven technological advances in power materials and components. Efficiency, however, degrades with rising frequency since current magnetic technologies have been unable to tame the loss which rises with frequency as f^1.3-2 [1],[2]. Thus, while wide-bandgap semiconductors capable of switching beyond 10 MHz with low loss [3] have been demonstrated, the rate at which weight decreases with frequency needs to be significantly slower than f^-1 beyond 3 MHz to maintain a desired temperature rise. For weight to reduce with frequency as f^-1, magnetic components with loss that scales with frequency as f < 1/3 are sought. The core loss of the new materials needs to be at least about eleven times lower than that of 4F1 [4], one of the better magnetic materials (NiZn) currently being utilized. Winding loss also needs to be scaled proportionately, and heat needs to be distributed efficiently. Therefore, magnetic geometries that can be optimized to achieve low winding loss and uniform heat distribution are sought [5]. The choice of inductance affects the shapes of currents throughout the converter and, hence, converter losses. There is an optimal profile of inductance versus load current that minimizes system loss, resulting in less weight imposed by heat sinks and batteries. Such profile can be realized if the non-textured magnetization [4] in the core of a conventional inductor is replaced by a textured magnetization. Profiles of inductance versus input voltage or switching frequency can also be synthesized to maximize the efficiency. Tunability of textured magnetization offers another degree of freedom for this optimization. Texturing implies orientation of the grains along the specific crystallographic axis [6],[7]. Textured tunable inductors and transformers can substantially improve the efficiency of the power conversion circuits and result in high density integration. This technology along with creative engineering approaches will lead to the development of a new class of battlefield electronics pushing the limits of size and weight. The pay-offs may also lead to the miniaturization of broad range of systems ranging from unmanned aerial systems to field infantry electronics providing the soldier with miniaturized weapon systems with reduced weight, size, power consumption, and cost 

PHASE I: Determine the technical feasibility of the development of textured piezoelectric and magnetic materials with (a) power bandwidth exceeding 10 MHz; (b) core-loss scaled with frequency, magnetic flux density, and weight/volume so as to maintain temperature rise in reliable range; (c) system-driven textured magnetization to maintain high power conversion efficiency from nominal to light load; (d) system-driven tunable magnetization to further optimize efficiency versus operating environment. Identify magnetic geometries amenable to the synthesis of the required inductance profile, and develop methodologies for texturing and tuning the core materials to achieve the desired magnetization profile versus load, input, or frequency variations. Identify key requirements for validating the tunable components, and address performance trade-offs, limitations and compatibility issues. Required Phase I deliverables will include all records, documents, and data resulting from the design, fabrication, and testing. 

PHASE II: Develop textured piezoelectric and magnetic materials and demonstrate the characteristics (a) “ (d) listed above. Characterize the electrical, magnetic and thermal properties of the textured tunable components over the industrial temperature range of -40C to +85C with a wider temperature range up to full military temperature range of -55C to +125C desired. Demonstrate textured material manufacturing capability (e.g. a laser sintering approach) that can be scaled and deployed for manufacturing varying compositions. Develop a fully functional power converter utilizing textured and tunable transformer and inductor operating in the frequency range of 1 “ 10 MHz. Perform comparative analysis of the new power converter architecture with respect to the traditional designs in terms of efficiency, weight and size. Required Phase II deliverables will include textured and tunable inductors and transformers, and a working prototype of the power converter for independent evaluation by Army, all records, documents, and data resulting from the design, fabrication, and testing. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate the gain achieved in terms of lower weight and size (at least 25%) through the use of textured tunable components in power converters in non-operational and operational environments. Provide complete engineering and test documentation for the development of manufacturing prototypes. Explore the utilization of this technology not only for the efficiency of power electronics converters, but also for the development of other new power processing methodologies for weapon systems. Phase III application for army missile systems could include miniaturization of electronics in legacy programs as well as incorporation into emerging programs. The development of other military applications of this technology may include future urban warfare surveillance/reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles and field infantry electronics providing the soldier with miniaturized weapon systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1: F. C. Lee and Q. Li, "Overview of three-dimension integration for Point-of-Load converters," Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), 2013 Twenty-Eighth Annual IEEE, Long Beach, CA, USA, 2013, pp. 679-685.

2: R. Ramachandran, M. Nymand and N. H. Petersen, "Design of a compact, ultra-high efficient isolated DC-DC converter utilizing GaN devices," Industrial Electronics Society, IECON 2014 - 40th Annual Conference of the IEEE, Dallas, TX, 2014, pp. 4256-4261

3: D. Reusch and J. Strydom, "Evaluation of gallium nitride transistors in high frequency resonant and soft-switching DC“DC converters," in IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 5151-5158, Sept. 2015

4: http://www.ferroxcube.com/FerroxcubeCorporateReception/datasheet/4f1.pdf

5: H. Cui, K. D. T. Ngo, J. Moss, M. H. F. Lim and E. Rey, "Inductor geometry with improved energy density," in IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 5446-5453, Oct. 2014

6: Y. Saito, H. Takao, T. Tani, T. Nonoyama, K. Takatori, T. Homma, T. Nagaya, and M. Nakamura, "Lead-free piezoceramics," in Nature, vol. 432, pp. 84-87, Nov. 2004

7: J. Ma, J. Hu, Z. Li, and C.-W. Nan, "Recent progress in multiferroic magnetoelectric composites: from bulk to thin films," in Adv. Mater., vol. 23, pp. 1062-1087, 2011

KEYWORDS: Power Electronics, Inductors, Transformers, Power Converters, Piezoelectric Materials, Magnetic Materials, Magneto-electric Materials, Textured Composites 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and evaluate architectures to optimize engagement and intercept of multiple threat assets by long-range ballistic missile interceptors with affordable, robust engagement algorithms. 

DESCRIPTION: The proliferation of sophisticated stationary and mobile, land and sea-based threats require a review and investigation of affordable, alternative robust engagement capabilities. The precision required to provide the necessary lethality against these threats leads to interceptors using increasingly sophisticated acquisition sensors, seekers and fire control technology. The increasing technological sophistication rapidly drives increased interceptor cost. The key is to control interceptor cost by developing affordable, alternative nonconventional robust engagement capabilities. These alternative concepts include, but may not be limited to, leader-follower guided missiles, collaborative or cooperative guided missile engagements with multiple interceptors, learning algorithms for guidance of multiple missile interceptors, and optimization of multiple guided missiles for distributed lethality. These advanced guidance techniques are especially useful for multiple reasons. These include, but are not limited to, conditions: 1.) when not all engaging interceptors have sensor or signature access to its threat due to low signature, obscuration, weather or jamming; 2.) when the engaging missile interceptors lethality is required to be temporally or spatially coordinated; or 3.) when it would be a cost-benefit for multiple missiles in flight to their target(s) to coordinate, with each other, their current data with respect to mission objectives. Development of guidance and control techniques for a low-cost per kill fire control sensor/interceptor architecture must include identification of hardware components and software required for implementation. The use of analysis and simulation needs to be applied to illustrate and quantify performance of proposed approaches. A budget of error sources that impact miss distance must be developed and performance of a sensitivity analysis to assess critical sources of error shall be conducted. It is important to address other performance issues that are unique to the architecture. 

PHASE I: Develop conceptual architectures for affordable, alternative robust guidance concepts for conducting engagement and intercept of multiple large threat assets by long-range ballistic missile interceptors. The conceptual architecture must be supported by research efforts to verify that it is superior to alternative concepts. The conceptual architecture must be composed of functional elements or subsystems defined by their input, function and output. Examples of functions, elements or subsystems may include, but not be limited to, surveillance, target acquisition, target tracking, sensor-to-interceptors communication, interceptor-to-interceptor communication, engagement algorithms, and interceptor guidance to support mission objectives. The central focus of this topic is the improvement of the mission performance at reasonable or reduced cost by implementing cooperation/coordination/collaboration techniques among the engaging missile interceptors. Completion of Phase I shall result in the definition of alternative concepts and selection of best concepts based on cost-benefit metrics. 

PHASE II: Expand research of the selected best concept and mature the conceptual design into a more detailed design to include definition and specification of key elements of the architecture. A sufficiently detailed system simulation shall quantify the performance of the architecture to optimize engagement with affordable, robust engagement algorithms. Completion of Phase II shall result in a definition of multiple interceptor engagement algorithms, quantification of the engagement concept with a detailed system simulation and a plan for transition to a full-scale missile flight demonstration. 

PHASE III: The AMRDEC WDI Fire Support Capability Area is seeking concept papers to identify, develop, integrate and flight demonstrate emerging long-range missile system technologies in support of the Armys Long Range Fires (LRF) combat mission. Using the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process, AMRDEC is inviting integration contractors to submit concept papers and subsequently, upon request by AMRDEC, to submit formal proposals. Concept papers and proposals are to be focused on the design, fabrication, integration, flight test and demonstration of those component-level and system-level technologies necessary to enhance the range, precision and/or lethality of Army LRF against stationary and/or mobile land and/or sea targets, at ranges beyond 300 km, in all operating environments. Alternative robust guidance concepts emerging from this SBIR effort can be transitioned to integration contractors for flight test and demonstration. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Hughes, Evan. J., Evolutionary Guidance For Multiple Missiles, Proceedings 15th Triennial World Congress, International Federation of Automatic Control, Barcelona, Spain, 2002

2: Anderson, M., Burkhalter, J. and Rhonald M., Design of a Ground-Launched Ballistic Missile Interceptor Using a Genetic Algorithm, Sverdrup Technology Inc./TEAS Group, Report, January 1999

3: Anderson, Murray B., Genetic Algorithms In Aerospace Design: Substantial Progress, Tremendous Potential, Sverdrup Technology Inc./TEAS Group, Report ADM001519. RTO-EN-022, June 2003

4: Shaferman, V and Oshman, Y., Cooperative Interception in a Multi-Missile Engagement, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2009.

5: Gaudet, B. and Furfaro, R., Missile Homing-Phase Guidance Law Design Using Reinforcement Learning, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2012

KEYWORDS: Leader-Follower Missile Guidance, Cooperative Missile Guidance, Collaborative Missile Guidance, Data Fusion, Genetic Algorithms, Guidance Systems, Missiles, Multi-objective Optimization 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Define the requirements and process for a Ballistic Missile Defense weather vulnerability assessment system applicable to air missile defense mission planning. 

DESCRIPTION: It is well known that atmospheric particulates such as rain and ice affect missiles and high speed projectile performance, but because of the inability to predict how much performance is affected, flight test and engagement launch operations tend toward blue sky conditions. Even during missile tests where the launch window is flexible, launch under clear sky conditions is not always possible. During engagement, the choice of environmental conditions is even more limited. The problem is further exacerbated in ballistic missile defense (BMD) where response to threats must be swift regardless of environmental conditions. A lack of understanding of the effects of weather on BMD assets translates to a lack of operational response capability. The purpose of this effort is to identify the process for end-to-end BMD mission planning and engagement response in adverse weather conditions. Part of the current gap in state of the art weather-capable technologies is in assessing and predicting real-time environmental conditions in theater. While satellite data is globally available, spatial and temporal resolutions may not be appropriate for short range systems. Conversely, in forward operating areas, high resolution weather data from weather radars may not be readily available. This topic seeks solutions for the acquisition of appropriate, fieldable weather data sources of character appropriate for BMD systems. To predict system weather vulnerability, weather information will be required at future times. Modern physics-based forecasting requires specialization in skill and resources, and is not practical in forward operating areas. This topic seeks pragmatic, validated forecasting solutions that will run in resource constrained environments. Ballistic missile defense strives for the earliest possible intercept requiring systems to go faster and farther [1]. Increased speed and prolonged time in precipitation environments increases risk to the system hardware and, hence, the mission. The problem is largely a materials issue where the combination of aeroheating, aerodynamics forces, and impact of atmospheric particulates removes material from radomes and control surfaces [2]. The resulting effect is a reduction on sensor and flight stability performance. As flight speeds increase beyond the capability of ground testing facilities, modeling and simulation is required to fully understand the performance effects of realistic flight conditions and fill the gap between ground data and flight test data [3]. The work in this SBIR effort should identify a modeling and simulation solution resulting in a weather vulnerability assessment model appropriate for BMD systems in an operational setting. Phase I should identify a process for validating the vulnerability models. Proposed solutions to the BMD weather vulnerability assessment process should consider the end user and how the final product will be used. The Phase II effort should conclude with an Army relevant demonstration showing mission planning and engagement scenarios such as weapon place placement, asset selection, optimal intercept path, and probability of kill prediction. 

PHASE I: Identify an approach to quantify the effects of atmospheric particulates (e.g., rain, snow, ice, atmospheric sand/dust, volcanic ash) on radome materials such as IRBAS and fused silica in all flight phases below 65,000 feet. Identify the process for computing the effects in an operational setting, and how outputs will be used in tactical mission planning. Develop a plan for implementing the approach in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Implement the Phase I approach plan. The expected outcome of the Phase II effort is a prototype demonstrating the tools and technologies required for weather vulnerability assessment in tactical mission planning. Validation should be performed where possible and feasible under the Phase II. Where validation is not performed, define the requirements and develop a plan for validating the technology in a Phase III. 

PHASE III: The Phase III effort should focus on military and industry partnerships to proliferate the technology in support of Army systems. The development of a weather capable tracking sensor for BMD has applicability across several programs including PATRIOT, AEGIS, and MEADS. Environmental characterization may extend beyond precipitation to atmospheric sand and dust conditions as well. 

REFERENCES: 

Defense Science Board Task Force, 2011. Science and Technology Issues of Early Intercept Ballistic Missile Defense Feasibility

Harris, Daniel C. Materials for Infrared Windows and Domes: Properties and Performance. SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering, 1999

Fetterhoff, T.; Kraft, E.; Laster, M.L., Cookson, W. High-Speed/Hypersonic Test and Evaluation Infrastructure Capabilities Study. 14th AIAA/AHI Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. Canberra, Australia

Tattleman, P, and D.D. Grantham. Northern Hemisphere Atlas of 1-Minute Rainfall Rates. Air Force Survey, Air Force Systems Command, Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, Meteorology Division, 1983

KEYWORDS: Weather, System Performance, Ballistic Missile Defense, Materials 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: To develop warheads capable of perforating light armored vehicles (LAV), unmanned aerial system (UAS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), coupled with a follow-through mechanism that will defeat various targets. 

DESCRIPTION: Advancing technology to counter the wide range of threats currently facing the US military is seen as a critical step in maintaining our technological edge. In particular, the US Army is in need of a warhead that can successfully perforate LAV, UAS, and UAV along with a mechanism with wider spray angle pattern (more covered area target). Currently, shaped charge (SC) and explosively formed penetrator (EFP) warheads possess a much higher penetration capability but a narrow spray angle. Both SC and EFP are explosive charges shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy with SC having more penetration but limited standoff distance and EFP characterized by less penetration but much more standoff distance. Both SC and EFP have great penetration capability, but their covered target areas are too focused. To be effective, the key is to get the right combination of penetration and spray angle. Limited experimentation was performed using two liners: the first made of copper material and the second made of zirconium. Overall, these tests showed that the prove-out concept worked. Modeling and simulation of the shaped charge liners indicated that a variety of warhead performance variables associated with these charges can be controlled through the use of multiple materials, reactive materials, an ultrafine microstructure, or an axial or transverse gradient design. In the case of shaped charges, research has shown that jet stability, jet velocity (tip and tail), jet cross-sectional shape, and other variables can be optimized by selectively using different materials for the different regions of the warhead. The goal of this effort will be a warhead capable of penetrating 1-in. of aluminum and a follow through mechanism that can render the electronics inoperable (with a spray (cone) angle of at least 70 degrees). Appropriate warhead design, high rate performance, and manufacturability will all be demonstrated as part of this work. 

PHASE I: Develop (using M&S) novel material combinations and warhead designs as discussed above. Fabricate test coupons and conduct high strain rate materials characterization to determine the rate dependent stress strain response of materials followed by metallurgical characterization. Additionally, welding materials without compromising bi“metal jet formation will also need to be demonstrated. The requirement calls for the delivery of at least two (2) samples to the US Army for independent characterization. 

PHASE II: Downselect the two best material formulations, provide a shaped charge design, and optimize the most cost-effective prototyping technology. The processing technology will be scaled up to be able to fabricate 25 identical shaped charges for each material (geometric details will be provided for the successful design). This will be followed by a thorough metallurgical characterization and high strain rate evaluation of these materials. Finally, prototypes will be fabricated from the most promising concept, loaded and tested. For weaponization, further optimization will be required in tactical configurations. 

PHASE III: Transition the developed materials and related technology to a major manufacturer to provide this technology to Project Manager Close Combat Systems (PM-CCS) Shoulder Launch Munitions systems. To further exploit the benefits of the developed technology, form partnerships with other manufacturers for applications to the private sector such as the oil well and construction industries in which shaped charges are used to break, crack, or drill holes in rocks. This technology can also be leveraged for mining applications as well as applications in submarine blasting, breaking log jams, breaking ice jams, initiating avalanches, timber or tree cutting, the perforation of arctic sea-ice or permafrost, glacier blasting, ice breaking, and underwater demolition. 

REFERENCES: 

1: USPTO, US8813651 B1, Method of Making Shaped Charges and Explosively Formed Projectiles, Hooke, 8/26/2014

2: Curtis, J. P., Cornish, R. 1999. Formation Model for Shaped Charge Liners Comprising Multiple Layers of Different Materials. Proceedings from the 18th International Ballistics Symposium

3: Curtis, J. P., Smith, F. T., and White, A. 2012. The Formation and Stretching of Bi-Material Shaped Charge Jets. 2012 AIP Conference Proceedings

4: Hasenberg, D. 2010. Consequences of Coaxial Jet Penetration Performance and Shaped Charge Design Criteria. Naval Post-Graduate School Report No. NPS-PH-10-001

5: Mason, J. S. 2010. Experimental Testing of Bimetallic and Reactive Shaped Charge Liners. Master of Science Thesis “ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

KEYWORDS: Bi-metal, Angle Of Spray, Light Armored Vehicles, Lethality, Welding, Shaped Charge, EFP 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop biodegradable training ammunition loaded with specialized seeds to grow environmentally beneficial plants that eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently the US Army manufactures and consumes hundreds of thousands of training rounds. These rounds are fired at proving grounds and training ranges in the United States and around the world. In addition, special forces conduct day and night training exercises utilizing these training rounds. These rounds include low velocity 40mm grenades; 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm mortars; shoulder launched munitions; 120mm tank rounds; and 155mm artillery rounds. The projectiles, and in some circumstances the cartridge cases and sabot petals, are either left on the ground surface or several feet underground at the proving ground or tactical range. Components of current training rounds require hundreds of years or more to biodegrade. Further, civilians (e.g., farmers or construction crews) encountering these rounds and components do not know if they are training or tactical rounds. Proving grounds and battle grounds have no clear way of finding and eliminating these training projectiles, cartridge cases and sabot petals, especially those that are buried several feet in the ground. Some of these rounds might have the potential corrode and pollute the soil and nearby water. The solution sought by this topic is naturally occurring biodegradable material to replace the current training round materials, eliminating environmental hazards. This SBIR will prove out the technology and replace current training round components with biodegradable parts. The biodegradable materials identified can be utilized by private industry to manufacture biodegradable water bottles, plastic containers, or any other composite or plastic product(s) on the market today. The US Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has demonstrated bioengineered seeds that can be embedded into the biodegradable composites and that will not germinate until they have been in the ground for several months. This SBIR effort will make use of seeds to grow environmentally friendly plants that remove soil contaminants and consume the biodegradable components developed under this project. Animals should be able to consume the plants without any ill effects. 

PHASE I: In Phase I the contractor develop a process to produce biodegradable composites with remediation seeds that can be used to manufacture 40mm-120mm training rounds. These Training rounds shall meet all the performance requirements of existing training rounds. The contractor should also explore avenues to produce biodegradable composites with remediation seeds for use in products outside the defense sector. 

PHASE II: In Phase II the contractor will prove out the fabrication process and manufacture prototypes that demonstrate the process is ready for industrial use. Provide a sufficient number of prototypes for the government to perform ballistic tests. 

PHASE III: Contractor will coordinate with PEO Ammunition and ammunition prime contractors to establish a transition path for the SBIR technology. 

REFERENCES: 

Satyanarayana, Kestur G., Gregorio GC Arizaga, and Fernando Wypych. "Biodegradable composites based on lignocellulosic fibers”An overview." Progress in polymer science 34, no. 9 (2009): 982-1021.4

Sahari, J., and S. M. Sapuan. "Natural fibre reinforced biodegradable polymer composites." Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci 30, no. 2 (2011): 166-174

Reddy, Narendra. "A review on completely biodegradable composites developed using soy-based matrices." Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 34, no. 18 (2015): 1457-1475

Ochi, Shinji. "Tensile Properties of Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Biodegradable Plastics." International Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 2 No. 1, 2012, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.5923/j.cmaterials.20120201.01

Biodegradable Composites “ Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/topic/biodegradable_composites

Mathew, Aji P., Kristiina Oksman, and Mohini Sain. "Mechanical properties of biodegradable composites from poly lactic acid (PLA) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)." Journal of applied polymer science 97, no. 5 (2005): 2014-2025

KEYWORDS: Remediation, Biodegradable, Composites, 3D Printing, Additive Manufacturing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate an innovative, cost-effective, munitions-based electronics systems that can deliver non-destructive, non-kinetic RF effects against a wide range of electronics, critical infrastructure, and computer-based systems. 

DESCRIPTION: Extensive use of wireless RF networking for critical infrastructure and communications systems provides an alternative attack vector for the neutralization of an adversarys underlying industrial, civil, and communications infrastructure without the destruction of the hardware associated with those systems. Advances in munitions-based microelectronics and power technologies make possible the implementation of non-kinetic cyber and electromagnetic “ or electronic warfare (EW) “ attacks that could be delivered via artillery launched munitions. The precision delivery of the non-kinetic effects (NKE) electronics payload close to the target allows low power operation which limits the geographical extent of impacted systems, and reduces the overall impact on the electromagnetic spectrum. 

PHASE I: Design and prototype an electronics subsystem for incorporation into a standard Army munition. The initial design will fit in a 155mm projectile, with a transition path for size reduction to allow incorporation of multiple NKE submunitions per projectile. 

PHASE II: Further develop and mature the NKE prototype system. Integrate the NKE system into an appropriate munitions platform. Explore, implement and demonstrate advanced non-kinetic attack techniques. Develop test methods and evaluate the system performance in the field. 

PHASE III: Finalize all aspects of the NKE and prepare for distribution. Develop a commercialization plan to transition the electronics subsystems to industry and relevant users. Private Sector Commercialization Potentials: The final NKE electronics system will support a number of commercial communications protocols. The ruggedized, hardened electronics subsystem may be transitioned to a wide variety of industrial and civil applications that call for operation in extremely harsh environments. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, P.W. Singer and Allan Friedman, Oxford University Press, 2014

2: Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security, "Keith Stouffer, Victoria Pillitteri, Suzanne Lightman, Marshall Abrams and Adam Hahn, May 2015"

3: SMART PROJECTILES: DESIGN GUIDELINES AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS KEYS TO SUCCESS "D. Carlucci, R. Pellen, J. Pritchard, W. Demassi,October 2010," U.S. ARMY ARMAMENT RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT ANDENGINEERING CENTER

4: Cyber Safety: A Systems Thinking and Systems Theory Approach to Managing Cyber Security RisksBy Hamid M. Salim, MIT, June 2014

KEYWORDS: Cyberwarfare, Electronic Warfare, Munition Electronics Payload 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research innovations for electrolyte optimization such as room temperature ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents to widen the operating temperature (-45 C to 65 C), nanostructured electrode materials to improve the electrode/electrolyte interface for higher power/energy densities, and cost-effective large scale synthesis of next generation supercapacitors. 

DESCRIPTION: As an alternative energy storage device, supercapacitors (SCs) offer several advantages such as high specific capacitance, power density, long cycle life, the ability to be charged or discharged within a few seconds to milliseconds, and survivability of multiple charge/discharge cycles [1]. While the energy density of SCs is better than that of conventional capacitors, it is still an order of magnitude lower than that of battery technology. As an example, the energy density and power density of available products are typically in the range 1-7 Wh/kg and 2.5-14 kW/kg, respectively [2]. While there has been continuous improvement in the electrode materials to increase the energy and power densities, room exists for optimization of the electrolyte to achieve energy densities closer to the theoretical limits [1, 3-5]. Also, recent research suggests that by using nanomaterials the capacitance, power and energy densities can be ehnanced [6]. In addition to large power and energy densities, other desired attributes of military grade supercapacitors include the following: wide operational (-45 C to 65 C), survival, and storage (-55 C to 75 C) temperature ranges; long shelf life ( > 20 years); high G survivability (~ 80k); low equivalent series resistance; long (> 100,000) cycle life; high reliability; and cost effectiveness. Electrolytes play a crucial role in determining the operational temperatures because ionic conductivity at low temperatures and flammability at high temperatures are the limiting issues. Thus, developing safer electrolytes that perform over a wide temperature range is a critical need. In this regard, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) appear as potential low cost alternatives to ionic liquids as electrolytes [7, 8]. 

PHASE I: Develop a design for an appropriate eutectic mixture utilizing deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to synthesize safe and long shelf life electrolytes for supercapacitors that function in military grade operational (-45 C to 65 C) and storage (-55 C to 75 C) temperatures. Low-temperature ionic conductivity must not affected significantly while increasing the operational temperature. Design approaches would include varying the eutectic compositions to achieve liquid phase over the operational temperature range and low viscous solvents to enhance the ionic conductivities, particularly at low temperatures. Parameters such as ionic conductivity, viscosity, and electrochemical stability will be the variables to consider in the design space. Experimental verification of the optimum design of the electrolyte will be demonstrated. 

PHASE II: Based on the results from Phase I, suitable eutectic electrolytes will be synthesized and integrated with graphene based hybrid electrodes that will be developed in Phase II. Methods for large scale synthesis of the electrode materials will be explored. Graphene composites with other materials such as metal oxides and polymers will be explored for improving the electrode/electrolyte interface for higher power/energy densities. Coin cell supercapacitors will be constructed to quantitatively evaluate the properties such as electrochemical stability, charge/discharge rate capabilities, capacitance, effective series resistance, power and energy densities and cyclic life over the operational temperatures and as a function of cycling and sound theoretical models will be developed to explain the experimental trends. The results will be benchmarked against existing conventional supercapacitor materials. Following are the values of various objective parameters: 

PHASE III: The end state of the effort is a robust, low-cost, large-scale synthesis of safe eutectic electrolytes and graphene-based nanostructured electrode materials for next generation supercapacitors. This break-through can benefit military systems such as the Precision Guided Kit (PGK) and Excalibur. A more robust SC technology will allow for faster setting of these rounds in the battlefield thereby improving safety and efficiency of the soldier; allow more time between setting of the round and firing, affording the soldier in the battlefield more flexibility; and an enhanced ability of the rounds to operate across greater temperature extremes with improved reliability. As a strategy for transitioning the technology developed through this effort, customers such as the Program Manager Combat Ammunition Systems (PM CAS) and Product Manager Guided Precision Mortar Munition Systems (PdM GPM2S), who have the requirement for the development and production of the PGK and Excalibur systems, will be kept informed. At the end of Phase II, results will be briefed to PM CAS and PdM GPM2S and other stakeholders as required and efforts will be made to identify insertion of the technology in programs upon further maturation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: M.S. Halper and J.C. Ellenbogen, Supercapacitors: A brief overview, MITRE Report, MP 05W0000272, Mar. 2006

2: http://www.maxwell.com/images/documents/Product_Comparison_Matrix_3000489_2.pdf

3: S.M. Chen, R. Ramachandran, V. Mani and R. Saraswathi, Recent advancements in electrode materials for the high performance electrochemical supercapacitors: A review, Int. J. Electrochem.Sci. 9, 4072-85, 2014

4: R. Berenguer, Trends and reseatch challenges in supercapacitors, Boletín del Grupo Español del Carbón, 37, 9-13, 2015

5: G. Xiong, C. Meng, R. G. Reifenberger, P.P. Irazoqui and T.S. Fisher, A review of graphene based electrochemical micro-supercapacitors, Electroanalysis, 26, 30-51, 2014

6: M. Meyyappan, Nanostructured materials for supercapacitors, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 31, 05803-1, 2013

7: A.P. Abbott, D. Boothby, G. Capper, D.L. Davies and R.K. Rasheed, Deep eutectic solvents formed between choline chloride and carboxylic acids: Versatile alternatives to ionic liquids, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 9142-7, 2004

8: A.P. Abbott, G. Capper, D.L. Davies and R. K. Rasheed, Ionic liquid analogues formed from hydrated metal salts, Chemistry, 10, 3769“74, 2004

KEYWORDS: Supercapacitors, Wide Operating Temperature, Electrolyte, Electrodes, Power Density, Energy Density 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate an innovative, cost-effective, lightweight, tripod mounted system that can search/surveillance, detect, identify, track and determine the intent and threat level of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The development of a flexible, tripod mounted, low-cost, low-power consumption system capable of taking over the navigation systems and can impart key functions necessary for the hostile UAV to safely navigate and land in a safe place for further characterization/exploitation. This multi-band RF / multi-mode software defined radio (SDR) and EO/IR tripod mounted suite of sensors shall be easy to operate, MMI, designed to defeat frequency hopping and collision avoidance UASs and collect the information necessary to make engagement decisions based on the nature of the threat through payload evaluation, flight path analysis, and configuration. 

DESCRIPTION: The usage of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for recreational and professional purposes has increased rapidly. With the proliferation of these devices comes increased security concerns for both military and civilian facilities. UAVs may be repurposed to gather intelligence, engage in attacks, threaten military and civilian air assets, and to conduct criminal activities. In addition, UAV developers and hobbyists have the ability to rapidly modify the UAV configuration with inexpensive and widely available off the shelf technology to extend communication distances, allow for autonomous flight, and increase flight time. Taken together, UAVs represent a rapidly evolving threat to targets throughout the world. Countermeasure systems have been developed by industry and government organizations that include interfering with RF communications between the controller and device, overriding commands, applying directed energy weapons, and disabling systems with munitions. Each type of countermeasure technique has characteristic effectiveness, risks to warfighters, collateral damage, and costs. In order for the warfighter to determine the best countermeasure for a given scenario, information about the intent of the UAS is needed. Cost-effective, innovative multispectral tripod mounted systems are needed to provide information to the warfighter to make an informed decision as to whether a countermeasure should be deployed and what type is best to defeat a threatening UAS. The effort will develop methods, hardware, and software to provide the warfighter with sufficient information on the intent and threat level of an incoming UAS to make countermeasure decisions. Hardware may include RF sensors, cameras, and other devices that provide information to a software system that determines threat level and intent. This research provides the first demonstration of a small, low cost, flexible, multispectral system capable of surveillance, detection and tracking UAVs and geo-locating the ground operator. 

PHASE I: Design and prototype a proof of concept multispectral system for UAV intent and threat level assessment. Designs should include all proposed concepts of operation, analysis, hardware and software subsystems, capabilities, and methods of validating the system. Particular attention should be paid to the Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C) characteristics of the proposed design. The end system should be tripod mountable for easy man portable deployment. The software for determining intent and threat level should be designed for an open architecture and plug and play, allowing for competitive software development and easy integration. 

PHASE II: Further develop the multispectral prototype system. Prototypes should be tripod mountable and have favorable (SWAP-C) characteristics. Mature the intent and threat level software in an open architecture. Develop test methods and evaluate the system performance in the field. 

PHASE III: Finalize all aspects of the multispectral system and prepare for distribution. The final system can be provided to federal, state, and local government organizations as well as industry to determine intent of incoming UAS threats. Examples include police departments, port authority, and private sector industries that are concerned with enemy surveillance or espionage. The offeror can forge relationship with UAS countermeasure providers to develop end to end systems. Additionally, the system can be repurposed to evaluate the intent and threat level of other aerial and ground systems of interest. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Tedesco, Matthew T. Countering the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Threat, Military Review, November-December 2015, http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_art012.pdf

KEYWORDS: Unmanned, Aerial, System, Electronic Warfare, Electronic Surveillance, Multi-spectral, Radio Frequency, Tripod, Mounted, Threat Level, Intent, Man Portable, Countermeasure 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate shaped charge warheads that can maintain penetration capabilities when spinning. 

DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Army has a requirement for a shaped charge warhead that can maintain its penetration capability while spinning. Shaped charged liner jet formation can be adversely affected by spinning because the angular momentum of the jet particles has the tendency to spread radially, making the jet hollow and greatly reducing its penetration capabilities. In the past, efforts were made to compensate the spinning effects by using fluted liners. However, the fluted liners proved to be too complex to manufacture and were only effective for a particular spin rate. The key was to develop an entirely new concept that could effectively reduce the spin effects. The causes of spin compensation can be mechanical in nature or can be due to microstructural issues such as texture, residual stress, grain size, and morphology variations. Several methods including material design, processing, and composition have been devised to modify the shaped charge liner to reduce or eliminate the detrimental effect of spin on penetration. 

PHASE I: Develop concepts in modeling and simulation (M&S), conduct a feasibility study, and conduct proof-of-principle experimentation that demonstrates that prototype warheads spinning at 200 RPS will achieve at least 85 percent of the penetration achieved in a non-rotating configuration. 

PHASE II: Downselect the two best concepts, build and test prototypes. Perform at least 6 tests for each concept for penetration into the RHA (Rolled Homogeneous Armor) steel and 6 jet characterization (JC) tests for each concept for non-spinning and spinning conditions. Implement Shaped Charge into Tactical Configuration: The shaped charge liners must fit into the existing warhead of the M430A1 to be used in the MK19 grenade launcher. Fusing and initiation scheme, weight, and CG shall remain the same. 

PHASE III: Transition the developed materials and related technology to a major manufacturer to incorporate (implementi) this technology in Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PM-MAS) M430A1 and M433 systems. To further exploit the benefits of the developed technology, the offeror should form partnerships with other manufacturers for private sector applications, such as the oil well and construction industries, that employ shaped charges to break, crack, or drill holes in rocks. This technology can also be leveraged for mining applications, submarine blasting, breaking log jams, breaking ice jams, initiating avalanches, timber cutting, the perforation of arctic sea ice or permafrost, glacier blasting, ice breaking, and underwater demolition. 

REFERENCES: 

1: J. Simon, Spin Compensation with Special Shaped Liners, BRL, APG, Maryland

2: W. Walters, An Overview of the Shaped Charge Concept, Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, West Point, NY

3: L. Zernow, Spin Compensated Liner for Shaped Charge Ammunition and Method of Making Same, U.S. Patent, 3,976,010

4: S. Singh, Penetration of Rotating Shaped Charge, Defence Science Laboratory, 1959

KEYWORDS: Spin, Shaped Charge, Fluted Liners, Jet Formation, Hollowed Jet, Decoupled 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a module that features a parachute or a similar innovative solution to allow soft recovery of an artillery round carrying precision guidance components. 

DESCRIPTION: A base deployed, soft recovery module will accelerate and enhance the process of developing and gun hardening (ruggedizing to achieve gun launch survivability) delicate and complex electronic and mechanical components. This process is critical to the reliability required of precision-guided artillery projectiles. The gun-hardened parts and subassemblies featured in precision artillery projectiles include canard assemblies, guidance navigation & control units, inertial measurement units, telemetry systems, batteries, onboard recorders, and other electronic components and devices. Component test modules typically replace the warhead assembly of the projectile. The projectile is otherwise configured with the objective components and assemblies, allowing for a fullup, ballistically similar operational function when fired from an objective artillery platform. At a user designated time, after the objective functions have been executed, the module initiates the DDO&S (Decelerate, Despin, Orient and Stabilize) soft recovery assembly to allow the projectile to descend nose first until impact with the ground. The parachute assembly will likely need multiple stages and timing mechanisms to accomplish the required impact conditions. The impact under the parachute is significantly less than that experienced at gun launch and would not damage or affect the integrity of the components or the system upon impact. If the proposed device becomes readily available, reliable, and inexpensive, it will significantly reduce cost and shorten the development of complex artillery munitions. No other means exists to gun fire and recover parts and components in this fashion. The cost objective is a production unit cost of under $25,000. 

PHASE I: Phase I will conclude with a detailed written report including the following: requirements definition, at least two (2) complete and detailed design concepts; preliminary operational, structural, gas dynamics and aeroballistic or other necessary analyses; a trade/optimization study; a production cost study and downselect criteria for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Build prototypes, test fire, and downselect baseline design. Proposer will conduct a full up operational test firing from a 1st quarter tube 155mm Howitzer conducted at Yuma Proving Ground. A total of 24 rounds will be fired 12 at 2 different charge levels: MACS 5 or equivalent and PMP +5% (pressure to be determined by ARDEC and provided by YPG). These firings should be conducted at 3 different temperature regimes: Standard (68F), Hot (+145F) and Cold (45F). Rounds will be fired at 800 mils quadrant elevation, but this elevation could vary depending upon range impact area availability. Evaluation Criteria include the following: - Gun survival with no performance degradation - Expulsion and staging function at proper times - Parachute and deceleration/despin devices sustain no damage that compromises their function - Body terminal impact velocity does not cause significant or catastrophic damage to objective test item 

PHASE III: Producibility Phase - develop highly reliable, producible and cost-effective design. Investigate other calibers and/or applications. The eventual potential use of this technology would be immense and cross cutting. Quantities would be in the tens of thousands, considering use in virtually all US development and production precision munition programs as well as foreign applications. The module typically replaces the warhead assembly of the projectile. The projectile is otherwise configured with the objective components/assemblies and would allow for a full up, ballistically similar operational function when fired from an objective artillery platform. At a user designated time, after the objective functions have been executed, the module functions, initiating the DDO&S (Decelerate, Despin, Orient and Stabilize) soft recovery assembly will allow the projectile to descend nose first until impact with the ground. The parachute assembly will likely need multiple stages and timing mechanisms to accomplish the required impact conditions. The impact under the parachute is significantly less than that experienced at gun launch and would not damage or affect the integrity of the components or the system upon impact. If readily available, reliable, and inexpensive, this tool will allow lower cost and shortened development of complex artillery munitions. Because this module will represent a significant reduction in the development timeline for precision artillery and because no means exists to gun fire and recover parts and components in this fashion, the potential market for this technology will be immense and cross cutting. Quantities would be in the tens of thousands, considering use in virtually all US development and production precision munition programs as well as foreign applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Kalinowski, J. Modeling and Simulation for Analysis and Evaluation Technology Division. Presentation, US Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.

2: Carlucci, D., R. Pellen, J. Pritchard, and W. Demassi. Smart Projectiles: Design Guidelines and Development Process Keys to Success. No. ARMETTR10019. ARMY ARMAMENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER PICATINNY ARSENAL NJ MUNITIONS ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CENTER, 2010.

3: Muller, Peter C., Edward F. Bukowski, Gary L. Katulka, and Philip Peregino. Flight test & recovery of gun launched instrumented projectiles using high-G on board recording techniques. ARMY RESEARCH LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD WEAPONS AND MATERIALS RESEARCH DIRECTORATE, 2006.

4: Fritch, Paul L. "Nose deployed parachute recovery module for gun firing and soft recovery of finned projectiles." U.S. Patent H1, 534, issued June 4, 1996.

5: Berman, Morris S. Electronic components for high-g hardened packaging. No. ARLTR3705. ARMY RESEARCH LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD, 2006.

6: Table 1: Performance Metrics for Field-Deployed Laundry System (uploaded in SITIS on 11/30/16).

KEYWORDS: Soft Recovery, Parachute, Precision Artillery Projectile 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate an effective and economical biologically-derived technology to kill or inhibit the growth of specific fungal organisms while demonstrating durability and stability on a textile. 

DESCRIPTION: Antimicrobial treated textiles being utilized by the U.S. Army in clothing and equipment have historically been broad spectrum to effectively kill not only bacteria, but also fungi. Certain fungal organisms cause a variety of quality of life and medical issues for Warfighters, including athletes foot and jock itch. Three species of fungi are responsible for the majority of skin irritation and infections: Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Epidermophyton floccosum (1,2). In certain operational environments, Warfighters are exposed to increased risk factors for fungal infection including hot and humid ambient weather, poor skin hygiene, and close-quarter living (3). It is likely that most conditions resulting from fungal growth and infection are largely unreported to medical personnel and are therefore undocumented and sometimes untreated, potentially leading to further complications. In addition to medical conditions that affect the Warfighter, there is also anecdotal information regarding fungal and mold issues on stored equipment (tentage, clothing stored in warehouses in environments with increased temperatures and humidity). The goal of this topic is to develop biologically-derived antifungal compounds (i.e., peptides, nucleic acids or small molecules naturally occurring in any kingdom of life) that demonstrate efficacy against the fungi responsible for unwanted skin conditions, while maintaining the viability of microbes required for skin health when applied to military textiles that have direct contact with skin. Healthy skin is colonized by consortia of not only bacteria, but fungi as well, primarily Malassezia spp, Candida, and Cryptococcus spp (4). For the purposes of this topic, the antifungal technology must selectively kill Trichophyton spp., which are primarily responsible for athletes foot and jock itch, or Epidermophyton floccosum, which is related to Tinea infections of the skin. Additional species of fungi and mold could also be targeted beyond Trichophyton spp and Epidermophyton floccosum, including those which become harmful with significant growth on textiles (e.g., black mold, etc.). The antifungal technology must have no effect on normal commensal skin bacteria including Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus and Propionibacteria, as well as commensal fungi such as Malassezia furfur. The antifungal technology must be suitable for application to textiles (either applied to fibers prior to textile processing or the finished textile) in a manner that maintains activity of the antifungal and durability following laundering/routine use. 

PHASE I: Identify candidate biologically-derived molecule(s) that exhibit antifungal activity against Trichophyton spp. or Epidermophyton floccosum in a solution-based system with minimal effects on Malassezia furfur and at least one of the following bacterial commensals: Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus, or Propionibacteria. Demonstrate laboratory-scale production (>5 g) of the antifungal molecule(s) and characterize efficacy as fungistatic activity (target = minimum 24 hour delay in growth) and/or fungicidal activity (target = minimum of 2-log (99%) reduction) against the target fungi. Demonstrate that the developed antifungal molecule(s) are not bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic against the non-target, commensal bacteria and not fungistatic and/or fungicidal against the commensal fungi. Target/Commensal specificity is defined as a minimum 2-fold difference between the antifungal concentration required to kill at least 99% of the target fungi and/or inhibit growth for a minimum of 24 hours and the antifungal concentration at which efficacy against commensal non-target bacteria/fungi becomes evident. Assess scalability and cost-effectiveness of the production approach. 

PHASE II: Optimize the antifungal production approach developed in Phase I and demonstrate production of antifungal molecules in sufficient quantities for application to textiles. Develop environmentally conscious approaches to apply antifungals to a panel of fabrics including, at a minimum, 50:50 nylon:cotton, 100% cotton, and polyester/cotton blend, with no effect on the base material properties. Demonstrate reproducible, selective antifungal efficacy against multiple strains of Trichophyton spp. or Epidermophyton floccosum while maintaining viability of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus, Propionibacteria, and Malassezia furfur on the fabrics using standard, qualitative test methods such as AATCC TM 30 (Antifungal Activity, Assessment on Textiles) or other comparable standardized tests for fungistatic evaluations and, for commensal bacteriostatic evaluations, CLSI Methods for Dilution Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests for Bacteria That Grow Aerobically (CLSI document M07-A9 (2012)). For fungicidal/bactericidal evaluations, determine the maximum log reduction in fungal/bacterial load achievable by the developed antifungal treatment using AATCC TM100-2004 (Antibacterial Finishes on Textile Materials) or comparable standardized method. Antifungal efficacy, as previously defined in Phase I, should be assessed relative to the untreated textile and with a minimum of three target and three of each commensal bacterial/fungal strains evaluated. Target/Commensal specificity is defined as >10-fold difference between the antifungal concentration required to kill >99% of the target fungi and/or inhibit growth for a minimum of 24 hours and the antifungal concentration at which efficacy against commensal non-target bacteria/fungi becomes evident. The fungistatic or fungicidal application must be durable and reproducibly maintain efficacy after laundering for 20 cycles according to AATCC 135-2004 (Dimensional Changes of Fabrics During Laundering). The finished fabric must not present an environmental or health hazard (i.e., below toxicity threshold levels as identified by EPA and OSHA). Demonstrate that the treated fabric does not exhibit cytotoxicity or hemolytic activity in vitro. Demonstrate that the application does not produce any negative effects due to prolonged direct skin contact in an acute dermal irritation study and a skin sensitization study conducted on laboratory animals. Assess scalability and cost-effectiveness of the production approach and utilization on textiles including, but not limited to, parameters such as storage stability, reapplication needs, and durability. Additionally, a minimum of 3 sq. ft. of antifungal fabric must be provided to the Army for independent assessment, along with a control sample (minimum of 3 sq. ft.) lacking the antifungal agent. 

PHASE III: The development of biologically-derived antifungal molecules with selective killing efficiency will support commercially-viable antifungal textiles with negligible environmental hazards associated with production and usage. Moreover, antifungal compounds with selective killing action will prevent complications inherent with broad-spectrum compounds used for reduction and treatment of athletes foot and jock itch. A variety of military clothing and equipment would benefit from development of targeted antifungals including the Army combat shirt, ballistic undergarments, combat boots, boot socks, medical/hygiene wipes, surgical and medical field shelters, and sleep systems (linens, sacks, etc.). The civilian sector would also significantly benefit from the developed technology in the medical and athletic markets, where targeted antifungals would reduce irritation and infection by incorporation into socks, sandals, undergarments and athletic apparel. Targeted antifungals could also be incorporated into wound dressings and medical wipes. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lamb L and Morgan M. Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in the Military. J Royal Army Med Corps. 159: 215-223. 2013

2: Mujahid TA et al. Frequency of Tinea Pedis in Military Recruits at Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. Gomal Journal of Medical Sciences. 11(2): 204-207. 2013

3: Cutaneous Fungal Infections “ US Armed Forces “ 1998-1999. MSMR. 7(3): 8-11. 2011

4: Findley K, et al. Human skin fungal diversity. Nature, 498(7454), 367-370. 2013

KEYWORDS: Antifungal, Biologically-derived, Athletes Foot, Textile 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a manufacturing-scalable, low temperature deposition process for high quality multi-layers of high quality multiferroic thin films, compatible with silicon CMOS (Complementary metal“oxide“semiconductor) foundry processing, for advanced tunable microwave components integrated into commercial integrated circuits. 

DESCRIPTION: Multi-ferroic thin films are being explored for a variety of high functionality microwave devices. By exploiting the magneto-electric coupling between the electric and magnetic order parameters in a layered structure of thin films of a piezoelectric and of a magneto-restrictive material, the magnetic properties of the structure can be controlled electrically, offering the potential for magnetic thin film devices which can be integrated with RF (radio frequency) and microwave integrated circuits without the requirement for large external magnetic fields [refs. 1-2]. The goal of this topic is the development of a fabrication process for uniform extrinsic multi-ferroic thin films (strain- or field- induced coupled multiple layers of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic films) which can be applied in the fabrication of tunable microwave devices, and which is compatible with industry standard silicon CMOS fabrication foundries. The fabrication of high crystalline quality films has generally required high-temperature, and often high-vacuum, deposition techniques [see for example refs. 3-4]. In order for the films to be compatible with industrial scale silicon CMOS foundry fabrication, a lower temperature deposition technology, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), sputtering, or spin-spray deposition, is required. Low temperature (below 300 degrees C)ALD has resulted in piezoelectric thin films such as ZrO2 and HfO2 [see for example ref. 5], which have promising piezoelectric properties. Spin-spray and spray pyrolysis deposition of high quality ferromagnetic thin films has been demonstrated for Ni ferrite and NiZn ferrite films [see for example refs. 6-7], and sputtering deposition of high quality ferromagnetic metallic thin films has been demonstrated [see for example ref. 8]. Among the challenges are defect mitigation, environmental stability, and compatibility with silicon CMOS processing. In addition to high quality film growth, magnetic and electrical properties of the films, and the magnetic-electrical coupling, the effect of the substrate (see for example ref. 9) and film thickness on these properties is of concern. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of a commercial deposition process for a multi-ferroic, multilayer film by first demonstrating deposition processes separately for high quality ferroelectric films and ferromagnetic 50 nm thick films on a silicon (001) substrate, compatible with CMOS processing. Determine film quality by SEM (scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), RHEED (reflection high-energy electron diffraction), XRD/XRR (x-ray diffraction / x-ray reflectivity), AFM (atomic force microscopy), and/or RBS (Rutherford backscattering). Determine dielectric loss tangent for the films separated from the substrate. Determine remnant and maximum polarization and coercive field of the ferroelectric film and saturation polarization of the magnetic film. Demonstrate piezo-magnetic coefficient of >5 ppm/Oe and magnetic loss tangent < 5% at 1 GHz for the magnetic film and dielectric loss tangent of <1% for the ferroelectric film at room temperature. Demonstrate a test varactor structure using the ferroelectric film and determine the quality factor (Q) and capacitance tuning range for bias voltages below 35 volts at 1 GHz, and measurements of the piexoelectric coefficient using either double beam laser interferometer or extracting from measured strain deflection of a cantilever. Compare these metrics with published results for the specific film materials chosen. General goals would include Q > 100 at 1 GHz and capacitive tunability greater than 2:1. The deposition process and any post-deposition processing must be compatible with CMOS processing. In general, this will require the initial film deposition and subsequent processing steps including any annealing to be at temperatures below 450 degrees C. Develop a conceptual model for a heterostructure consisting of silicon substrate with multi-ferroic multi-layers which would be operationally functional for RF and microwave integrated components, such as voltage tunable inductors, voltage tunable magneto-electric filters, voltage tunable magneto-electric antennas, and/or voltage tunable non-reciprocal devices (eg. circulators and isolators). Demonstrate by simulation, analysis, literature analysis, and/or limited laboratory experimentation the expected feasibility of the electrical control of the magnetization in the multi-ferroic structure. Deliver samples of the above described films for evaluation in government laboratories. Deliver a report documenting the results of measurements of film quality, film loss tangents, remnant polarization, saturation polarization, and piezo-magnetic coefficient for the films described above. Deliver sample of the varactor test structure described above for evaluation in government laboratories. Deliver a report of the quality factor (Q) and capacitance tuning ranges of the varactor test structure described above. Deliver a report documenting the model for the heterostructure described above and the demonstration of feasibility of electrical control of magnetization, as described above. 

PHASE II: Develop CMOS-compatible multi-layer multi-ferroic structures on silicon substrates which demonstrate a high magneto-electric coupling coefficient (>1V/cm/Oe), measured with the substrate etched away and measured far from the electromechanical resonance for the chosen material, which maintain the individual layer quality established in phase I, and which demonstrate low leakage current density. See refs. 10 and 11 for theoretical and phenomenological considerations for high magneto-electric coupling. Assess, through physical and device modeling and simulation, opportunities for improvements in the performance of microwave devices enabled by this new process (examples provided in the topic description) and improvements in deposition rate which can make the process competitive with physical, chemical vapor, and chemical solution based fabrication processes. Design and demonstrate the performance of tunable extrinsic multi-ferroic microwave devices using this new process. Refine the thin film process to take full advantage of the compositional control (eg. layered and stratified) for building voltage tunable microwave devices. Investigate novel techniques to speed the growth of the film while maintaining low temperature deposition and high quality crystal properties. Develop and evaluate a model of a manufacturing scalable process involving both deposition technologies. If the deposition of the piezoelectric film requires a different deposition process than the deposition of the piezomagnetic film, these processes should be integrated in an industrial scalable fabrication system. Demonstrate a technology transition pathway to manufacturing for practical products. Deliver samples of the CMOS-compatible, multi-layer, multi-ferroic structures on silicon substrates, as described above, for evaluation in government laboratories. Deliver a report documenting the fabrication and measurements of leakage current density, magneto-electric coupling coefficient, film quality, and loss tangent. Deliver a report documenting the opportunities for improvement in device performance and the processing deposition rate. Deliver device samples for evaluation in government laboratories. Deliver a report documenting the model for a manufacturing scalable process and for a transition pathway to practical device fabrication. 

PHASE III: The path to commercialization will require selection of overall business strategy: license the process to established foundries or electronic industries with commercial and military customers, establish a foundry to service the electronics industry, or build devices and circuits for sale to electronics industries. All of these business strategies will require the demonstration of competitive microwave devices and integrated circuits or approaches. All will require the design and actual fabrication and test of demonstration sample devices and IC's. This deposition process will enable thin film voltage tunable devices and thin film devices with functionality currently only practically available in large magnetic structures. Further research in Phase III needs to scale the fabrication process to 6 inch wafers. By providing a Si CMOS compatible multi-ferroic thin film process, this research can be expected to bring greater functionality at reduced size, weight, and cost to critical military and important commercial wireless systems, with improvements in bandwidth efficiency, fidelity, and security. This process would be expected to provide the capability to integrate high quality tunable filters and tunable non-reciprocal components such as circulators which were previously only available in large, heavy, and costly magnetic structures. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Ying-Hao Chu, et. al., "Controlling magnetism with multiferroics," Materials Today 10, 16 (October 2007)

2: Ce-Wen Nan, et. al., "Multiferroic magnetoelectric composites: Historical perspective, status, and future directions," J. Appl. Phys. 103, 031101 (2008)

3: J. Wang, H. Zheng, Z. Ma, S. Prasertchoung, M. Wuttig, R. Droopad, J. Yu, K. Eisenbeiser, and R. Ramesh, Epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films on Si, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 2574 (2004)

4: Y. Huang, X. Fu, X. Zhao, and W. Tang, A Review on Fabrication Methods of BiFeO3 Thin Films, Key Engineering Materials 544, 81 (2013)

5: J. Mueller, T.S. Boescke, U. Schroeder, S. Mueller, D. Braeuhaus, U. Boettger, L. Frey, and T. Mikolajick, Ferroelectricity in Simple Binary ZrO2 and HfO2, Nano. Lett. 12, 4318 (2012)

6: X. Wang, Z. Zhou, S. Behugn, M. Liu, H. Lin, X. Yang, Y. Gao, T. Nan, X. Xing, Z. Hu, and N. Sun, Growth behavior and RF / microwave properties of low temperature spin-sprayed NiZn ferrite, J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 26, 1890 (2015)

7: S.S. Kumbhar, M.A. Mahadik, V.S. Mohite, Y.M. Hunge, K.Y. Rajpure, and C.H. Bhosale, Effect of Ni content on the structural, morphological, and magnetic properties of spray deposited Ni-Zn ferrite thin films, Mater. Research Bull. 67, 47 (2015)

8: S. Li, Q. Xue, H. Du, J. Xu, Q. Li, Z. Shi, X. Gao, M. Liu, T. Nan, Z. Hu, N.X. Sun, and W. Shao, Large E-field tunability of magnetic anisotropy and ferromagnetic resonance frequency of co-sputtered Fe50Co50-B film, J. Appl. Phys. 117, 17D702 (2015)

9: St. Kovachev and J.M. Wesselinowa, Influence of substrate effects on the properties of multiferroic thin films, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 21, 395901 (2009)

10: N.X. Sun and G. Srinivasan, Voltage control of magnetism in multi-ferroic heterostructures and devices, Spin 2, 1240004 (2012), World Scientific Publishing Company

11: C.A.F. Vaz, J. Hoffman, C.H. Ahn, and R. Ramesh, Magnetoelectric Coupling Effects in Multiferroic Complex Oxide Structures, Adv. Mater. 22, 2900 (2010)

KEYWORDS: Multi-ferroics, Multi-ferroic Atomic Layer Deposition, Multi-ferroics On Silicon, Multi-ferroic Manufacturing Process, Multi-ferroic Material Process, Multi-ferroic RF Devices, Multi-ferroic Integrated Circuits 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop novel electrode materials/designs and manufacturing processes which enable high power and high energy lithium battery performance without the use of flammable/toxic solvents. 

DESCRIPTION: The DoD has need for inherently safe energy storage devices with improved high power, high energy density, and low temperature performance to reduce dismounted soldier burden. Current production methods are costly and use flammable/toxic solvents which require personal and infrastructure protective equipment to safeguard personnel and prevent facility fires. Currently the solvent most widely used is N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP). The electrode materials are mixed with polymer binder and additives and NMP to form a slurry that is spread on a current collector foil and then dried. NMP which is first added to form the slurry and then removed by drying has flammable vapors, necessitating the use of explosion proof equipment, and is toxic. The widely used lithium metal oxide based cathodes and carbon based anodes that result from currently used processes are uniform with a lack of tunability throughout the thickness of the electrode. New multi-layer electrodes manufacturing techniques where the porosity, particle size and active material can be varied throughout the thickness of the electrode structure and do not require the use of flammable/toxic solvents have recently been demonstrated. These new electrodes circumvent the general limitation of lithium ion chemistry which limits cell design to either high power or high energy and these new multi-layer electrodes could enable simultaneous high power and high energy performance. Optimization and scale up of processes that are capable of generating these structured electrodes using conventional and nanoparticles and binders while eliminating the use of flammable/toxic solvents are needed. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate and optimize a manufacturing approach to produce multi-layer electrode concept using conventional lithium ion binders and active materials without the use of flammable/toxic solvents. Characterize resulting electrode composition and structure as a function of process conditions. Determine structure property relationships and their impacts on electrochemical performance. Prepare laboratory half cells, perform high power and specific energy testing, and identify degradation processes. Demonstrate results that indicate that a specific energy >200 Wh/kg and specific power >2kW/kg and improved life cycle performance of >400 cycles are possible using multi-layer electrodes produced without using flammable/toxic solvents. 

PHASE II: Optimize manufacturing processes and scale up without the use of flammable/toxic solvents. Characterize the impact on cell performance of particle size and active material identity. Prepare full cells with scaled up the processes to produce 3 Ah cells with a specific energy >250 Wh/kg and specific power >4 kW/kg and improved life cycle performance of >800 cycles. Compare battery performance of cell with commercially available batteries. Determine optimized processing conditions, cost model and report commercial viability of production process. 

PHASE III: Development of devices for both civilian and DoD use. There are many electronic devices used in the military and civilian communities that would benefit from improved energy storage devices such as portable electronics, hybrid vehicles, etc. The reduction of the solvents required for battery production also make this topic relevant for commercial battery producers who have routinely had production issues resulting in fires to reduce production costs and increase safety. The elimination of toxic/flammable solvents will reduce Army battery costs and reduce the environmental impact associated with military battery production. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Handbook of Batteries, Third Edition, David Linden. Thomas Reddy, Chapters 2, 3, Sections 35.4, 35.6, 35.90

2: Marco A. Spreafico, Paula Cojocaru, Luca Magagnin, Francesco Triulzi, and Marco Apostolo, PVDF Latex and a Binder for Positive Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2014, 53 (22), pp 9094“9100

3: Jianlin Li, Beth L. Armstrong, Jim Kiggans, Claus Daniel, and David L. Wood, III; Optimization of LiFePO4 Nanoparticle Suspensions with Polyethyleneimine for Aqueous Processing. Langmuir, February 28, 2012, Volume 28, Issue 8, pp 3783“3790

KEYWORDS: Lithium Ion Battery, Electrodes, Solvent, Electrode Structure 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop compact, highly efficient, and high power terahertz emitter arrays driven by low cost, fiber-based 1550-nm telecommunications lasers. 

DESCRIPTION: The Terahertz (THz) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum occupies the spectral range from 300 GHz to 3 THz. In the past two decades, exciting applications have emerged in concealed weapon and contraband detection for homeland security, biological-agent and biochemical detection, and biomedical imaging. THz systems also offer unique benefits for communications. Wide bandwidth and high carrier frequency have the potential to support high data rate transmission in small operational platforms. They can also provide secure communication links due to their high directionality for a given compact physical aperture and precisely controlled propagation ranges. All of these applications are highly relevant for the Army and DOD, and potentially enable unprecedented functionalities. A key factor in the advancement of THz science and technology has been the development of ultrafast photoconductive (PC) devices. They have been implemented as PC photomixers in continuous-wave (CW) frequency-domain systems. The primary PC materials have been low-temperature-grown or heavily-Er-doped GaAs. PC photomixers driven by 800-nm diode lasers have produced narrowband THz output power >1.0 uW. Yet in spite of such impressive performance, these THz systems remain expensive because of the cost of the 800-nm laser drivers. In contrast, the 1550-nm region offers much more affordable laser sources as well as a large array of fiber-based optical components made available by the optical fiber-based telecommunications industry. For example, erbium-doped-fiber amplifier (EDFA) comes in a small, low-cost package and can produce 100 mW output power. THz systems based on PC devices driven by 1550-nm laser sources can significantly reduce system size and overall cost. It can also enable array architectures and therefore provide new functionalities. For this reason 1550-nm PC devices have been under investigation for over a decade. Most of these have been InGaAs based devices, which have suffered from low external responsivity, low resistivity, low breakdown voltage, or some combination thereof. As such, the THz output power from these devices has typically been an order of magnitude or more lower than that from GaAs-based devices at 800 nm. A number of recent developments, such as ultrafast extrinsic PC effect in ErAs:GaAs and high-mobility InGaAs rare-earth-group-V nanocomposites, have demonstrated promising potential to achieve 1550-nm PC devices at greatly enhanced performance. By utilizing these developments and fiber-based photonic technology, this program will develop THz sources and systems based on PC devices driven by 1550-nm lasers with performance comparable to or better than devices operating at 800 nm but at significantly reduced size and overall cost. In particular, it will focus on developing high power CW THz PC photomixers. It will also include development of a 3X3 array with independently controlled fiber-based drivers to enable beam steering. 

PHASE I: Select and characterize suitable PC materials for 1550-nm operation. Relevant material properties should include carrier mobility, dark resistivity, carrier lifetime, etc. Perform initial design of prototype PC photomixers at 1550 nm with performance comparable to current GaAs-based devices driven by 800-nm pump devices. Specifically, the target power levels should be >10 uW at 1 THz for a single photomixer. Perform analysis to understand factors limiting device power and efficiency. Develop strategies for improving power performance and thermal management. Perform initial design for a 3X3 photomixer array. 

PHASE II: Perform full design of high power photomixers including complete thermal analysis to achieve the power level listed in Phase I. Thermal management strategies developed during Phase I should be incorporated. Fabricate and characterize devices to verify performance in terms of frequency content and output power. Design and fabricate a photomixer array in a 3 by 3 format. Each element should be fed by individual fiber input and the input to each element should be derived from the same source through a power splitter to maintain phase coherence. If necessary, in-line fiber amplifiers should be included to boost input drive to achieve high THz output power and efficiency. Characterize the THz array to verify individual element performance as well as phase coherence between array elements. Explore beam steering by adjusting relative phases of the array elements. 

PHASE III: It is expected that these 1550-nm PC devices will be useful for compact THz systems for a wide range of army-relevant applications such as concealed weapon detection, biological-agent, biomedical imaging, and high-date-rate communications. Phase III work will develop and commercialize compact and low cost THz systems such as broadband radar, spectrometers, imagers, and high-speed communication transmitters based on these devices. Lower overall system cost and reduced size through the use of inexpensive optical fiber technology at the 1550-nm telecommunications band mean these THz systems can be widely deployed and man-portable. The performer can explore transition opportunities either through in-house development of these THz systems or by partnering with system developers as a supplier of these THz sources. 

REFERENCES: 

1: E.R. Brown, Advancements in Photomixing and Photoconductive Switching for THz Spectroscopy and Imaging, Proc. Of SPIE, Vol. 7938, Terahertz Technology and Applications IV, 793802, March, 2011

2: J. E. Bjarnason, T. L. J. Chan, A. W. M. Lee, E. R. Brown, D. C. Driscoll, M. Hanson, A. C. Gossard, and R. E. Muller, ErAs:GaAs photomixer with two-decade tunability and 12 µW peak output power, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol 85, pp. 3983-3985, Nov. 2004

3: J. Middendorf, W. Zhang, M. Martin, and E. Brown, First demonstration of photomixing at 1550 nm in ErAs:GaAs, 39th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Wave, September, 2014

4: R. Salas, S. Guchhait, S. D. Sifferman, K. M. McNicholas, V. D. Dasika, D.J. Ironside, E. M. Krivoy, S. J. Maddox, D. Jung, M. L. Lee, and S. R. Bank, Properties of RE-As:InGaAs Nanocomposites, 56th Electronics Materials Conference, June, 2014

KEYWORDS: Terahertz, Photoconductive Switch, Photomixer, Telecommunications, Optical Fiber 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop faster and more efficient free-space optical interconnect solutions for connecting focal plane arrays with high-speed read-out integrated circuits in cryogenic dewars to the outside world thru a transparent window. 

DESCRIPTION: Advances in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (or VCSELs) and/or integrated photonic modulators are desirable to solve interconnect problems at higher speeds and free-space regimes. Current VCSELs are limited to about 40 Gbps at operating temperatures from about -40 C to 85 C. An aspect of this technology currently overlooked by the main stream data center and computing applications is operation of such high-speed interconnects at cryogenic temperatures. Although prior work in cryogenic VCSELs has shown speeds up to about 10 Gbps [1], advances have been made in the thermal performance and speed which can be garnered for next generation focal plane array read-out. Particular advances in speed are needed based on newer high definition (HD) formats and faster frame rate requirements (up to a kHz or more). For very high sensitivity imaging, cryogenic cooling of focal plane arrays (FPAs) at 77K is required. Free-space optical interconnection thru the cryogenic dewar windows can be used to read-out the vast amount of data generated. Use of integrated photonic solutions is required due to limitations with copper twisted pair to 1 Gbps which is the primary method used to read-out focal plane array data. As the number of high speed copper signal data lines increases, so does the thermal path between the cold FPA and the warm dewar exterior. This thermal short drives increased cooling requirements on the closed cycle cryocoolers that are used in these imaging sensors “ typically resulting in reduced MTBF and higher power draw. This can be combated by using larger cryocoolers, but that has direct impact on the system size, weight, and power requirements. In addition, using larger cryocoolers only postpones dealing with the problem as FPA pixel count and frame rate continue to increase. It therefore becomes necessary to realize an optically based, free space data link between the cryogenically cooled FPA and the exterior of the vacuum dewar. VCSEL arrays could be used in this small area to interface with multiple output channels. However, Read-Out Integrated Circuits (ROICs), bonded to the FPAs, may have only a limited number of output pins in order to reduce focal plane heating that occur through metallic conduction paths. Multiplexing of ROIC channels through the output channels can lead to very high data rates and require the need for advances in VCSEL and/or modulator technology. This topic aims to garner advances in VCSELs (and possibly modulators) that have excellent thermal performance as well as high-speeds at cryogenic temperatures. Interconnects with the ROICs can be made through chip-scale packaging techniques to either single VCSEL transceivers or combined to one VCSEL array based transceiver for the cryostat optical through port window. Advances in the speed of the requested interconnects will make military imaging possible at much higher frame rates, and with larger format focal plane arrays. 

PHASE I: The concept design of a cryogenic active optical connector with capability of providing gain or modulation for board to board level interconnect schemes which is compatible with free-space optical interconnects, and which is tolerant to beam misalignments for beams extending to several cms. Potential of 40 Gbps or greater interconnects should be demonstrated for a single channel thru a cryogenic dewar window held at 77K. Low bit error rates (BERs) -approximately 1e-10 or less should be targeted. Goals of design include scalability in the number of data channels and layout flexibility for attachment to high-speed ROICs including process compatibility with mainstream electronics manufacturing. 

PHASE II: This phase will further develop the concept to key technology milestones. The thrust of this effort should be placed on subsystems development, and technology demonstration. Alignment tolerances within 0.5 degrees and mms need to be demonstrated. Bandwidth of regenerative elements and channels should exceed 40 Gbps for a single channel with low BERs- approaching 1e-12 or less. A concept demonstration prototype shall be demonstrated within a cryogenic (77K) dewar with potential demonstrations at even lower temperatures. Proposed solutions should be compatible with both pour-filled laboratory grade liquid nitrogen dewars, as well as tactical closed-cycle cryogenic dewar configurations. Government furnished high-speed ROICs and/or FPAs will be provided for demonstration assuming availability from the Army. These ROICs will utilize digital-on-chip analog to digital conversion and the data will exit the ROIC as digital information. Offerors should assume a nominal 512 x 540 FPA at 18 micron pitch, with an objective of up to 2048 x 2160 at 18 micron pitch or equivalent. For the phase II demo, FPA data rates up to 3.0 Gbps are to be supported. A path to higher data rates should be demonstrated as well. Military robustness and functionality should be assessed at cryogenic regimes where vibration and ruggedness are possible factors. Deliverable of the completed camera unit is desired. 

PHASE III: The commercialization pathway would consist of working with government or commercial end users to develop a specific layout and product for cryogenic temperature optical interconnects. Use of developed cryogenic VCSELs and room temperature receivers should be made in conjunction with free-space thru window regimes. Commercial applications: Potential commercial applications include high-speed focal plane read-out, high-end servers and routers, high performance signal processing and supercomputing. Military Applications: Supports Transformational Communication Architecture (TCA), integrated C4ISR optical systems, synthetic aperture ladar, signal image processing, communication routers. 

REFERENCES: 

1: D. Serkland, K. Geib, G. Peake, G. Keeler, A. Hsu, 850-nm VCSELs optimized for cryogenic data transmission, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8276 (2012)

2: E. Heyes, C. Ozturk, V. Ozguz, and Y. Guruz, Solution-based PbS photodiodes, integrable on ROIC, for SWIR detection applications, IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett. 34, 662 (2013)

3: S. Gunapala, S. Bandara, J. Liu, J. Mumolo, D. Ting, C. Hill, J. Nguyen, B. Simolon, J. Woolaway, S. Wang, W. Li, P. LeVan, and M. Tidrow, Demonstration of megapixel dual-band QWIP focal plane array, IEEE J. Quant. Electron. 46, 285 (2010)

4: S. Gunapala, D. Ting, C. Hill, J. Nguyen, A. Soibel, S. Rafol, S. Keo, J. Mumolo, M. Lee, J. Liu, B. Yang, and A. Liao, Large area III-V infrared focal planes, Infrared Phys. Tech. 54, 155 (2011)

5: E. Haglund, P. Westbergh, J. Gustavsson, E. Haglund, A. Larsson, M. Geen, and A. Joel, 30 GHz bandwidth 850 nm VCSEL with sub-100 fJ/bit energy dissipation at 25 “ 50 Gbit/s, Electron. Lett. 51,, 1096 (2015)

6: D. Kuchta, A. Rylyakov, C. Schow, J. Proesel, C.W. Baks, P. Westbergh, J. Gustavsson, and A. Larsson, A 50 Gb/s NRZ modulated 850 nm VCSEL transmitter operating error free to 90°, J. Lightwave Tech. 33, 802 (2015)

7: D. Kuchta, A. Rylyakov, C. Schow, J. Proesel, C.W. Baks, P. Westbergh, J. Gustavsson, and A. Larsson, A 71-Gb/s NRZ modulated 850 nm VCSEL-based optical link, IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett. 27, (2015)

KEYWORDS: Cryogenic, Read-out Integrated Circuits, High-speed Optical Interconnects, VCSELs, Modulators, Focal Plane Arrays 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate advanced techniques for lead acid battery monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis in order to reduce lead acid battery failures and predict battery failure. 

DESCRIPTION: Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and flooded lead acid batteries are widely used on 95% of military ground vehicles for Starting, Lighting, and Ignition (SLI) and silent watch applications. Not only does the battery represent one of the top ten ongoing maintenance costs for military vehicles at ~$100M for maintenance costs per year, they tend to fail unexpectedly. Often the first sign of a battery issue is that the vehicle designated for a mission simply will not start. Vehicle battery degradation and failure can occur earlier than expected due both to intrinsic issues and improper maintenance. Common failure modes include: loss of electrolyte, acid stratification, improper charging profiles (failure to fully charge battery) leading to sulfation, electrode corrosion, and separator failure. Current battery testers generally measure cold cranking amps (CCA) and voltage but do not provide information about battery capacity which is arguably the most important measurement of battery performance. Recent results using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) have shown promise providing insight into chemical state of the battery which is important to detect sulfation, electrode corrosion, and separator failure, however, system complexity and difficulty interpreting results have hampered implementation. The Army needs both hand-held and on-vehicle prognostic/diagnostic tools to capable of determine battery state of charge, capacity, level of acid stratification; sulfation, surface charge, and predict imminent failure and provide possible corrective actions regardless of cause. The goals of this topic are to develop an improved understanding of methods to understand the chemical state within a lead acid battery to detect battery degradation and failure modes and develop advanced techniques for monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis specifically for lead acid batteries to enable reduced battery maintenance and increased battery service life. Packaging and performance requirements of vehicle battery monitoring system can be found in reference 3. 

PHASE I: Conduct research with laboratory analysis and testing to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Phase I must include a laboratory proof of concept demonstration of the proposed techniques that shows the capability to monitor state of charge and capacity within 15%, diagnose battery degradation (including acid stratification and degree of sulfation), and prognosis and identification of pending failures (greater than 85% accuracy) for both absorbed glass mat and flooded lead acid batteries. 

PHASE II: Further demonstration, modification, and optimization of the proof of concept from phase I. This phase includes the, fabrication, testing and delivery of the prototype hardware and software system that can be tested both in the lab and on vehicle and must include demonstration of improved vehicle battery monitoring (uncertainty less that 10%), diagnosis, and prognosis techniques and demonstration of the techniques ability to improve battery life by over 15% over the baseline for current 6T military lead acid batteries (largely expected by identification of maintenance issues). This phase should also include the design of the battery testing profile and demonstration of the battery monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics techniques for improved battery status indication to reduce battery failures and increase battery service life while retaining the battery capacity. 

PHASE III: Technology developed in this topic could be used for military and/or commercial applications. The results from developing this battery monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis technique should enable system incorporation into existing military vehicle systems, as well as into commercial automobiles. On-board systems could be integrated into new lead-acid vehicle batteries or automobiles to alert users of need for battery maintenance or pending failure. Alternatively the technology could be integrated into a hand held unit used during routine maintenance of the vehicle. The goal in this phase will be applied to military and commercial ground vehicle platforms. 

REFERENCES: 

1: B. Culpin, D.A.J. Rand. Failure modes of lead/acid batteries, Journal of Power Sources, Volume 36, Issue 4, 16 December 1991, Pages 415-438

2: DOE Handbook, Primer On Lead-Acid Storage Batteries, DOE-HDBK-1084-95 September 1995

3: ATPD-2406, US Army TACOM Purchase Description: Battery Monitoring System, 14 March 2013

4: MIL-PRF-32143B, Performance Specification Batteries, Storage: Automotive Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA), 5 October, 2011

KEYWORDS: Lead Acid Battery, Diagnostics, Capacity, Cold Cranking Amps, Prognostics, Battery Monitoring, Battery Failure, 6T Format, Battery Life, Battery Status 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: This SBIR focuses on the development of highly efficient Finite-Difference-Time-Domain (FDTD) propagation codes that are portable onto high performance computer (HPC) clusters for applications at High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) bands, for the development of mobile ad hoc radio networks. 

DESCRIPTION: It is anticipated that future Army operations will take place in increasingly dense urban environments, so called mega-cities, as well as in other challenging scenarios comprised of significant clutter and man-made structures. In such environments, lower frequency operations, e.g., low VHF, offers significant propagation advantages, especially for short-range low-power operation [1]-[4]. This is due to the high penetration of such signals through multiple barriers and walls, with relatively little signal distortion. The studies have shown that the low frequency channels have excellent potential for applications supporting dismounts and autonomous platforms, providing persistent communications and geolocation capabilities with minimal infrastructure and low transmit power in challenging Army relevant scenarios [4],[5]. While there are computationally efficient and accurate propagation models for the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and microwave bands, especially outdoors, the lower frequency bands present a unique set of challenges because conventional propagation modeling techniques are inaccurate in these bands. Full-wave FDTD based solutions, which directly solve Maxwells equations in time domain, provide an accurate method to predict the spatial signal variation in the presence of inhomogeneous clutter. However, application of FDTD is currently limited to electrically small scale scenes due to their computationally complex nature. The objective of this SBIR is the development of efficient codes to provide a new capability in this regime, for the accurate study of propagation channels and consequent development of systems. On a single computer, current state-of-the-art FDTD codes can solve a 3D scene with a maximum number of cells of roughly 10 million [6]. Also, existing codes offer limited flexibility in terms of handling various realistic feature-rich scene geometries and material properties. The codes developed as a result of this SBIR should at least double the computational efficiency of the state-of-the-art solver both in terms of speed and memory required for computation. They should also have high fidelity and provide scene generation capabilities to simulate a variety of realistic urban scenarios. FDTD parallelization via domain decomposition offers one approach to reducing computational complexity without sacrificing accuracy. For example, a very large physical scene can be decomposed into a number of smaller domains and distributed among many nodes of HPC cluster. At each time step of the FDTD computation, each node updates the fields in its subdomain, and all the subdomains are then combined. Also, for large-scale scenarios, one can often identify parts that may not interact with each other, for example due to large free-space separation. In such cases, it is possible to decompose the scene into uncoupled substructures, simulate each substructure separately, and then superimpose the contributions of all substructures coherently using algorithms inspired by the fast multipole (FMM) method. The main research questions to be investigated include: 1) devising efficient codes compatible with and scalable on HPC platforms, 2) the ability to simulate realistic complex 3D scenes such as dense urban, e.g., including high-rise structures with subterranean space, 3) provide spatially dense propagation predictions throughout the environment including amplitude and phase (not just path loss), 4) enable the use of such codes for fast simulations of mobile networks, 5) incorporate emerging miniaturized antenna models as well as enable the study of arrays on transmit and receive, 6) ability to import terrain data in various formats and standards, and 7) incorporate parametric models of urban scenes for rapid scene geometry reconfiguration. Urban scenes should include interior and exterior features, realistic material properties, and infrastructure. The codes should be flexible to accommodate the HF/VHF bands and beyond. 

PHASE I: The Phase I study will focus on specification of appropriate propagation models and expansion of the models to large scene analysis compatible with high performance computers. This will also include selection of appropriate scenarios for modeling and study, such as dense urban, forest, tunnel and other relevant highly cluttered environments. The Phase I study will include estimation of accuracy and performance tradeoffs, and incorporation of antenna models, terrain data as well as various types of sources including plane-wave sources and lumped source of arbitrary user-defined sources. 

PHASE II: Phase II will consist of implementation and testing of the propagation codes in increasingly large scale scenes. Validation will be carried out to the degree possible through theoretical and experimental means. The Phase II deliverables include documented flexible codes with feature-rich models of urban structures (incorporating realistic geometries and relevant material properties) with high fidelity for adoption into Army and DoD research. A key aspect of this phase is optimization of the code for large scene simulations with the goal of at least doubling the computational efficiency of the state-of-the-art full wave solver. 

PHASE III: Phase III will yield a commercialized code that can be adapted to a variety of scenarios, for both military and civilian applications. The end-state of this research must result in a final code that would readily be utilized by the Army to solve relevant problems such as fast simulations of mobile networks in large scale complex urban/indoor scenarios with accurate geometries and material properties. The contractor should work with Army scientists and engineers as well as commercial partners, to identify and implement technology transition to the military (e.g. CERDEC & USSOCOM) and for civilian applications such as Macro and pico-cell deployment (Qualcomm) and deployment of emergency communications and tracking systems in austere infrastructure-poor environments. The final codes developed as a result of this SBIR should at least double the computational efficiency of the state-of-the-art solver both in terms of speed and memory required for computation in addition to being easily portable and scalable on HPC platforms. It should also have features to generate and reconfigure feature-rich urban and indoor scene geometries and material properties as well as incorporate actual terrain data into the model. While it is anticipated that Army future operations will need to contend with dense urban settings, there currently does not exist highly accurate and large-scale propagation models at low frequencies, to efficiently and accurately predict performance when indoors or surrounded by dense clutter. These codes will provide unprecedented new capability to study, understand, and design systems that will provide persistent communications, control, and geolocation in dense urban settings. This especially includes indoor/outdoor operation, with one-hop connectivity deep into buildings. 

REFERENCES: 

1: F. Dagefu, G. Verma, J. Choi, B. Sadler, and K. Sarabandi, Low-Power Low-Frequency Communications in Complex Environments with Miniature Antennas, IEEE Antennas and propagation Magazine, submitted for publication, January 2016

2: F. Dagefu, G. Verma, C. Rao, P. Yu, B. Sadler, K. Sarabandi, Short-Range Low-VHF Channel Characterization in Cluttered Environments, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 63, no. 6, pp. 2719-2727, June 2015

3: F. Dagefu, J. Choi, M. Sheikhsofla, B. M. Sadler, K. Sarabandi, Performance assessment of lower VHF band for short-range communication and geolocation applications, Radio Science Journal, June 2015

4: F. Dagefu, J. Choi, M. Sheikhsofla, B. M. Sadler, K. Sarabandi, Performance assessment of lower VHF band for short-range communication and geolocation applications, Radio Science Journal, June 2015

5: Jungsuek Oh ; Jihun Choi ; Dagefu, F.T. ; Sarabandi, K.; Extremely Small Two-Element Monopole Antenna for HF Band Applications, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Volume: 61 , Issue: 6, 2013

6: Retrieved from: http://www.speag.com/products/semcad/solutions/

7: F. Dagefu, K. Sarabandi, Analysis and Modeling of Near-Ground Wave Propagation in the Presence of Building Walls, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Volume: 59 , Issue: 6 , Part: 2, 2011

KEYWORDS: Radio Propagation, Low Frequency, VHF, FDTD Models, HPC Based Propagation Modeling 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop portable conformal rechargeable solid state high energy storage devices for soldiers with enhanced safety and reduced weight. 

DESCRIPTION: Battery energy storage has become a critical component in military operations because of the rapidly growing demands of the power-consuming systems carried by the soldiers on the battlefield. Currently utilized batteries are flammable and suffer from insufficiently high specific energy, which create safety and tactical burden for the soldiers. The use of solid state batteries may offer enhanced safety and increased energy density. However, current solid state technology typically relies on metallic lithium anode, which cannot be rapidly charged or discharged at low temperatures and is additionally unsafe if exposed to air or water upon accidental disassembling of a cell case. This effort seeks proposals that demonstrate conformal solid state lithium batteries that operate in a wide range of thermal conditions with excellent cyclic performance, provide high rate performance compatibility, low inherent materials and systems safety risks with anodes other than metal foil. The conformal battery is a thin, lightweight, flexible battery that conforms to the desired shape. Scalable low-cost manufacturability is also of great importance. 

PHASE I: The Contractor shall develop anode, cathode, solid state electrolyte and conduct physical testing and qualification to provide clear evidence for the feasibility of the Phase II lithium cell. Developed technology should be feasible to produce full cells of size greater than 0.25 Ah. The milestone will include a solid state cell prototype with the unit stack (current collectors, electrodes, and electrolyte) specific energy > 250 Wh/kg and energy density > 600 Wh/l. Cell flexibility should exceed state of the art at the same energy density. 

PHASE II: By the end of Phase II development of materials and manufacturing methods is expected to lead to a conformal lithium solid state cell with the following deliverables: (1) technology demonstration for the full solid state cells of 12 V, 150 Wh total energy that will operate within -40 to + 60 degrees C and provide cell-level specific energy > 350 Wh/kg and energy density > 800 Wh/l when operating at room temperature at a discharge rate of C/2. Energy density is based upon weight of current collectors, electrodes, and electrolyte. This cell should also exhibit cycle life of at least 250 cycles (> 80% of initial capacity) and survive storage at temperatures from -55 to +80 degrees C. (2) A concept design of the scalable manufacturing of such cells. In addition, abuse tolerance testing is highly desired for shock, nail testing and other methods to test for fire and explosion risks. 

PHASE III: Safe conformal high energy density, high power energy storage systems have dual use for both military and civilian applications. Wide temperature range required will satisfy stringent environmental requirements for military power sources for storage and during transportation. A concept design of the scalable manufacturing of such cells developed in Phase II shall be applied for manufacturing of the large format batteries and commercializing developed technology. Developed lithium batteries can be used as power sources for quick reaction munitions, soldier-portable systems, distributed sensor systems, etc. in the battlefield. The environmental requirements for military power sources may include their use at extreme hot and cold temperatures, exposure to dust, wind, snow and high levels of shock and vibration both in use and during transportation. Army temperature, specific energy, power and cycle life requirements are, however, different from the requirements for the civilian battery for transportation applications and portable indicating a niche market for the developed product. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Zhou, G., Li, F. & Cheng, H.-M. Progress in flexible lithium batteries and future prospects. Energ Environ Sci 7, 1307-1338, doi:10.1039/C3EE43182G (2014)

2: Conformal Wearable Battery: http://www.cerdec.army.mil/news_and_media/Conformal_Wearable_Battery/

3: Nitta, N., Wu, F., Lee, J. T. & Yushin, G. Li-ion battery materials: present and future. Materials Today 18, 252-264, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2014.10.040 (2015)

4: Palacín, M. R. & de Guibert, A. Why do batteries fail? Science 351, doi:10.1126/science.1253292 (2016)

KEYWORDS: Energy Storage, Solid State Battery, Conformal Battery, Reducing Logistical Burden For Soldiers 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop technologies to embed ARLs Automated Impacts Routing into autonomous multi-rotor platform technology to automatically inform navigation processes. 

DESCRIPTION: Military swarming is often encountered in asymmetric warfare where opposing forces are not of the same size, or capacity. In such situations, swarming involves the use of a decentralized force against an opponent, in a manner that emphasizes mobility, communication, unit autonomy and coordination or synchronization. [1]. On a future battlefield, Commanders will deploy intelligent autonomous systems that can function in a swarm-like mentality, working in a synchronized manner to deploy necessary force or gather intelligence that would otherwise not be available. It is envisioned in 2040 that these intelligent autonomous systems (IAS) will pervade the battlefield. These systems must rapidly sense, react, and learn from the environment in which they function. Just as biological systems have adapted to the environment, so must the future IAS. Technologies to ensure an efficient, effective and survivable system must be developed. These capabilities must include: harvesting atmospheric energy for sustained power; innovative techniques to quickly sense and "blend" with the atmospheric background and perceive a threat; and, determine and mitigate environmental effects on an IAS or a swarm of IASs. We must develop technologies that allow autonomous systems to learn and adapt to these type of changes in the environment, specific to Army operations. This capability will empower U.S. forces to maximize environmental situational awareness and understanding, with minimal or no human involvement. Multi-rotor autonomous system technology already exists, where the user can program a flight route into the on-board system and allow the system to fly without additional interface. As a first step in developing a total autonomous system for battlefield operations, it will be necessary for the system to understand the environment that it is flying through and then make educated decisions based on that information. The Army has developed decision aid technology that is able to ingest current atmospheric data or atmospheric forecast data. With that information, an optimized route through the atmospheric threats (as well as other Battlespace obstacles) is created for the operator to navigate. With this technology (the Armys Automated Impacts Routing (AIR) system) added to the embedded system on a multi-rotor autonomous system, the platform will be able to ingest environmental data, execute AIR to generate an optimized route, then change the systems navigation waypoint to a more optimized position along the total planned flight path. The multi-rotor systems would then be considered environmentally intelligent. Specific to Army, this system will make use of existing and future Battlespace technologies including Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance (ISR) information as part of the Battle Command Network. The complete intelligence picture including weather will then drive the path optimization of the multi-rotor platform. 

PHASE I: Develop on-board embedded system/processor(s), which can run Army-developed Automated Impacts Routing (AIR) system which will generate an optimized path through the grid for use by the IAS. The optimized path output generated by AIR is in Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)-compliant Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format, and can be selected as path-only or path and impacts grid output format for use by the embedded system. The embedded system should allow the optimized path generated by AIR to be used to adjust flight control systems within the IAS, thus providing a safer flight path along which the IAS is moving to conduct mission operations. Additionally, show the potential for the embedded system to ingest high resolution atmospheric model data. The model data will be on the order of 300MB for a 100kmx100km domain, 1km grid spacing hourly forecast with forecasts out to 3 hours. Thus, model data frequency is expected to be approximately 300MB/hr. Demonstrate prototype embedded system running AIR and using AIR output to adjust flight control systems of IAS. Threshold; demonstrate on bench, output dataset for one valid time from model data as input into AIR, AIR is run and adjusts flight controls. Objective; demonstrate input of multiple time steps in the model data (forecast for three different time steps) into AIR, AIR output adjust flight controls for each time step, in flight. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate system implementing technology developments achieved in Phase I. Verify data collected by onboard embedded system. Demonstrate system collecting high-resolution model data, generating impacts grid(s) and those grids being processed onboard by AIR. Additionally, demonstrate onboard atmospheric sensor data collection, impacts grid generation and processing similar to the use of high-resolution model data. The sensor data size and frequency is sensor-dependent, but on the order of the sampling frequency of a very small form factor meteorological sensor. Data size/frequency requirements further refined from Phase I test results. Threshold; demonstrate input of multiple time steps in the model data (forecast for three different time steps) into AIR, AIR output adjust flight controls for each time step, in flight. Objective; in addition to threshold criteria, demonstrate ability to use onboard sensor data. 

PHASE III: The contractor shall integrate the Phase II approach into one or more systems/software applications for eventual fielding. Deliver final developed system, including prototype and all software technology to Army for immediate use with current Army research-level forecast models. Commercial applications include use in autonomous systems for home delivery of packages (i.e Amazon) or autonomous systems such as Googles car for street view images. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Edwards, Sean J.A. (2000). Swarming on the Battlefield: Past, Present, and Future. Rand Monograph MR-1100. Rand Corporation. ISBN 0-8330-2779-4

2: Johnson, JO (2015) Automated Impacts Routing (AIR): Standalone Desktop Application User's Guide, ARL Technical Report (ARL-TR-7398)

3: Johnson, JO (2011) Atmospheric Impacts Routing (AIR), ARL Technical Report (ARL-TR-5792)

KEYWORDS: UAV, UAS, Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Atmospheric Effects, Automated Impacts Routing, Weather, Uncertainty, Decision Making, Forecast, Decision Tool, High Resolution, Embedded Systems 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop and demonstrate integrated circuits required to obtain highly linear and efficient transmitters at mm-wave frequencies. 

DESCRIPTION: The recent proliferation of battlefield sensors and unmanned platforms capable of collecting broadband data (video, audio, etc.) has led to greater situational awareness, monitoring, and information gathering. It has also increased the demand for information throughput beyond the capacity of current commercial and military communication systems. The ever increasing demands on information throughput (multi-gigabit per second) can be easily met by moving the operating frequencies towards the mm-wave range. At the same time, the rapid advancement in semiconductor technology has reduced the cost of mm-wave integrated circuits considerably. Moreover, significant progress has been made in developing harmonically-optimized highly efficient linear power amplifier architectures. These factors have stimulated interest in developing breakthrough high performance, linear, high-efficiency mm-wave electronics. The current architectures suffer from substantial energy-efficiency degradation at deep power back off. In addition, the nonlinearities have limited the use of the electronics to low spectral efficiency modulation schemes. As a result, the throughput has been limited to 1 GB/s combined with high energy consumption. Thus, the electronics has been custom tailored to each application and cannot be used as a "common module re-configurable" sub-system. The current size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) has limited the use of mm-wave circuits to large platforms. The development of linear broadband mm-wave transmitters will greatly improve the communications bandwidth. Based on Shannons capacity limit, increasing the bandwidth automatically reduces the required energy per bit for the same information throughput. This leads to longer battery life and greater mobility for soldiers and units. In addition, linear operation enables higher order modulation leading to greater spectral efficiency further adding to battery energy savings. This program seeks the development of inexpensive (i.e. highly-integrated), frequency-agile, energy-efficient, ultra-linear mm-wave transmitter architecture and implementation. The transmitter should meet the following design targets: (1) the saturated output power should exceed 1 Watt (higher output power is desirable), (2) the operating frequency band should be 10 GHz (or more) with a minimum center frequency of 30 GHz, (3) the peak efficiency should be comparable with state of the art (in the technology chosen) and the efficiency at 6 dB back-off should be greatly enhanced over the classical class-B efficiency, (4) the linearity (measured with adjacent channel power ratio, ACPR, where the adjacent channel is 1.5 times the symbol rate from the center frequency) should be better than 35 dBc at 3 dB back-off from P1dB (power at 1 dB compression), and (5) the data rate should exceed 5 GB/s (giga-bit per second). Ideally, the transmitter can support multiple (greater than 2 or 3) modulated carriers simultaneously. The transmitter needs to readily interface with standard 50-ohm components, and to tolerate voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) up to 1:2. The local oscillator can be internally generated or supplied from outside. The transmitter input will be base-band in-phase / quadrature (I and Q) modulation data. This development will enable inexpensive broadband mobile communications for various army platforms. It will also benefit the commercial mm-wave communications systems such as 5G (fifth generation wireless). 

PHASE I: Perform trade study between system size, architecture, operating frequency, operating bandwidth, efficiency enhancement schemes, modulation format, data rate, power consumption, etc. Develop system level model of transmitter based on optimized parameters selected from the trade study. Develop initial circuit implementation of the transmitter system. Phase I should determine the feasibility of developing a transmitter meeting the design specifications mentioned in the description. Specifically, it shall have a saturated output power exceeding 1 Watt; a 10 GHz (or more) operating frequency band with a center frequency of 30 GHz (or higher); state-of-the-art peak and back-off efficiency; ACPR linearity better than 35 dBc at 3 dB back-off from P1dB; and data rate exceeding 5 GB/s. It should also include the design of a proof-of-concept unit, demonstrate the performer's ability to deliver, and address the potential implementation risks. Deliverables shall include quarterly reports, a final report, and complete simulation files and results showing the detailed system performance. In addition, reviews (including onsite) will be conducted by the government team. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate the complete integrated mm-wave transmitter presented in phase I. The transmitter should satisfy the requirements described earlier including a saturated output power exceeding 1 Watt; a 10 GHz (or more) operating frequency band with a center frequency of 30 GHz (or higher); state-of-the-art peak and back-off efficiency; ACPR linearity better than 35 dBc at 3 dB back-off from P1dB; and data rate exceeding 5 GB/s. Demonstrate a high-fidelity linear efficient communication link using the developed transmitter. Deliverables shall include quarterly reports, a final report, complete design, layout, and simulation files showing the detailed components and system performance. Deliverables shall also include four completed and tested prototype units with their test results. In addition, reviews (including onsite) will be conducted by the government team. 

PHASE III: It is expected that these transmitters will have applications in wide ranges of wireless communications (and electronic warfare) networks, multi-function radars, and micro autonomous systems. Phase III work will develop distributed re-configurable network architectures to connect many radio nodes. These networked radio nodes can be incorporated into current Army and DoD programs in communications networks and micro autonomous systems integrated with communications, computation and navigation capabilities to enable stealth and collaborative information gathering in adverse and hostile battlefield environments to achieve enhanced situational awareness for the Soldiers. The technology can easily be transitioned for commercial applications, at mm-wave frequencies, where many inexpensive communicating nodes are required such as in 5G communication standards, and wireless gigabit alliance (WiGig) which uses the IEEE 802.11ad WiFi standard. The performer shall map out a transition path towards commercialization. The transition plan should be specific and detailed with clear milestones and goals. 

REFERENCES: 

1: H. Wang and Kaushik Sengupta, RF and mm-Wave Power Generation in Silicon, 1st edition, Academic Press, Elsevier, Dec. 2015

2: S. C. Cripps, RF Power Amplifiers for Wireless Communications, 2nd edition, Artech House, May 2006

3: A. M. Niknejad and H. Hashemi, mm-Wave Silicon Technology: 60 GHz and Beyond, Springer, 2008

4: A. M. Niknejad, "Siliconization of 60 GHz," IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 11 , Issue: 1, 2010, pp. 78 - 85

5: M. Abadi, H. Golestaneh, H. Sarbishaei, S. Boumaiza, Doherty Power Amplifier With Extended Bandwidth and Improved Linearizability Under Carrier-Aggregated Signal Stimuli, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters Vol. 26, Issue 5, pp. 358 “ 360, 2016

6: H. Hashemi, S. Raman, mm-Wave Silicon Power Amplifiers and Transmitters, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2016

KEYWORDS: Mm-wave Transmitter; High-efficiency; High-linearity; Broadband; Frequency Agile 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To design, develop, and demonstrate the feasibility of an efficient and lightweight multi-fuel burner for soldier-borne battery re-charging. 

DESCRIPTION: Power systems relying on rechargeable battery operations limit Soldier and platform mobility by the low specific energy density of rechargeable batteries (145-160 W·h/kg). A typical squad leader can carry more than 14 pounds of batteries for a 72-hour mission for an average of 12 Watts with some squad members requiring more than double that amount. Hybridizing hydrocarbon or alcohol-based power sources with rechargeable batteries can provide lighter and longer running power systems than battery-only systems. For example, a 1 kg (dry), 10% efficient power source using JP-8 to produce 25 Watts for 72 hours can achieve a specific energy of 700 W·h/kg, thus reducing the weight compared to a battery by 5 times or extending the mission duration by the same amount. Energy conversion technologies with minimal friction losses are necessary to convert the heat to electricity in an efficient manner at a scale that would enable a <1 kg (dry) power source weight capable of producing 10-30 Watt (electrical). Current and past programs have largely focused on improving only the thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency via thermoelectric or thermophotovoltaic energy conversion using non optimized propane or butane fuel mixtures commonly found in recreational camping stoves and target specific energy densities of 700-1000 W·h/kg for a 72 h mission using temperatures that range from 773K to 1273K. For example, an ongoing propane fueled thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power source project described by Fraas et al. [1] and a review by Bitnar et al. [2] which surveyed efforts of TPV power sources demonstrated using single fuels suggests that a thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency of 15% may be feasible. Overall system efficiencies of 10% were by both Fraas et al. and Bitnar et al. A multi-fuel capability enabling the use of gaseous mixtures and liquids with varying thermodynamic properties and purity as well as optimization of the thermal efficiency can enable a power source capable of operating from logistics sources or from sources procured locally. Previous efforts on logistics fueled or multi-fuel capable burners have focused on large scale heating applications such as portable cooking stoves, water heating [3], or Stirling engine applications all > 1 kW thermal power aimed at heating surfaces much lower than combustion temperatures. Recent breakthroughs in micro- and meso-scale combustion technology, advanced atomization and vaporization techniques for heavy hydrocarbons, and advanced heat exchanger technologies for heat recuperation have the potential to achieve the lightweight, thermally efficient burners required to reduce the weight Soldiers carry for power by 5 times when integrated with efficient thermal-to-electric energy conversion technology. This program will advance the key enabling technologies and integration solutions to realize a multi-fuel burner capable of heating surfaces in the range of 450K to 1500K with a thermal efficiency >80% and overall system efficiency >10% in extremely small form factors to produce 10-30 Watt (electrical) with a dry system weight <1 kg for a specific energy >600 W·h/kg. The effort shall look to study designs which increase the life of burner materials including catalysts if appropriate, increase efficiency of heat recuperation, improve overall thermal efficiency, minimize soot and coke deposits, and minimize parasitic losses. Fuels of interest include: JP-8, JP-5, diesel, gasoline, higher alcohols (C2+) and biofuels, as well as methanol and propane. The system should be capable of operating on low sulfur (<15 ppm sulfur) fuels at a minimum with the objective of being able to operate on fuels with up to 3000 ppm (wt.) sulfur. 

PHASE I: The investigation shall explore combustion concepts, designs and materials of a multi-fuel burner and select the associated thermal-to-electric energy conversion method (e.g. thermoelectric or thermophotovoltaic) for a 10-30 Watt (electrical) battery re-charger capable of achieving >600 W·h/kg (including fuel) for 72 hours. The system efficiency and weight assessment including all balance-of-plant components should be completed to determine the predicted specific energy. Identification of key burner components including catalysts (if appropriate), vaporization mechanism, ignition mechanism, and heat recuperation also should be completed. A tradeoff analysis between the burner size, weight, efficiency, and the range of usable fuels should be completed. The range of fuels should include: JP-8, DF-2, and propane at a minimum and additionally light liquids, such as gasoline and higher alcohols (C2+), and heavy liquids, such as other kerosene-based fuels as an objective. The system should be capable of operating on low sulfur (<15 ppm sulfur) fuels at a minimum with the objective of being able to operate on fuels with up to 3000 ppm (wt.) sulfur. Unless the submitting organization has demonstrated thermal-to-electric energy converters (e.g. thermoelectric or thermophotovoltaics) for similar applications, partnering with an appropriate organization is desirable. End of Phase I requires demonstration of critical burner component concepts to determine the feasibility to achieve the targets of the burner. 

PHASE II: Fabricate prototype multi-fuel burners based on the phase I design and integrate into thermal-to-electric converters for evaluation. Verification of design targets such as the range of fuels from Phase I, efficiency and weight (consistent with >600 W·h/kg Phase I target), and cost validation. Characterization and evaluation of operational parameters should include ignition power and start up time, tolerance to impurities, and operational lifetime. End of phase 2 requires demonstration of a TRL 4 level multi-fueled thermal-to-electric converter prototype for Army/ARL evaluation as a potential battery re-charger. 

PHASE III: Integrate the multi-fuel burner and thermal-to-electric energy converter with all necessary balance-of-plant components to fabricate a standalone prototype battery re-charger. Demonstrate system performance targets such as system efficiency re-charging a Soldier-worn battery, system weight including balance-of-plant, ability to switch between different fuel types including from liquid to gaseous fuels, system lifetime, and cost. Demonstrate a TRL 5 level Soldier portable multi-fuel battery re-charger porotype for Army/ARL evaluation. Develop partnerships with Army Project/Program Offices to enable opportunities for fielding to support future forward area Soldier and tactical platforms. Potential commercial applications for a fuel flexible portable power could include supporting emergency / disaster relief operations and operations in nations lacking a robust power infrastructure. Potential commercial applications for fuel flexible burner could include portable heaters for water or combustion systems in cold climates. 

REFERENCES: 

1: L. Fraas, L. M., J. Avery, H. She, L. Ferguson, and F. Dogan, "Lightweight Fuel-Fired Thermophotovoltaic Power Supply," EU PVSEC 2015, Hamburg, Germany, 2015

2: B. Bitnar, W. Durisch, and R. Holzner, "Thermophotovoltaics on the move to applications," Applied Energy, Vol. 105, pp. 430-438, 2013

3: C. Welles, " Development of an Advanced Flameless Combustion Heat Source Utilizing Heavy Fuels," Natick Technical Report Natick/TR-10-018, 2010

KEYWORDS: Multi-fuel Burner, Fuel Flexible Combustion, Thermoelectric, Thermophotovoltaic (TPV), Micro-combustion, Meso-scale Combustion, Combustion Catalyst 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop mid wave infrared (MWIR) imaging detectors operating at temperatures greater than 250K utilizing low-cost colloidal quantum dots (CQD) photodiode technology. 

DESCRIPTION: Infrared imaging is strategically important technology for information gathering and battlespace awareness; however, the technological advances in the U.S. Military enjoyed over the past is threatened today [1-3]. Existing infrared imaging technologies present cost and production barriers to wide-scale deployment among the infantry. The superiority of the American warfighter is declining due to the proliferation of decades-old thermal imaging technologies. To restore technological superiority of the infantry, higher-performing technologies must be deployed or existing capabilities deployed more widely at the same spending levels; enabled by a new low cost technology. The gold standard in infrared imaging technology is provided by cryogenically cooled focal plane arrays (FPAs) with photovoltaic absorbers. These FPAs are generally fabricated from two wafers of different materials, one bearing the photovoltaic device junctions and the other containing the readout integrated circuit (ROIC) electronics, which are bonded (hybridized) together in a lengthy and expensive process. The multitude of production steps simultaneously reduces yield and increases labor cost. The need for cryogenic cooling necessitates complicated camera body and optics designs: costs rivaling that of the FPA. In addition, the size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements for cryogenic cooling often limit their use in smaller platforms such as helmet and rifle mounting applications. Due to high cost and low availability, the best thermal imaging technology is often deployed per platform, based on expected mission requirements rather than widely deployed to patrols or individual soldiers for general-purpose use. Nanomaterials are an emerging class of materials with physical, optical and electrical properties that can be significantly different from their traditional bulk forms, and may exhibit phenomena previously unseen in bulk materials. Semiconductor quantum dots with radii less than the Bohr radius of the bulk (known as quantum dots (QD)) shows quantum confinement in optical and electronic properties. The technology of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) further offers inexpensive, highly-scalable production of infrared imaging FPAs using commodity off-the-shelf (CoTS) ROICs[7], providing a significant cost reduction and increase in availability. Infrared photodetectors made out of CQDs are an emerging technology with the potential to offer high-performance, near background-limited infrared imaging without cooling, providing a significant cost and SWaP benefit [4-6]. Hence, this nanotechnology could provide high-performance infrared imaging to every warfighter which gives full digital capabilities much better than night-vision goggles. At present, the charge transfer process in this new class of material system is unknown and topic seeks a better understanding of the fundamental transport properties in order to maximize the charge collection process. Primary goal of this SBIR topic is to demonstrate MWIR (spectral band 3 “ 5 ¿m) detectors that enable low-cost, large format, high performing CQDs as the absorbing layer. Possible applications of CQD PV image sensors could be for night vision and poor weather imaging for military operations, night driving, target identification, surveillance, fire rescue in smoke-filled environments; industrial applications such as process control, large area temperature monitoring and preventative maintenance; environmental monitoring for pipe leaks, hazardous material spills, automobile exhaust emissions, and the status of high power electrical systems; and non-invasive medical measurements of temperature for tumors and blood flow. 

PHASE I: Study and optimize the transport, optical and non-radiative properties of MWIR CQD material and design/fabricate detectors with variable areas. Understand the bulk and surface properties of these detectors by characterizing current versus voltage. Study long term chemical stability, suitable CQD size distribution for MWIR applications, and shell/ligand structures. Demonstrate the concept and feasibility of MWIR (spectral band 3 “ 5 microns) based on CQD layer as the absorbing material operating at temperatures greater than 250K which can easily be achieved with existing thermo-electric cooling with one-stage. Demonstrate average quantum efficiency greater than 30% in the 3 - 5 micron spectral range and detectivity D* of greater than 1E10 cm-Hz1/2 per Watt. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate MWIR FPAs (spectral band 3 “ 5 microns) operating at temperatures greater than 250K based on the novel CQD nanomaterial developed in Phase I, without the need for hybrid bonding to the ROICs. The FPA must be fabricated using available ROICs, and the production process must be scalable to wafer level. Demonstrate noise equivalent temperature difference of less than 50 mK for F/1.0 optics, 300K background photon fluxes and 99% optics transmission. Develop a plan to integrate the FPA technology into a deployable imaging system in Phase III. Show a production plan that meets the cost and numbers requirements for the intended deployment. Provide a cost for performance comparison between systems using the new technology and systems using existing technologies, and a production outline that feasibly delivers the anticipated number of units at the projected cost. 

PHASE III: Deliver additional prototype MWIR camera systems using the developed technology in Phase I and II. Evaluate these systems for field survivability, operability and storage conditions. Address any shortcomings to meet military applications and requirements. These may include applications such as helmet mounted, weapon mounted and Tier I&II UAS for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. The MWIR phenomenology is also important for many commercial applications including vehicular advanced drivers aid system, forest fire monitoring and maritime and perimeter surveillance. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Technology Gap Closing, Top Acquisitions Official Warns, Claudette Roulo, DoD News, Defense Media Activity, Nov. 5, 2014. URL: http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/603591

2: Pentagon: Military Losing Technological Superiority to China, Jeryl Bier, Weekly Standard, Jan. 29, 2015

3: EO/IR Sensors, Military & Aerospace Electronics, Jan 2016

4: J. Phillips, Evaluation of the fundamental properties of quantum dot infrared detectors, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 4590 (2002)

5: A. Rogalski, Insight on quantum dot infrared photodetectors, Journal of Physics: Conference Series 146, 012030 (2009)

KEYWORDS: Short Wavelength Infrared, MLWIR, Infrared Imaging, Focal Plane Array, FPA, Quantum Dots, Colloidal 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop self-regenerative enhanced protection compositions of silicon based ceramic matrix composites exposed to particle laden degraded Engine environments. 

DESCRIPTION: Increased power demands from operational Army rotorcraft require higher operating engine gas temperature which in turn needs advanced higher temperature propulsion materials and film cooling. Lightweight silicon-based (e.g. SiC-SiC) ceramic matrix composites (CMC) are leading candidates to replace three times heavier nickel-based superalloys for hot section components used in advanced gas turbine engines generating increased specific power. Increasingly for hot section engine components SiC-SiC CMCs are projected to replace the metallic Ni-based superalloys in current engine upgrades and in future military and commercial jet engines. Unfortunately, exposures of these materials to high temperature combustion environments limit the effectiveness of thermally grown silica scales in providing protection from oxidation and component recession during service. Environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) are therefore necessary to protect the underlying ceramic substrate from environmental attack. Such coatings require good stability in the presence of water vapor, a mechanism for limiting oxygen/water vapor transport and high temperature phase stability. The nature of the silicon-based ceramic recession issue dictates that any EBC system must provide prime reliant performance to ensure full component lifetimes. A significant challenge for prime reliant EBC systems is the common occurrence of foreign particles in the engine during service. The size and composition of the particles, along with their temperature during interaction with the protective EBC dictates the prevalent damage mechanism to the coating system with molten (i.e. calcia-magnesia-alumina-silicate (CMAS)) and solid particle (i.e. erosion and impact) attack both of high concern. Approaches that can limit or prevent the deposition of molten particles onto the surface of EBC systems and, therefore, prevent thermo-chemical attack of the EBC layers by the molten sand are of high interest as is the ability to heal cracks resulting from solid particle interactions in-situ (i.e. self-healing mechanisms). The approaches designed should not degrade the important properties of EBCs such as thermal, chemical, and water-vapor stability. The approaches may include self-regenerative layered or graded environmental barrier coatings deposited upon functionalized graded CMC bulk material with low thermal conductivity, high thermomechanical strain tolerance and phobic to molten/semi-molten particulate adherence and infiltration. The incorporation of such techniques will significantly enhanced the durability of EBC coated SiC-SiC CMCs leading to an extension of the component lifetime. 

PHASE I: Down-select advanced approaches for self-regenerative layered or graded environmental barrier coatings (EBC) bonded to functionally graded CMC material or unique functionally graded bulk CMC material substrate with inherent self-regenerative EBC properties. Assess the feasibility of the proposed approaches to improve the durability of SiC-SiC CMCs in particle containing combustion environments. Proposed techniques should be evaluated on representative SiC or SiC-SiC substrates for hot section gas generator components (nozzle vanes, rotor blades, shrouds) in relevant particle laden engine environment. The hot section CMC component (with the proposed solution consisting of a bonded self-regenerative functionally layered or graded EBC, or comprising of an integrated functionally graded bulk CMC material with inherent self-regenerative EBC properties) should survive a combusted sand and/or salt exposure and water vapor at the feed rate of 1-1.5 gm/min for 3 minutes each for a minimum of 20 hot/cold cycles of steady-state flame temperature of 1400 deg Celsius or higher. The estimated life increase over baseline CMC bulk substrate component should be over 50%. 

PHASE II: Optimize the down-selected approach(es) that were demonstrated during Phase I. Create robust engineering data related to the capabilities of the techniques to allow evaluation in a full-scale cyclic engine endurance tests following the completion of the Phase II program. During the Phase II, the gas generator bladed disk (blisk) or nozzle vane assembly substrate with the proposed self-regenerative solution (self-regenerative layered or graded environmental barrier coatings (EBC) bonded to functionally graded CMC material or unique functionally graded bulk CMC material substrate with inherent self-regenerative EBC properties) for blades, nozzles and shrouds should survive a combusted sand and a combination of salt and water vapor exposure at the feed rate of 25 gm/min for 3 minutes each for a minimum of 100 hot/cold cycles of steady-state flame temperature of 1550 deg Celsius or higher. This will be followed by a relevant engine mission profile test cycle as defined by US Army Research Laboratory. The estimated life increase over baseline CMC bulk substrate component should be over 100%. 

PHASE III: The optimized enhanced self-regenerative protective coating and bulk substrate CMC technology shall be incorporated into test engines or onto test components for full scale engine test validation to TRL-6 or higher in conjunction with Gas Turbine Engine manufacturers. A targeted platform would be technology transition to Army Aviation's Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) which is the enhanced new replacement engine for UH60 and AH-64 Army helicopters. DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The resulting technology will enable significantly enhance time-on-wing/durability of hot section components of future advanced engines with high turbine inlet temperatures operating in particle laden environments. Both military and commercial aircraft applications are likely to benefit from this technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Murugan, M., Ghoshal, A., Barnett, B. D., Pepi, M., Kerner, K.A., Blade Surface-Particle Interaction and Multifunctional Coatings For Gas Turbine Engine, 51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Propulsion and Energy Forum, (AIAA 2015-4193) Orlando, FL July 2015

2: Lee, K. N., Fox, D. S., Robinson, R. C., and Bansal, N. P, "Environmental Barrier Coatings for Silicon-Based Ceramics. High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites," High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites, Edited by W. Krenkel, R. Naslain, H. Schneider, Wiley-Vch, Weinheim, Germany, 224-229 (2001)

3: Bhatt, R.T., Choi, S.R., Cosgriff, L.M., Fox, D.S., Lee, K.N.; Impact Resistance of Environmental Barrier Coated SiC/SiC Composites, Mater Sci. Eng., A 476 8-19 (2008)

4: K.M. Grant, S. Kramer, J.P.A. Lofvander and C.G. Levi, Surf. And Coat. Technol., 202 (2007) 653-657

KEYWORDS: Self Regenerative Environmental Barrier Coatings; Gas Turbine Engine; Particle Laden Degraded Engine Environments; Ceramic Matrix Composites 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop high-fidelity science-based tools for the design and demonstration of innovative high-pressure heavy fuel injector technology for Aerial and Ground Engines. 

DESCRIPTION: The Army is developing new heavy fuel engines for platforms that exclusively rely on direct injection fuel delivery systems. Combat vehicles such as the Gray Eagle MQ-1C, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) are powered by commercial diesel engines running primarily on JP-8 or F-24 fuel. To meet and exceed the range and operational requirements, the new engines need to provide significant advancements in fuel flexibility and fuel conversion efficiencies leading to highly optimized, high performance combustion engines. However, there are significant technical barriers towards the performance evaluation of new fuel propositions and injector concepts. These challenges can be primarily attributed to the insufficient physical understanding and the restricted experimental access to the atomization zone near the injector, the so called primary atomization region [1], and the absence of science-based tools that enable an accurate prediction of atomizing diesel sprays. Although existing computational tools can provide quantitative data as well as visual images with ease, they are missing critical capabilities, which means significant parameter tuning is needed based on experimental data often not accessible in real engine operating conditions [2]. The direct numerical simulation (DNS) continuum model, is a predictive approach with high-fidelity, but its computational cost would not be affordable for several decades for practical engineering purposes [3]. An attractive alternative with reasonable cost is the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach. However, existing subgrid-scale (SGS) models for two-phase LES flows applicable to primary atomization still lack an adequate physical description of the interface breakup and thus are limited to predict the effect of under-resolved breakup phenomena [4-5]. Therefore, a critical need exists to develop novel concepts for subgrid-scale LES models based on the underlying physical principles governing the breakup at the interface scales. The subgrid-scale models should capture the gas-liquid interactions and interface dynamics at the under-resolved scales and correctly predict the droplet size distributions due to atomization. The model should be demonstrated in an LES framework and coupled to a phase-interface capturing method, such as level-set or Volume of Fluids (VoF) [3-4]. The software should be scalable to take full advantage of the state-of-the-art high performance computing (HPC) systems. The advancements made in the design tools should be validated by experimental measurements on high-pressure nozzle components and concepts. The nozzle shall be a stand-alone component, accommodating 1 to 6 orifices at the nozzle tip with orifice diameter in the range of 0.1-0.3mm, and a k-factor between -2.5-2.5. The tool should be well validated with experimental data covering a range of injection pressures (500-1500bar), oxidizer density variations (10-35 kg/m3), and fuel properties including JP-8, F-24 fuels or alternatives. The tool should be applicable to the range of vehicle designs in consideration by Army platforms. To enhance the data analysis and interpretation of results, the large data sets generated should also be ready to integrate with interactive visualization packages [6]. The development of these science-based design tools and experimentally validated concepts for demonstration will solve existing critical Army bottlenecks; accelerate technology development; and lead to widespread commercialization for civilian applications. Liquid fuel atomization is highly relevant and controls the fuel conversion efficiency of propulsion systems such as automotive engines, aircraft engines, and land based power generation devices. 

PHASE I: Investigate the underlying physical principals necessary to create a proof-of-concept subgrid-scale analytical models for evaluating fuel atomization and injector performance. Develop feasible concepts and provide a methodology within a computational framework to model sub-grid scale breakup that is modular and can easily integrate with engineering software tools. The methodology will be part of an extended LES framework that will describe liquid-gas interfacial effects accurately based on level set or VoF methods. Demonstrate the potential for enhanced accuracy over existing atomization models that do not account for sub-grid scale interfacial effects by at least 5% in atomization quality and behavior. The results will also consider comparison to existing DNS or experimental data for concept vetting and validation. Develop methods to fabricate nozzle components; methods for experimental testing; and concepts for subsequent validation of design tools. The deliverables should also include a report that will describe the physical basis of the new technology, including mathematical formulation, engineering description, and algorithms employed in the feasibility study. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate the selected concept subgrid-scale analytical model capabilities for assessing and evaluating fuel atomization and injector performance. Demonstrate a methodology within an LES framework to model sub-grid scale breakup that is modular and can be integrated with engineering software tools. Demonstrate that the methodology is capable of describing liquid-gas interfacial effects accurately based on level set or VoF methods. The methodology should be capable of accurately resolving the mechanism of primary atomization from a complex diesel injector including drop-size distribution and fuel/air mixture. Fabricate nozzle components/concepts and experimentally obtain data and assess performance. Analyze the experimental data and the integrated software design tool simulations of direct injection liquid fuel delivery in the spray dense region (to validate and demonstrate improvements in atomizing quality and behavior). Experimental testing and demonstration of the designed atomizer components are desired in these realms: injecting fuel at high-pressures (500-1500bar), gaseous density variations (10-35 kg/m3), and fuel properties including JP-8, F-24 or alternatives. A documented design framework is required including models and algorithms that allows flexible additions, modification and adaptations for the envisioned capability enhancements based on a demonstrated predictive LES framework. 

PHASE III: The enhanced version of the high-fidelity computational design tool resulting from this project will have wide-range of commercial applications. Direct applications include designing prototypes of new injector concepts and components for Army combat vehicle diesel engines. The injector components will demonstrate a significant improvement in fuel conversion efficiency and atomization quality over existing industrial atomizers. The concepts components; models, numerical methods, and design tools will be transitioned to the Army and also commercialized or licensed to leading industrial fuel injector nozzle and engine manufacturers. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Fansler, T.D., Parrish, S.E., Spray measurement technology: a review, Measurement Science and Technology, 26 (1), 2015

2: Bravo, L., Kweon, C.B., A review on liquid spray models for diesel engine computational analysis, ARL Technical Report, TR-6932, May 2014

3: Gorokhovski, M., Herrmann, M., Modeling primary atomization, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 40 (1), 343“366, 2008

4: Bravo, L., Ivey, C.B., Kim, D., Bose, T., High-fidelity simulation of atomization in diesel engine sprays, Center for Turbulence Research Proceedings of the Summer Program, 2014

5: Bode, M., Diewald, F., Broll, D., Heyse, J, Le Chenadec, V., Pitsch, H., Influence of the Injector Geometry on Primary Breakup in Diesel Injector Systems", SAE Technical Paper 2014-01-1427, 2014

6: Simon Su, Aashish Chaudhary, Patrick OLeary, Berk Geveci, William R. Sherman, Heriberto Neito, Luis Francisco-Revilla, Virtual reality enabled scientific visualization workflow, 2015 IEEE 1st Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality (WEVR) (23-23 March 2015), dio: 10.1109/WEVR.2015.7151692

KEYWORDS: Fuel Injectors, Internal Combustion Engines, Primary Atomization, Large Eddy Simulation, Subgrid Scale Model 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a revolutionary design concept and technologies for modular multi-mode adaptive advanced cycle gas turbine engines for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). 

DESCRIPTION: The role of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) is becoming more vital for Armys tactical megacity warfare operations. The tactical requirements for performance, agility, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and most importantly affordability, have created the need for an advanced cycle, multi-mode propulsion system for enabling hover efficient and high speed next generation VTOL UAV. Efficient, compact, durable, lightweight turbomachinery with adaptive engine-on-demand concepts are needed to innovate future modular advanced cycle gas turbine engines [1]. Such an engine, must address the conflicting requirements of large amounts of power generation, while producing substantial increases in power-on-demand capability. The need for a modular adaptive engine at both low and high altitudes, necessitates a design that is optimized around multiple operating points [2]. The increasing need for innovative gas turbine engine adaptive concepts to power the future VTOL UAVs by as much as 75% more engine power necessitates the need to rapidly test and field gas turbine engines of differing sizes and changing engine configurations on the fly [3, 4]. A highly efficient engine is needed to allow for VTOL with hover and high speed capabilities while generating additional power (75% increase in engine power) to power future sophisticated sensors and communication electronics. The innovative design technologies and concepts must provide maximum flexibility of design in multi-mode while on-demand mode to provide engine power to thrust conversion at 90% efficiency or higher. Issues regarding lubrication, starting and engine control must be addressed. The engine power range should be modular to enable scalability from a small to medium unmanned aerial vehicle engine class range. The net engine size may be selected in the range 100hp to 200hp and be capable of multi-mode operation (i.e., hybrid turboshaft “ turbofan or turbojet) with the ability to change mode during flight maneuvers for better fuel efficiency. The innovative adaptive engine concept can consist of optimized operating capabilities requiring multiple points of engine design optimization and adaptive configurability. Provision needs to be made for power take off and its conditioning and control during multi-mode adaptivity with a goal of 90% efficiency in converting engine power to thrust. Design technologies/simulations which are validated through experimental measurements on engine components will transition to Army engine programs and lead to commercialized engine development. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of an adaptive/variable cycle engine concept through a preliminary conceptual design layout and computer simulations of thermodynamic cycle efficiency analysis. The preliminary design layout of concept should fall within the engine size power range (100 hp “ 200 hp), and include Multi-mode capability (on-demand switching of engine mode from turboshaft to turbofan or turbojet). The Concept engine must be capable of demonstrating VTOL with efficient hover capabilities while being able to transition to high speed forward flight operations. A minimum goal of 80% efficiency is desired for the conversion of engine power to thrust mode during high speed forward flight operation. 

PHASE II: Design, develop, and conduct detailed thermodynamic cycle performance simulations for the selected engine size in Phase 1. The performance simulations should include thermodynamic cycle efficiency calculations for part-power (50% power) to maximum power (100% power) operating conditions at 2 “ 25 kft altitude range. A minimum goal of 90% efficiency is desired in the conversion of engine power to thrust mode operation from part-power (50% power) to maximum power (100% power) range of engine operation. Experimentally validate key bench level prototype modular engine concept/component technologies. Conduct ground testing of key prototype engine components to demonstrate performance at sea level. The goal of the testing and validation should be to achieve a TRL level of 4. Include an estimated cost/budget analysis for an engine fabrication. 

PHASE III: Transition design technologies/simulations and experimentally validated engine/component measurements to Army engine development programs. Commercialize the design technologies/simulations and prototype engine components for full-scale engine development and production for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). 

REFERENCES: 

1: Zelina, J., Sturgess, G. J. and Shouse, D. T. 2004 The Behavior of an Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) Based on Centrifugally-Enhanced Turbulent Burning Rates, AIAA-2004-3541, AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference.

2: Zelina, J., Ehret, J., Hancock, R. D., Shouse, D. T. and W. M. Roquemore 2002 Ultra-Compact Combustion Technology Using High Swirl For Enhanced Burning Rate, AIAA-2002-3725, AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference.

3: Welch, G.E., Giel, P.W., Ameri, A.A., To, W., Skoch, G.J., Thurman, D.R., Variable-Speed Power Turbine Research at Glenn Research Center, Proc. AHS Int. 68th Annual Forum, May; also NASA/TM”2012-217605, July.

4: Murugan, M., Booth, D., Ghoshal, A., Thurman, D., and Kerner, K., "Adaptable Gas Turbine Blade Concept Study", AHS 2015 Conference Proceedings, May 5-7, 2015, Virginia Beach, VA.

KEYWORDS: Gas Turbine Engine; Modular Power; Multi-mode Engine For VTOL Aircraft/UAV; High Power Density; Adaptive, Advanced Cycle Hybrid Mode Fuel Efficient Gas Turbine Engine 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop lightweight metallic or polymer composite sabots for medium and small caliber ballistic applications utilizing new and novel materials and manufacturing methods. 

DESCRIPTION: A kinetic energy (KE) projectile is comprised of a sabot disposed around a long rod penetrator. The sabot supports and accelerates the long rod penetrator during gun launch. The sabot accelerates the penetrator through mechanically interlocking grooves located along the penetrator-sabot interface which transfers the load from the sabot to the penetrator during gun launch. The sabot is discarded at muzzle exit and therefore is considered to be parasitic. The accelerated mass is a primary performance driver and since the sabot is parasitic, great effort is made to minimize the sabot mass through topography optimization and the employment of lightweight materials. Considerable research in large caliber (i.e. projectiles with diameters in excess of 70 mm) KE projectiles such as the M829 series of KE projectiles has resulted in the transition from an aluminum alloy sabot material used in the M829A1 to the optimized lightweight carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite sabot material used in the M829A3 which has led to a 40% increase in muzzle KE through reduction in the parasitic sabot mass. However, the manufacturing technologies used to fabricate large caliber, lightweight composite sabots are not scalable to medium (i.e. projectiles with diameters in the range of 25-70 mm) and small caliber (i.e. projectiles with diameters less than 25 mm) systems. Current medium caliber kinetic energy projectiles use aluminum alloy sabots which limit their lethality. Additionally, the aluminum sabots are fabricated from aluminum bar stock using conventional machining processes that are laborious and expensive. Injection molded short fiber polymer composites have been investigated as a fabrication process and material, respectively, able to increase lethality while decreasing cost. However, structural failures of these injection molded sabots were observed during experimental demonstration. The structural failures were due to the injection molded sabots having weak, polymer-rich grooves. Additional analysis revealed that the polymer-rich grooves are due to the injection molding process being unable to locate the short fiber reinforcement in the millimeter length scale groove features which protrude from the bulk sabot geometry. We seek novel lightweight metallic or plastic materials and manufacturing processes such as non-conventional injection molding or additive manufacturing that enable the development of lightweight sabots fabricated with a low-cost, near-net shape process that are able to achieve key structural material properties in both millimeter length scale protruding features as well as the bulk resulting in significant increases in lethality and a reduction in fabrication cost. The candidate material is lightweight and stiff and has a threshold specific stiffness, i.e. the ratio of the materials elastic modulus to its density, greater than 25.9 MPa/(kg/m3) which corresponds to the nominal specific stiffness of aluminum alloys (nominal aluminum alloy elastic modulus E=70 GPa and density = 2700 kg/m3). The objective specific stiffness for the candidate material is 40 GPa/(kg/m3). The candidate material must achieve moderate ductility by having an elongation to failure of at least 8%. The candidate material threshold shear strength is 150 MPa and the objective shear strength is 200 MPa. Demonstration of threshold shear strength in millimeter length scale protruding features is required. It is envisioned that the material technology developed in the execution of this SBIR will transfer to the commercial sector since stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more robust materials are always required as a product's size, weight, and/or frangibility are minimized. Current state of the art materials include ceramic particle filled injection molded polymer materials which possess enhanced compressive structural properties but typically inferior tensile properties, particularly ductility for materials with moderate ceramic particle loading densities. If successful, the materials produced by this effort will exceed the capabilities the current state of the art materials. 

PHASE I: Identification and/or development of candidate materials and manufacturing processes capable of producing large quantities of low-cost medium caliber (25-70 mm diameter) sabots. The technical feasibility of the identified materials and manufacturing process is to be assessed through experimental mechanical analysis using standard test methods such as ASTM standards for bulk and refined length scales, when appropriate. When standardized testing methods are not appropriate or do not exist, non-standard test methods may be used to assess the materials engineering properties, particularly at refined length scales (< 1 mm). Further, the candidate material cost should be comparable to the cost of conventional metals and or plastics. Required Phase I deliverables include the manufacture and demonstration of key engineering properties. The material shall be fabricated with a high-rate production process. The threshold engineering properties in both the bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features shall be demonstrated using standard and non-standard testing and characterization methods. The candidate material shall possess a threshold minimum specific stiffness of 26 MPa/(kg/m3), a minimum ductility of 8%, and a shear strength of 150 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features. The candidate material objective engineering properties include a specific stiffness of 40 MPa/(kg/m3), a ductility of 12%, and a shear strength of 200 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features. 

PHASE II: Using the demonstrated material identified during Phase I, develop and demonstrate a medium caliber sabot prototype fabricated using a near-net shaping manufacturing process. It is expected that a minimum of 10 lots of 100 sets of medium caliber sabots will be transferred to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The manufacture date of each lot is to be separated by a minimum of one week. The fabricated sabot sets supplied to U.S. Army Research Laboratory is for characterization and evaluation purposes including determination of uniformity between sets within and between lots. Subsequently, a subset of the supplied sabots will be integrated into demonstration projectiles for live fire testing. Required Phase II deliverables include the demonstration of a medium caliber sabot with a threshold minimum specific stiffness of 26 MPa/(kg/m3), a minimum ductility of 8%, and a minimum shear strength of 200 MPa in both bulk and millimeter-length scale features. The candidate material objective engineering properties include a specific stiffness of 40 MPa/(kg/m3), a ductility of 12%, and a shear strength of 330 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features. The sabot is to be fabricated using a near-net shape manufacturing process. The sabot material must be resistant to corrosion and possess hygrothermal stability. Further, the cost of the sabots manufactured using the candidate material and fabrication method shall not exceed 90% of the cost to produce conventional sabots. The objective cost ratio of sabots manufactured under the auspices of this SBIR to the cost of conventional aluminum sabots is 75%. Finally, the offeror is to supply a minimum of 1000 sabot sets to U.S. ARL for characterization, evaluation, and live-fire testing. The sabot sets will be supplied in a minimum of 10 lots with each lot containing no less than 100 sabot sets. The U.S. ARL will select a subset of the supplied sabots for integration into demonstration projectile for live-fire testing. The failure rate of the live-fire testing conducted by U.S. ARL needs to be less than 5% in order to be considered successful. 

PHASE III: Follow-on activities are expected to be pursued by the offeror, namely in seeking opportunities to substitute this material and/or manufacture process into automotive and aerospace applications where low-cost, lightweight structural materials are paramount. Applications include direct material substitution of such as plastic gears, electronic connectors, and plastic or metallic brackets. Commercial benefits include improved products through superior structural properties and capabilities and/or manufacturing processes that are amenable to low-cost, high-rate production. Specific military applications include low-cost, high performance medium and small caliber sabots for KE projectiles, structural components for smart munitions, aerodynamic fins for projectiles, as well as the integration of this new material into armor and structural applications where aluminum alloys are currently employed. Specific commercial applications include cell phone enclosures, laptop cases, and electrical connectors. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Drysdale WH, Design of Kinetic Energy Projectiles for Structural Integrity, ARBRL-TR-02365, Sept 1981

2: McLaughlin FA, Molded composite polymeric materials for sabots, Proc. Of 24th Intl. SAMPE Technical Conference, 20-22 Oct 1992

3: McLaughlin FA, Carman C, Hughes K, and Rider W, Composite Materials for Sabot Applications, Report No. 316 Plastics and Rubbers Section, Army Armament Research and Development Command, 1981

4: Celmins I, Final Report: Testing of Molded Composite 25 mm Sabots, Gaylord, Morgan, and Dunn, Ltd., Contract No. DAAA21-89-D-0023, 1991

5: Minnicino MA, Influence of Material Properties on Sabot Design, ARL-TR-6203, Sept 2012

6: Xu W, et al., A high-specific-strength and corrosion-resistant magnesium alloy, Nature Materials, Vol 14 (2015) pp 1229-35

KEYWORDS: Sabot, Manufacturing, Lightweight, Low-cost, Near-net Shape, Fabrication, High-rate Production 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a lightweight panel capable of reducing the reaction of a munition that is impacted by bullets or fragments. 

DESCRIPTION: Current missile canisters loaded onto Army mobile missile launchers do not offer significant protection against bullet or fragment impacts as required by MIL-STD-2105D. These missile canisters are made of lightweight materials, such as thin-wall aluminum or filament wound fiberglass composite that have minimal capability of protecting internal energetics from bullets/fragments, while the missile is either stored or operational on a launcher. The kinetic energy from a bullet or metal fragment has sufficient energy to cause a violent reaction if the encanistered missile is subjected to these stimuli. Ballistic armor has been developed that can stop a 0.50 caliber armor piercing round in accordance with MIL-STD-2105D. The areal density of this armor is 22 lbs/sq ft. Due to space and weight constraints of typical mobile missile launchers and the weight limitations on handling equipment of shipping containers, use of this class of armor is not feasible. However, with emerging breakthroughs of innovative materials, coupled with multi-material configurations and structures the possibility exists for the development of a system solution that meets todays Insensitive Munitions (IM) requirements. Research and development is needed to explore these breakthroughs and synergistically exploit them in the design, fabrication, development, and demonstration of novel approaches to limit violent reaction of energetics from impacts of bullets and metal fragments. The proposed solution will reduce the energy of the impacting bullet/fragment on the munition to a level that meets MIL-STD-2105D requirements. The lightweight panel sought must demonstrate the capability of reducing the energy of the impacting projectiles to the point where the maximum IM reaction is Type V (ref 1). A multi-physics code has been employed to investigate the kinetic energy imparted on a typical aluminized ammonium perchlorate (AP) solid propellant (TP-H1207C) from a 0.50-cal APM2 projectile (ref 2). Without any protection system, the energy imparted by the APM2 projectile of approximately 16.4 kJ is sufficient to cause immediate unrestricted reaction of the AP solid propellant. Reduction of this energy by 50% provides a high probability of reaction no greater than Type V (ref 3 & 4). Increasing the fidelity of modeling and simulation capabilities are encouraged to guide the development of this prototype technology. The objective baseline requirements for this development activity includes a desired total areal density for the panel of 5.0 lbs/sq ft or less. Additionally, the protective panel size should be scalable to at least 16 inches x 16 inches and the desired thickness of the panel is less than 0.75 inches. The panel design shall meet the environmental requirements defined in MIL-STD-810 (ref 5), especially those related to transportation shock and vibration, temperature, and corrosion. The ability to make the panel as compact and lightweight as possible, while still achieving the desired energy absorption will ensure greater versatility protecting a missile. The desired system should be capable of multi-hit bullet performance and also effective at reducing the energy of a high velocity fragment (refs 6 & 7). It is envisioned that the lightweight panels and approaches could serve as a novel technology baseline for the agile engineering and adaptation for a wide variety of protection applications for the Army and other federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy, which are required to protect high-value assets. Additionally, law enforcement and the commercial sector could take advantage of the lightweight technology to armor products against high velocity impacts. It is expected that applications outside the Department of Defense would include protecting hazardous material storage and shipping containers both stationary and transported via truck, rail, or sea. For assets that are stationary or have more weight tolerance when being shipped, the technology could be scaled up or used in conjunction with other existing technologies to completely arrest incoming threats. 

PHASE I: Develop a conceptual design for a system that can meet the requirements highlighted in the description. The company will demonstrate the technical feasibility of the concept by material testing to demonstrate the prototype design and analytical modeling grounded with basic material details and performance expectations. Experimental fabrication and preliminary validation of material properties would be the preferred endpoint of this Phase. At the end of Phase I, the company will provide a Phase II demonstration plan for the proposed solution. 

PHASE II: After successful completion of Phase I activities, the Phase II performer(s) will complete the following activities: (1) manufacture prototype panels for testing (4 panels minimum), (2) test at least 2 prototype panels against bullet and/or fragment impacts according to MIL-STD-2105D, (3) collect sufficient data during this testing to determine the kinetic energy dissipation of the bullet and/or fragment by the prototype panel, (4) provide at least 2 prototype panels to the government for verification testing and (5) provide test data for increasing the fidelity of performance models currently in existence (both government and contractor). If feasible within the time and funding constraints, testing of the prototype panel against live energetics (rocket motor or warhead) would greatly increase the probability of rapid transition to a program of record. 

PHASE III: Support the certification, qualification, and manufacturing readiness of the protection system for use on a program of record. Commercialize the panel and scale up the manufacturing capabilities to support use of the technology on mobile missile launcher systems as well as other Army, federal, law enforcement, and commercial applications that require high velocity impact protection. 

REFERENCES: 

Department of Defense., MIL-STD-2105D, Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Hazard Assessment Tests for Non-Nuclear Munitions, 19 April 2011. Found at http://quicksearch.dla.mil/Analyse/ImageRedirector.aspx?token=5710921.72079',5710921

A Model for the Energetic Response of 1.3 Propellants under Shock Loading Conditions, Sandia Report: SAND2009-6338

Reactive Flow Models for Three Types of Explosive and Two Propellants, Wing Cheng, Shigeru Itoh and Scott Langlie, Material Science Forum, Volumes 465-466 (2004), pp 403-408. Found at http://www.scientific.net/MSF.465-466.403.pdf

Benching ALE3D modeling with Army Burn-To-Violent Reaction (ABVR) Sub-Scale Rocket Motor Impact Experiments, H.K. Springer, L.D. Leininger, A.L. Nichols III, J.E. Reaugh, J.A. Stanfield and J.B. Neidert, JANNAF paper published in CPIAC JSC CD-70, Abstract Number: 2012-0004IW

Department of Defense., MIL-STD-810G, Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, 31 Oct 2008, http://www.atec.army.mil/publications/Mil-Std-810G/Mil-std-810G.pdf

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, STANAG 4241, Bullet Impact, Munition Test Procedure, 15 April 2003. Found at http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx?ProductID=457421

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, STANAG 4496, Fragment Impact, Munition Test Procedure, 13 December 2006. Found at http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx?ProductID=461892

KEYWORDS: Insensitive Munitions, IM, Armor, Protection, Bullet, Fragment 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a man-portable, Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system for expedient body armor and vehicle ballistic armor damage assessment. 

DESCRIPTION: Personnel and vehicle ballistic armor are typically composed of a multilayer, composite structure composed of various combinations of ceramic, Kevlar, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, metal alloys and ceramics. These armors can be damaged by severe ballistic and shock impact, and are also subject to damage in handling and use. Relatively minor impacts could cause damage in a number of ways. Dropping a ceramic armor plate onto a hard surface, or a non-ballistic impact (diving for cover, etc.) could fracture the ceramic, cause fiber/matrix damage in the retention layer, or could de-laminate any of the adjacent layers. The current armor inspection systems utilized by the Army often require disassembly and removal from vehicles or return of individual body armor and components to facilities that have larger scale instrumentation and inspection capabilities. Current inspection capabilities require armor to be removed from the troops or vehicles and sent to higher maintenance levels, often out of theater, for testing. The limitations of these systems have the potential for delaying replacement and depends upon additional logistical support, which creates supplementary manpower requirements and supply issues. Any delay in providing replacement armor for the combat Soldiers has potential negative survivability issues. Additionally, there are significant material and control costs for unnecessarily replacing serviceable armor. The Army has a critical need to for innovative technology solutions that will lead to the development of a man-portable, Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system for expedient body armor and vehicle ballistic armor damage assessment. The system should be transportable in its entirety by a single Soldier-operator (e.g., weight less than 80 pounds); capable of expediently (less than 15 minutes) assessing a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material; detecting submillimeter delamination of ceramic-composite interfaces; capable of the identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking before they evolve into critical defects capable of weakening or threatening the structural integrity of the material and to detect weaknesses in adhesive bonds before they disbond; capable of identifying millimeter cracks in ceramics; operate on both flat and curved surfaces; and be capable of operating using vehicle power or independently on battery power. Solutions that utilize x-rays will not be considered under this topic in order to avoid radiation effects and shielding requirements. The technology will be transitioned to Army research and development and commercialized for Army and wider DoD armor assessment applications and civilian applications for damage assessment of composite structures. 

PHASE I: Develop innovative concept designs based upon modeling and simulation; perform laboratory experiments and testing of components and materials as needed; and perform analysis of envisioned approaches and solutions. Estimate the feasibility of the recommended solution to meet weight constraints (less than 80 pounds); assess a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material in less than 15 minutes; and the capability of identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking on flat and curved, monolithic and layered configurations with a 90% probability of success. 

PHASE II: Complete component design using modeling and simulation and complete laboratory characterization experiments. Establish and validate all performance metrics and performance parameters through experiments (weight constraints (less than 80 pounds); assess a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material in less than 15 minutes; and the capability of identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking on flat and curved, monolithic and layered configurations with a 90% probability of success). Demonstrate a man-portable configuration of a Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system on composite and composite-ceramic armor materials configurations. 

PHASE III: The proposed technology innovations will be advanced through the developed commercialization plan to develop marketable products to government and/or commercial sectors. This includes a man-portable NDI inspection system for composite and ceramic-composite systems, and technology licensing. 

REFERENCES: 

1: T. Meitzler, G. Smith, M. Charbeneau, E. Sohn, M. Bienkowski, I. Wong, A. Meitzler, "Crack Detection in Armor Plates Using Ultrasonic Techniques", Journal of Materials Evaluation, American Society for Nondestructive Testing, June 2008

2: V. Godínez-Azcuaga, R. Finlayson, J. Ward, "Acoustic Techniques for the Inspection of Ballistic Protective Inserts in Personnel Armor", SAMPE Journal, September/October 2003

3: F. Margetan, N. Richter, D. Barnard, D. Hsu, T. Gray, L. Brasche, R. Thompson, "BASELINE UT MEASUREMENTS FOR ARMOR INSPECTION", AIP Conference Proceedings 1211 , pp. 1217-1224, 2010

4: W. Swiderski, D. Szabra, M. Szudrowicz, Nondestructive testing of composite armours by using IR thermographic method, 9th International Conference on Quantitative InfraRed Thermography, July 2-5 2008

5: K. Schmidt, J. Little, W. Ellingson, "A Portable Microwave Scanning Technique for Nondestructive Testing of Multilayered Dielectric Materials", Advances in Ceramic Armor IV: Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings 29 (6), April 2009

6: K. Van Den Abeele, A. Sutin, J. Carmeliet, P. Johnson, "Micro-damage diagnostics using nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy", NDT&E International 34 pp 239-248, 2001

7: K.E.-A.Van Den Abeele, P. A. Johnson, A. Sutin, "Nonlinear ElasticWave Spectroscopy (NEWS) Techniques to Discern Material Damage", Part I: Nonlinear Wave Modulation, Res. Nondestr. Eval. 12, pp.17-30, 2000

8: I. Solodov, D. Döring, G. Busse, "New Opportunities for NDT Using Non-Linear Interaction of Elastic Waves with Defects", J. Mech. Eng. 57 (3), pp.169-182, 2011

KEYWORDS: Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy, Man-portable Non-destructive Inspection System, Ballistic Protection, Body Armor, Armored Vehicles 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop simulation, analytic, and visualization capabilities of the complex sociocultural landscape of a megacity to produce a civil affairs common operating picture. 

DESCRIPTION: Megacities are expected to be the future environment for US military combat operations. Global trends indicate that megacities are rapidly becoming the epicenter of human activity on the planet and will generate most of the friction which will compel military intervention in the future1. Megacity environments exhibit unique characteristics which can significantly thwart successful military operations and humanitarian aid efforts. Population density, varying size and structure of buildings, and interconnected networks of communication and transportation as well as migration, separation, gentrification, environmental vulnerability, resource competition, and hostile actors in some fashion are just a few of the obstacles the military is faced with when conducting military operations in a megacity environment. Compounding this problem for the Army is the fact that US military forces have been trained for two conditions, peace and war, but lack readiness in other points on the war and peace continuum. A September 2015 USSOCOM white paper titled The Gray Zone defines the Gray Zone as conflicts or competitions that fall between the traditional war and peace duality such as acts of civil unrest, criminal gangs, asymmetric threats, and black market economies2. When the Army enters these dense urban environments it must be prepared to work with community leadership, successfully interact with the local population, and correctly assess and incorporate the social and cultural factors that will impact mission success. The issue of sociocultural changes within a megacity environment is clearly a human domain problem, its complexity, how to understand it, and its implication and impact on military success have now become a key focus for not only the Army but all services and is pointed out in numerous literature on the subject.4,5,6 In order to conduct effective combat operations and provide humanitarian aid, the Army needs to develop a much more thorough understanding of dense urban environments and the space between peace and war. This will require a comprehensive understanding of the Human Domain with emphasis on the physical, cognitive and moral frames, within the environment3 in order to develop the simulations, predictive models, and analytics to support effective and successful mission planning in a dense urban environment. When operating in a megacity environment, data about the civilian population is collected from a variety of sources and available in repositories (i.e. Join Civil Information Management System.). The problem the Army and other US military forces face is this raw data must be integrated and analyzed to extract meaningful and actionable knowledge about the megacity civil environment. Current capabilities such as the Civil Affairs Targeting Framework exist but are time consuming and requires significant training to perform. A capability is needed to quickly integrate and analyze civil affairs data to produce a current civil operating picture through the use of a geospatially-based product covering the megacity area of operation and that visually depicts centers of gravity in the civilian communities, critical requirements or needs within these civil communities, vulnerabilities to opposing actors and forces, and how these dynamic variables change with time. This capability will provide Army and Joint decision makers and mission planners, who are generally non-civil affairs experts, the ability to exploit the variety of information available in order to quickly assess and understand the civil situation and to better plan for and conduct operations within a megacity environment. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to identify and obtain relevant social, cultural, and civil affairs data for a representative megacity within the United States (i.e., Chicago) which will provide a large set of data from a wide variety of sources for early stage development and assessment simulation, predictive models, and analytics. Develop and demonstrate a conceptual framework for integrating the social, cultural and civil affairs data in an automated or semi-automated way from the sources that will serve as basis for modeling and visualization. Research, develop, and demonstrate a proof of concept modeling and geospatial visualization techniques (e.g., feature distance modeling, feature importance analysis, visualization of change, and co-occurrence in space and time methods, etc.). The effort should focus on using a large set of available data to demonstrate the feasibility of the innovative methodologies and techniques being used against known outcomes or known events to determine if these methodologies can provide a common operating picture that can inform and influence operational planning and interaction with the civilian population for a given megacity. The success of phase I will be determined by the degree to which the model predicts known outcomes with a minimum accuracy of sixty percent from existing data for a representative megacity chosen. 

PHASE II: Based on research findings in Phase I, continue development to expand the models and refined the geospatially based visualization methods for civil situational assessment based on sociocultural factors, patterns of life, and real-time data about current conditions within a megacity. Develop and assess the feature importance analysis models and their ability to provide actionable information on which urban features are most important to describing the civilian activities in the megacity. Develop and assess the geospatial visualization methods of both change and co-occurrence of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities within the megacity for both broad and narrow spatial and temporal contexts to generate a wide range of visualizations that can inform commanders and mission planners of changing and possibly the evolving nature of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities and events in a megacity. The success of the prototype tools will be evaluated against a rich set of data from a given megacity where actual events and outcomes are known. Metrics for success should include at a minimum, counts of false positives, false negatives, and area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC curve). Predictive model success should achieve a minimum of seventy percent accuracy against known outcomes from existing data and represented geospatially over a megacity terrain map as a probability density display for conveying changing sociocultural conditions within a megacity environment. Additionally, computational time for the algorithmic analytics should be tracked to gauge the potential for computational bounding. A minimum of two demonstrations will be conducted during Phase II to endorsing stakeholders and additional potential stakeholders developed during Phase II to demonstrate the ability to geospatially visualize the current state of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities within the megacity and to geospatially visualize the predicted changes of these activities (Gray Zone State Changes) to provide actionable knowledge and value to Army and Joint military operational planners. 

PHASE III: Technologies developed under Phase II will be demonstrated and transitioned to Army and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Civil Affairs units to provide a geospatial visualization that clearly and concisely conveys the civil affairs common operating picture supporting intelligent preparation of the battlespace and operational planning. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chief of Staff of the Army, Strategic Studies Group (2014). Megacities and the United States Army: Preparing for a complex and uncertain future. (https://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/351235.pdf)

2: United States Special Operations Command (2015). White Paper: The gray zone. (https://army.com/sites/army.com/files/Gray%20Zones%20-%20USSOCOM%20White%20Paper%209%20Sep%202015.pdf)

3: Memorandum thru Director, Joint Staff for Director, Operations (2016). Strategic multilayer assessment of the gray zone. (http://www.soc.mil/Files/PerceivingGrayZoneIndicationsWP.pdf)

4: Felix, K. M., & Wong, F. D. (2015). The case for megacities, Parameters 45(1), 19-32. (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Issues/Spring_2015/Parameters_Spring%202015%20v45n1.pdf)

5: Caerus, City As a System Analytical Framework.

6: ( http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/city-as-a-system-analytical-framework-a-structured-analytical-approach-to-understanding-and)

7: Freedberg Jr, S. J. (2015). Dont forget COIN, because COIN threats getting worse: CNAS. Intel & Cyber, Land, Strategy, and Policy. (http://breakingdefense.com/2015/12/dont-forget-coin-because-coin-threats-getting-worse-cnas/)

KEYWORDS: Dense Urban Environments, Megacity, Sociocultural, Culture 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Currently, Apache Accumulo is the primary Database solution with native support for cell-level visibility with associated pedigree and provenance attribution. While Accumulo is optimized for clustered Cloud Computing environments, there is a need for a secure database solution within non-clustered environments for implementation within the Tactical Space where computing and storage resources are limited. Implementing a cell-level visibility solution within a traditional relational database would provide these capabilities in a form that can be employed within the tactical environment, while continuing to support existing relational database implementations. 

DESCRIPTION: The development of cell-level visibility within Apache Accumulo was a large step forward in accomplishing the vision of a true multi-security-domain data architecture, allowing for users of differing permissions (Clearances/Roles/etc.) to access data within a single data store while maintaining and tracking the pedigree and provenance of that data. However, implementing Accumulo within the Tactical Space has been troubled by resource limitations. Traditional tactical implementations have leveraged relational databases to provide data persistence, however there are currently no relational database solutions that support cell-level visibility to adequately protect data in a converged environment. Incorporating cell-level visibility within a data persistence solution optimized for the tactical environment would allow for the protection of data at all echelons and platforms. In addition, the ability to track pedigree and provenance of that data would allow for full attribution of where the data came from, how it was generated, and how and why it has changed over time. We are not interested in solutions that merely use column-level grant permissions or provide complex join commands that would decrease performance while increasing storage and processing requirements. The solution could consist of a pluggable module to an existing system as long as access to tables created after the pluggable module has been installed are required to use cell-level visibility. In addition, solutions should enforce cell-level visibility for administrators. Solutions that provide cell-level encryption in addition to cell-level visibility will be highly favored. 

PHASE I: Develop a system design that incorporates cell-level visibility, pedigree, and provenance within a relational database for implementation in the tactical space to include Data Ingress, Egress, Persistence, and Query. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system that implements cell-level visibility, pedigree, and provenance within a relational database. Demonstrate Data Ingest, Persistence, Query, and Egress that is limited based on users with differing access controls (Clearance/Roles/etc.) 

PHASE III: This database solution could be used to replace traditional implementations within the Intelligence or Mission Command Domains, supporting multiple security domains in a converged environment. Commercially, this database solution could provide protected access to sensitive data in the Shipping, Finance, Banking, and Health Industries. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lunt, Teresa F., et al. "The SeaView security model." Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on 16.6 (1990): 593-607

2: Davis, Benjamin, and Hao Chen. "DBTaint: Cross-Application Information Flow Tracking via Databases." WebApps 10 (2010): 12

3: Schultz, David, and Barbara Liskov. "IFDB: decentralized information flow control for databases." Proceedings of the 8th ACM European Conference on Computer Systems. ACM, 2013

4: Schoepe, Daniel, Daniel Hedin, and Andrei Sabelfeld. "SeLINQ: tracking information across application-database boundaries." ACM SIGPLAN Notices. Vol. 49. No. 9. ACM, 2014

5: Ram, Sudha, and Jun Liu, A New Perspective on Semantics of Data Provenance, http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-526/InvitedPaper_1.pdf

KEYWORDS: Accumulo, Cell-level Visibility, Multi-Level Security, Pedigree, Provenance, Database, SQL, NOSQL, Unified Data 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Identify technical approaches and potential technical solutions to the threat of employed anti-helicopter mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). 

DESCRIPTION: In the past different mine/IED countermeasures have been developed and fielded for naval vessels, land vehicles, and dismounted personnel. Recently, analogous threats to the extensive helicopter fleet of the U.S., and its allies, have emerged with the fielding of anti-helicopter mines by Russia and Bulgaria. The threat to rotary wing aircraft included the employment of IEDs as well. It is preferable to identify the best potential countermeasures before this emerging threat can adversely impact U.S. and allied operations. In order to effectively address Anti-Helicopter Mines/IED Countermeasures, a comprehensive understanding of the threat will be required. The targeted rotary wing aircraft have technical and operational vulnerabilities that include flight below 1000 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), a unique set of audio signatures as well as the operational requirement to land on short notice on unsecured terrain. 

PHASE I: Phase I will consist of a feasibility study which includes an overview of relevant historical and technical data. The study will identify technical and tactical characteristics of current and emerging Anti-Helicopter Mines and IED threats, to include fuzing, kill mechanisms and employment techniques. Finally, the study will identify potential innovative countermeasures, including their current technical maturity and their tactical and technical advantages and disadvantages. 

PHASE II: Phase II will consist of the vendor providing a developmental prototype of the preferred approach, identified in Phase I, for testing against a variety of anti-helicopter mines and IEDs in conjunction with one or more rotary wing aircraft in an operational flight profile. 

PHASE III: Phase III will consist of the vendor providing a technology demonstrator that incorporates the lessons learned from testing and analysis conducted in phase II. This technology demonstrator will be used to support the establishment of a program of record through the requirements development process of the US Army and other interested elements of the Department of Defense. 

REFERENCES: 

1: "Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance," by Colin King

2: Helicopter Damage by Mines and Booby-traps in the Republic of Vietnam (1962 Through June 1970) (U), by Raymond D. Blakeslee, Technical Report No. 51, Army Materiel Systems Analysis Agency, July 1971, in the collection of the Marine Corps University Library at Quantico Marine Base, Virginia

3: Russia Unveils Anti-helicopter Mine Project, Janes International Defense Review, 1/1998, page 16

4: "Viet Cong Boobytraps, Mines, and Mine Warfare Techniques," TC 5-31, Department of the Army, 1969

KEYWORDS: Anti-Helicopter Mine, Anti-Aircraft Mine, Mine Countermeasures, Air Defense, Suppression Of Enemy Air Defense, Countermine, Counter-IED, Improvised Explosive Device 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate an approach for reducing co-site interference on Position Navigation & Timing systems. 

DESCRIPTION: As the Army integrates new and innovative Position Navigation & Timing (PNT) systems to its various platforms managing co-site interference with other Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment will be a challenge. This challenge will require innovative solutions to address operating in the congested electromagnetic spectrum found on an Army platform. The increasing demand for data at the tactical edge has resulted in an increase of data radios and spectrum dependent systems on tactical platforms. Co-site interference issues are further exacerbated by the shrinking amount of spectrum provisioned for military in spectrum sell offs. New and innovative technologies are required for mitigating Global Positioning System (GPS) interference due to co-site C4ISR. Traditional solutions to these problems focus on antenna separation, frequency management, and co-site filters. As the electromagnetic spectrum becomes increasing dynamic and autonomous spectrum agile systems become fielded, new co-site mitigation techniques will be required. Specifically, traditional radio frequency filters (either fixed or tunable) may not be suitable. To combat this issue, innovative solutions for signal processing at RF are required. Such solutions may include frequency selective limiters and other passive technology capable of handling high power and adapting to a dynamic spectrum situation. The solutions envisioned here are technologies or devices that are capable of reducing interference to communications systems while having minimal effect on the signals of interest. Passive devices with low size and weight that are capable of reducing undesired high power (up to 1 Watt) interferers from desensitizing the subsequent radio receivers are desired. Devices which have properties that reduce third order intermodulation effects will contribute to restoring the effective range of radios systems located in an interference-laden environment. All such devices need to operate without damage in two-way radio links where transmitter power may be as high as 50 Watts. The general frequency band of interest is 225-2000 MHz. 

PHASE I: The Phase I effort shall include feasibility study outlining problem considerations and potential solutions. An analysis of theoretical limits of the various technical approaches shall be presented in additional to practical limitations. The Phase I effort will identify the best approach and develop key component technological milestones for the Phase II effort. A trade study analyzing design approaches has to be supported with some Modeling and Simulation. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort shall construct and demonstrate the operation of a prototype(s) devices that will reduce the desensitization of GPS systems in the presence of high interference. The prototype(s) shall cover the 225 MHz “ 2000 MHz military bands. The Phase II prototype will be tested in both a hardware-in-the-loop coaxial test bed, as well as, over-the-air anechoic chamber testing at a government facility and shall demonstrate at least 25 dB restoration in receiver sensitivity in the presence of interference. 

PHASE III: Phase III efforts will focus on expanding the covering range of the Phase II prototype(s) and integrating into Army Program of Record Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR), Rifleman Radio, Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio (MNVR), and Handheld, Manpack and Small Form-Fit (HMS) radios. This work will include extending the Phase II prototype to cover additional frequency band. The Phase III work can also target additional commercial off the shelf (COTS) GPS applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Jacob Gavan, Elya Joffe, Non Linear Radio Mutual Interference Main Effect Analysis and Mitigation Methods, General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, p. 1-4, 2011

2: Ketih Allsebrook, Chris Ribble, VHF Cosite Interference Challenges and Solutions for the United States Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Program, Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE Military Communications Conference, p. 548-554, 2004

3: Dionne, A review of ferrites for microwave applications, IEEE Proceedings, 63, 777 (1975)

4: Pardavi-Hovath, Microwave applications of soft ferrites, J. Magn. Magn. Mater, 215, 171 (2000)

5: T. Roome and H. A. Hair, Thin ferrite devices for microwave integrated circuits, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., 16, 411 (1968)

KEYWORDS: Cosite Interference, Interference Mitigation, Communications, Electromagnetic Interference 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research and develop a low-profile antenna that covers a frequency ranges of 950-2150MHz and 200-440MHz. 

DESCRIPTION: The survival of any military is to have reliable knowledge of the battlefield. Today the DoD depends on many systems to establish and update position information of our forces. PLI is critical to our forces and systems such as Blue Force Tracking (BFT) system and Production Rifleman Radio (PRR) critically consume this information. Low powered emissions are the only media feasible for the antenna signaling structures that remain in the realm of practicality with lightweight tactical units. The current forces are limited to a select few service providers. By adding flexibility to the RF media interface to these systems, the market of service providers increases dramatically thereby reducing price and providing greater value along with more dependability. Developing an antenna to span these multiple frequency bands allows the desired flexibility for operating over multiple service providers. In many places service could be provided by two or more allowing not only competitive capabilities but also increased communications reliability. The effort that is specifically required, is the design and development of an antenna solution that will operate in the frequency bands in the UHF range of 200-440MHz and in the L-Band range of 950-2150MHz. The antenna will support Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP). The antenna will be designed to operate at the 0-80° elevation and will have the threshold average gain calculated in this operational elevation range of 0dB in the 950-2150MHz range and -3dB in the 200-440MHz range. The objective requirement for the average gain in the same elevation operational range will be 3dB in the 950-2150MHz range and 0dB in the 200-440MHz range. The antenna will be designed to have an operational azimuth of 360° with the lowest axial ratio possible. The antenna will also be designed to have a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 2:1 or better. This antenna design will allow this antenna to operate multiple UHF and L-Band satellites such as the Mobile UHF Objective System (MUOS), Iridium Satellite, Inmarsat III and Inmarsat IV, Light Squared and Thuraya constellations. The size of the antenna will be no larger than H3 x W7.5 x L7.5. The antenna itself will be mountable within a fixture of 8.5 x 8.5 mounted on vehicles and should possess the ruggedness to withstand rapid vibration associated with rough terrain. The antenna design must demonstrate full duplex operation at full elevation (0-80°) and azimuth (0-360°) capability as the antenna base remains parallel to the Earth. 

PHASE I: Explore and provide a prototype design that will produce a proof-of-concept design that meets the threshold requirements of this SBIR to include the operational frequency range of 200-440MHz and 950-2150MHz, elevation range of 0-80°, operational azimuth of 360°, threshold average gain of 0dB at 950-2150MHz and -3dB at 200-440MHz and VSWR of 2:1 or better. The design shall be delivered in the level of detail of a computer aided design which will be capable of demonstrating each of the required antenna capabilities. 

PHASE II: Develop and deliver a prototype that implements the design demonstrated in Phase I in a low-profile. The prototype must be capable of simultaneous transmission and reception utilizing circular polarization. The prototype should make maximum use of standards wherever possible for interfacing, replication and marketing strategies. The interfaces specifically should include connectivity that utilizes standard connectors as appropriate with frequency and direction (transmit and receive). 

PHASE III: Aside from military applications, any commercial satellite communications or mobile radio applications using vehicle deployment across multiple bands for tracking or communicating will gain robustness and greater servicing advantages. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Design of a Low-Profile Antenna for Vehicular Communications System, IEEE, 2013. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/icp.jsp?arnumber=6546483

2: A New Method To Design a Multi-Band Flexible Textile Antenna, IEEE, 2014. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=6867723&newsearch=true&queryText=multi-band%20antenna

3: The Simulation of the Multi-Band Triangle Fractal Nesting Printed Monopole Antenna, IEEE, Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technology (ICMMT), 2010 International Conference. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5524888&newsearch=true&queryText=multi-band%20antenna

KEYWORDS: Antenna, Multi-band, SATCOM, Satellite, UHF, MUOS, BFT, L-band, Mobile Radio 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Achieving communications and data links at required ranges for the Warfighter utilizing tunable RF filters with small form factor. 

DESCRIPTION: Manually RF filters are a means of suppressing RF interference between radio systems located in close proximity to one another, such as on a small airborne or ground platform. Manually tunable filters can also be effective at controlling radio transmit spectrums and reducing system noise temperature, thus providing enhanced Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and increased link performance. While such fixed filter solutions are effective at targeted frequencies, they lack the flexibility to be easily adapted to other frequency bands. Electronically tunable filters provide a means of performing in a dynamic operational environment, with constantly changing frequency requirements. The current state of the art for electronically tunable filter solutions has been found inadequate due to the Size, Weight and Power Handling (SWaP) characteristics needed for airborne military applications. While small form factor filters exist, their performance is often compromised and lack the flexibility to be used with multi-radio tuning interfaces. Currently size and performance share a direct relationship where as one parameter decreases so does the other. This is due to the limitation of integrating multi-pole designs which physically cannot fit in the reduced sizing. As a result small filter sharpness performance and power handling are not suitable for applicable systems which have stricter operational requirements. The typical size and weight for a filter with sufficient power and performance characteristics range in weight from seven to ten pounds and have a length by width by depth volume in excess three hundred and sixty inches cubed. In addition many filters lack a tuning interface or the necessary tuning speed to be able to work with multiple waveforms. A filter incorporating SWaP, performance, and multi-tuning interfaces requirements would advance the current technology and improve communications for small airborne military systems. The government seeks proposals for a low cost, Small, Agile Filter “ Tunable (SAF-T) of a small form factor, capable of being tuned via a variety of different control protocols (platform data bus, radio interfaces, etc.). The filters shall operate and be tunable in the 30-512 MHz frequency band, supporting waveforms such as SINCGARS, HAVEQUICK, WNW and SRW. The filter shall tune fast enough to support frequency hopping functions of the aforementioned and similar waveforms. The filter shall not in any way inhibit the receive function of the host radio. It should be designed as to meet the S&TCD tunable filter specification in Phase 1 with intent for further improvement to meet the specifications documented in Phase II. 

PHASE I: Develop a description of the potential solution capable of being demonstrated in a Lab environment. Create a Proof Of Concept prototype that satisfies the following technical characteristics: S&TCD tunable filter specification Transmit Frequency: 30-512 MHz Receive Frequency: 30-512 MHz Comms/Waveforms: FM, AM, SRW, WN, ANW2, HQ, SINC, FH Input Power: 25W Height: 5inches Width: 5inches Depth: 8inches Weight: 5lbs Duty Cycle: 100% Input Impedance/ VSWR: 50 Ohm/2:1 Output Load Impedance/ VSWR: 50 Ohm/2:1 Insertion loss: 4dB Primary Power Input Voltage: 28VDC Power Consumption: 1A Interfaces: ARC231 multiband airborne radio Rx and Tx Filtering: >30dB at 10% one side Noise Figure: <5dB Transmit -Receive switchover time: <25us Tuning Time: < 25us Deliverables to include: 1. A paper documenting the technology and development of the filter 2. Bread board prototype 3. Design schematics 

PHASE II: Create a packaged prototype for demonstration on a specified Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) with the maximum size constraints (4x4x7 inch, 3lbs) to meet the requirement. Deliverables to include: 1. A paper documenting the technology and development of the filter 2. Packaged prototype 3. Design schematics 

PHASE III: In addition to the Military application, identify potential use in commercial applications, perhaps vehicles or commercial drones. 

REFERENCES: 

1: S&TCD tunable filter specification (Specifications included in Phase I description)

2: https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-030514-160043/unrestricted/Tunable_Filter_Design_for_the_RF_Section_of_a_Smartphone_WPI_Skyworks_MQP_2014.pdf

3: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QEX_Next_Issue/2016/January_February_2016/Chuma_QEX_1_16.pdf

4: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7273850&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D7273850

5: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7540054&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D7540054

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To create a short pulse, femtosecond (fs), high power laser system. The laser system should operate in the 3.0 µm to 5.0 µm wavelength with output powers no less than 1 TW at pulse widths at or below 900 fs and pulse cyclic frequency of 50 GHz. 

DESCRIPTION: The Army is exploring the effects of Ultra-Short Pulse (USP) Laser emitters as a means of IR countermeasure. An Ultra-Short Pulse Laser has the capability of delivering tremendous power within a short-duration energy pulse which can then be repeated at a pulse frequency. In the past, USP Lasers have been used in applications in the medical and machining fields. The USP Laser is capable of pathogen inactivation and has been used experimentally on HIV, norovirus and influenza. As well, USP Lasers have been used in micromachining applications which require highly accurate material modifications. The benefit of a high-energy, ultra-short pulse is that modifications can be delivered in a very constrained time period and spatial area. In addition, research has been recently completed by the Naval Research Laboratory in an effort to investigate the effects of USP lasers as an infrared countermeasure. This SBIR effort will leverage this existing technology and research. This effort will change the application to an in-band, mid-wave infrared (MWIR), pulse train while maximizing power levels. The following described phases will transition these existing technologies to the desired band of interest and develop a prototype for demonstration. 

PHASE I: The Phase I scope will include specifying hardware, procuring and testing key components. These would include the laser emitter, power supply, and optics to control the beam path, reflectance and power output. This effort shall include confirmation and characterization of the beam temporal and spectral attributes. This confirmation can be performed via frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) and other average power measurements. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort entails tailoring the parameters of the short pulse setup (pulse width, power, repeat frequency, wavelength) to desired effect on the sensor. In order for this to occur, HgCdTe (MCT) Amplified Photodetectors (or similar) shall be procured. Additional sensors may be specified of the InSb type. 

PHASE III: Develop, integrate and transition for military applications in Air Force, Army, and Marine Corp for laser targeting devices. The system developed in this program can be used by research and development organizations and test ranges to evaluate sensor devices. 

REFERENCES: 

1: The development and application of femtosecond laser systems, W. Sibbett, A. A. Lagatsky, and C. T. A. Brown, 2012

2: US Navy backs femtosecond lasers for IR countermeasures, 30 Nov 2012 http://optics.org/news/3/11/46

3: Mid-IR Ultrashort Pulsed Fiber-Based Lasers, Irina T. Sorokina, Vladislav V. Dvoyrin, Nikolai Tolstik, and Evgeni Sorokin, 2014

KEYWORDS: Solid State Laser, Diode -pumped Laser, Mid-infrared Laser, Optical Pulse Generation, Mode-locked Laser, Ultrafast Laser, Ultrafast Optics 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Determine vehicle location with affordable uncooled infrared (IR) imaging cameras from a situational awareness system. 

DESCRIPTION: This effort shall develop a system to determine the location of a host vehicle with celestial navigation using imaging sensors installed as a distributed-aperture situational awareness and driving system. Celestial navigation solutions, landmarks, potentially topographic information shall be correlated with digital terrain data to more precisely determine the vehicle location. Since the situational awareness sensors are already available on the vehicle, and since digital altimeters are inexpensive, the proposed solution could provide a low-cost positioning capability in a GPS-denied environment. 

PHASE I: Conduct an analytical study to predict the expected location accuracy using the proposed technique, and identify specific performance required of the imaging cameras to include the instantaneous field of view (IFOV). 

PHASE II: Assemble a distributed aperture situational awareness system based on off-the-shelf IR cameras and install on a vehicle. Integrate celestial navigation algorithms with the situational awareness system to determine first order location. Fuse this system with a digital altimeter, which improves location by comparing altitude to Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) database. Evaluate this system by performing dynamic tests to compare computed location with actual location and determine accuracy. Identify key system characteristics that affect overall accuracy. Deliverables shall include identified key system characteristics that affect overall accuracy, processing software, and celestial navigation subsystem integrated with IR imaging system with CEP performance not to exceed 3x that of current GPS on the vehicle. 

PHASE III: Integrate celestial navigation algorithms on GFE processor on tactical ground vehicle with GFE distributed aperture IR cameras, digital altimeter, and inertial navigation system for demonstration. This demonstration system shall consider validation settings in a realistic, potentially controlled range environment. Components shall be integrated into a meaningful form factor and packaged for use on wheeled vehicle on secondary roads. System size, weight, and power need to be optimized for functionality and reliability. Transition opportunities include future Bradley ECP, Abrams ECP, Stryker ECP and Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) for military applications under GPS denied scenarios. Potential commercial applications include civilian aviation, shipping/transportation, as well as UAV applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Reda, I., Andreas A., 2008, Solar Position Algorithm for Solar Radiation Applications, Technical Report, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, #DE-AC36-99-GO10337

KEYWORDS: Positioning; Celestial Navigation; GPS Denied Environment 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop On the Move Infrared Search ant Track (IRST) algorithms for an IRST consisting of multiple distributed aperture uncooled IR cameras for ground vehicles. 

DESCRIPTION: This effort would develop an algorithm approach to automatically detect and track small slow UAS (unmanned aerial systems) from a moving tactical platform using distributed aperture system (DAS) of uncooled IR cameras mounted on the hull of the vehicle. The applicable UAS targets vary from micro through Class 2. Threat UAS targets are either hovering or in flight in various clutter environments from blue sky to terrain / urban backgrounds. 

PHASE I: Conduct an analytical study to evaluate algorithmic approaches for detecting small dim air targets at range from a moving ground platform for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS). Implement on the move IRST algorithms using recorded imagery sets in non-real time to demonstrate feasibility of approach. 

PHASE II: Implement on-the-move IRST algorithms in real time on COTS processor and integrate on host vehicle with GFE DAS uncooled IR sensors. Demonstrate real time IRST algorithms to detect and track surrogate threat UAS while on-the-move. 

PHASE III: Integrate real time on-the-move IRST algorithms on GFE processor on tactical ground vehicle with DAS uncooled IR sensors to detect and track surrogate threat UAS at tactical relevant ranges while on-the-move. Deliver On- the- move IRST algorithms to provide the capability to detect and track UAS in support of CUAS objectives for Bradley ECP 3a, ECP3b, Stryker ECP2 and Future Fighting Vehicle. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Tracking Small Targets in Wide Area Motion Imagery Data, Alex Mathew, SPIE-IS&T Electronic Imaging, SPIE Vol. 8663, 86630A

KEYWORDS: IRST, CUAS, On-the-move 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a ruggedized non-imaging, spectrally sensitive night sky characterization system that can record the spectrally separated irradiance of the night sky across spectral bands from 400-2500nm. 

DESCRIPTION: The US Army is critically interested in the ability to image under low light level conditions in areas that our troops may be operating. In an effort to properly quantify these conditions and feed this information into future camera development efforts, a need has arisen for a field collection system that is capable of performing calibrated, reliable night sky irradiance measurements of the available downwelling incoming zodiacal light across the visible, NIR, & shortwave infrared spectral bands. This sensor should be able to measure ambient light levels in a radiometrically calibrated manner from daylight down to overcast starlight illumination levels (~10-9 W/cm^2/m). This should be accomplished across no less than 256 spectral channels. This sensor should be reasonably well hardened against most atmospheric conditions (rain, snow, fog) and temperature variations (-20C to 50C). In addition to the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared measurements, the sensor should also be able to measure the apparent temperature of the atmosphere in both midwave infrared and longwave infrared spectral bands, though these channels do not require further spectral fidelity than a single temperature value per channel. The proposed sensor should be man portable, be able to log data for extended periods of time, be able to recover automatically from a loss and recovery of power (hard reboot), and be able to survive shipment through standard commercially available shipping channels. 

PHASE I: The vendor should design and model their proposed sensor solution at minimum. This sensor design should include discussions of how the full dynamic range of illumination levels will be handled while maintaining extremely low noise. 

PHASE II: Produce the sensor solution designed in phase 1. Accompany the sensor on at least two test events to ensure proper operation and calibration of radiance data. 

PHASE III: Refine product developed in Phase II into a ruggedized package for military applications. Military applications can include environmental conditions monitoring and threat detection. Nonmilitary commercialization opportunities would be a high sensitivity, low noise spectrometer for radiometric measurements. 

REFERENCES: 

1: R. Littleton, K. Dang, P. Maloney, P. Perconti, and C. Terrill, Spectral Irradiance of the Night Sky for Passive Low Light Level Imaging Applications, Military Sensing Symposium on Passive Sensors (2005)

KEYWORDS: Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), Night Sky, Visible Near Infrared (VNIR), Infrared, Radiometer, Spectrometer 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Produce an enhanced image suitable for driving ground vehicles in heavily degraded visual environments with minimal latency (<80 ms) using image processing methods. This is not a solicitation for new camera hardware. 

DESCRIPTION: This effort would develop a method to enhance IR video imagery in heavily degraded visual environments using image processing. In heavily degraded environments, it has been shown that in many cases some photons do get through the obscurant, but typical image processing techniques (acutance/contrast/edge enhancement) are inadequate because the SNR is too low. This topic seeks new computational image processing techniques that can be used to extract very small signals (SNR<1) from noisy, degraded images, with the goal of safely driving vehicles in such an environment. Inherent in this method must be the ability to function when the camera (vehicle) is in motion. A priori knowledge of the un-degraded scene should not be assumed. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate a computational methodology that can extract small, SNR<1 signals from heavily degraded video imagery. The resultant imagery should be sufficiently enhanced to allow driving in the degraded environment at low speeds. 

PHASE II: Implement the enhancement from Phase I in real time with minimal latency (<80 ms) suitable for driving a ground vehicle at 16 kph in heavy dust. Implement the method in hardware (e.g. GPU, FPGA) and demonstrate the ability to implement in real time. 

PHASE III: Test the ability of humans to safely drive using the Phase II system in a degraded environment. Modify the algorithm as required to improve detection accuracy and processing speed to maximize vehicle speed in the degraded environment. Successful testing should allow deployment of the system on any vehicle in degraded environments, such as supply convoys, or ground patrols. Similar capabilities might be useful in the commercial world for long haul truckers and similar vehicles that must keep moving under poor visibility conditions. Eventually autonomous vehicles could use similar technology, with computer vision instead of human drivers. 

REFERENCES: 

1: "LWIR thermal imaging through dust obscuration", Forrest A. Smith, Eddie L. Jacobs, Srikant Chari and Jason Brooks, Proc. Of SPIE Vol. 8014-80140G-12

2: "See-through Obscurants via Compressive Sensing in Degraded Visual Environment", Richard Lau, T.K. Woodward, Proc of SPIE Vol. 9484 94840F-8

3: "Real-Time Convex Optimization in Signal Processing", Jacob Mattingly and Stephen Boyd, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine [61] May 2010

KEYWORDS: DVE, Degraded Visual Environments, Real Time Image Enhancement 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a spectrally agile sensor operating in the Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) that is capable of high definition spatial imaging across a number of narrow spectral bands. The sensor shall be capable acquiring a minimum of 1024 spatial channels and 128 spectral channels. 

DESCRIPTION: Spectrally agile sensors (also known as hyperspectral sensors) have demonstrated the ability to provide remote sensing utility and actionable information to the warfighter. Currently deployed platforms utilize state-of-the-art sensors combined with near real-time processing to generate detection products or alerts regarding targets of interest in seconds or minutes. Historically though, many of this class of sensor has suffered from very low or reduced spatial coverage. With recent advancements in state-of-the-art focal plane arrays (FPAs) as well as new spectrometer designs, it is now possible to achieve High Definition narrow band spectral imagery in the LWIR. This class of sensor would then be able to provide significant improvements in detection performance for a large class of problems of interest to the Army, such as base security, perimeter defense, and route clearance. This topic seeks to develop a new class of spectrometer capable of near diffraction limited performance across the 8-13 micron section of the LWIR spectrum with the smaller pixels (typically 18-20 microns) found in new FPAs. This should be achieved across the full and typically large spatial extent of the FPA. Noise performance of the new sensor should be less than 1 microwatt per centimeter squared per micrometer per steradian on average across the whole LWIR band. 

PHASE I: Model the proposed system, taking into account potential user feedback in order to determine key sensor design parameters including number of bands, spatial resolution, required optical throughput, and anticipated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at each wavelength. Analyze anticipated temporal latency in the proposed system in order to determine anticipated time between image acquisition and presentation of results to user. If possible, demonstrate in a laboratory or benchtop configuration a scaled model of the spectrometer system. 

PHASE II: Construct the proposed system developed in phase I. System shall be built, calibrated, tested in the laboratory, and evaluated in a field trial during phase II. Testing shall be conducted against targets or target surrogates relevant to the problems facing the warfighers in the active military theater. 

PHASE III: In a phase III effort, the system shall be ruggedized for fielding in a theater-relevant environment. In addition, transitional opportunities will be identified in the non-military area. These may include geological mapping, border surveillance, and entry control point security. Potential transition to commercial production is an enhanced focus area. Special attention will be paid to proposals that clearly identify potential commercial partners or markets. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Proceedings of SPIE -- Volume 5415, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets IX, Russell S. Harmon, J. Thomas Broach, John H. Holloway, Jr., Editors, September 2004, pp. 1035-1041

2: Detection Algorithms for Hyperspectral Imaging Applications, Manolakis & Shaw, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (1053-5888/02) January 2002, pp. 29-43

3: Development and Initial Results of the LACHI Compact LWIR Hyperspectral Sensor at US Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD, Zeibel et. al., Military Sensing Symposium on Passive Sensors. (March 2011)

4: J. Silny et. al., Aces Hy Performance Characterization and Calibration, Military Sensing Symposium on Passive Sensors (March 2012)

5: Recent Advances in Mobile Ground-Based Hyperspectral Detection of IEDs, Home Made Explosives, and Energetics-Related Materials., Yasuda et. al., Military Sensing Symposium on Battlefield Survivability and Deception. (March 2012)

KEYWORDS: Spectrometer, Spectra, Situational Awareness, Spectral Processing, LWIR, Hyperspectral 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a digital pixel based uncooled longwave infrared (LWIR) bolometer array. Pixels within the array should be able to acquire and store data natively in a digital manner, while maintaining a low noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT) and short time constant. The imager should be capable of no less than 16 bits of dynamic range scene content. 

DESCRIPTION: Current readout technology for uncooled IRFPA is still predominantly analog. The A/D conversion occurs in the camera electronics. There is an increasing interest in the uncooled IR industry to improve the performance and reduce Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) of uncooled camera systems by moving the A/D conversion function on chip. The current industry standard approach is to perform A/D in the column circuitry. However, it is generally accepted that A/D conversion at the detector allows highest performance due to noise immunity of digital signals right at the front end. This topic seeks to advance uncooled IR technology by the development of a digital readout with pixel level A/D conversion for high dynamic range, high frame rate uncooled IR imaging. Uncooled technology would greatly benefit by moving to a pixel level A/D conversion readout architecture. The commercial CMOS imaging sensor industry is moving to a system on a chip architecture, with 3D IC integration of photodetectors, A/D converters, digital signal processing, and data storage to improve product performance, efficiency, and cost. Currently there are efforts in the DoD community to leverage the commercial industrys 3D IC stacking technology and on-chip digital signal processing for high-performance cooled IRFPA technology. To fully realize the benefits of 3D stacking and on-chip digital signal processing, A/D conversion in the pixel is required. Imagers are massively parallel architectures and thus are best suited for pixel-level digital processing. Pixel-level A/D conversion would allow efficient image processing, higher dynamic range, and higher frame rate imaging. 

PHASE I: The vendor should design and model an in-pixel digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) for uncooled LWIR applications that supports no less than 16 bits of dynamic range. The proposed concept should include the ability to support features not typically possible in standard analog ROIC technology, such as active noise mitigation, in-pixel non-uniformity correction (NUC), and/or scene stabilization. 

PHASE II: Produce an uncooled LWIR imaging sensor based on the designed DROIC. Achieving state-of-the-art bolometer performance is not inherently a main driver in this effort, though the sensor should be capable of effectively demonstrating the benefits of the digital-in-pixel technology. 

PHASE III: Deliver additional prototype sensors for investigation of a variety of problems of military relevance to the Army. These may include applications such as operation in a degraded visual environment, 360 degree situational awareness, and threat warning. 

REFERENCES: 

1: U. Ringh, C. Jansson and K. C. Liddiard, CMOS analog-to-digital conversion for uncooled bolometer infrared detector arrays, Proc. SPIE 2474, Smart Focal Plane Arrays and Focal Plane Array Testing, 88 (1995)

2: C. A. Marshall, N. R. Butler, R. J. Blackwell, R. Murphy and T. B. Breen, Uncooled infrared sensors with digital focal plane array, Proc. SPIE 2746, Infrared Detectors and Focal Plane Arrays IV, 23 (1996)

3: M. Kelly, R. Berger, C. Colonero, M. Gregg, J. Model, et al., Design and testing of an all-digital readout integrated circuit for infrared focal plane arrays, Proc. SPIE 5902, Focal Plane Arrays for Space Telescopes II, 59020J (2005)

4: G Mizuno, P Oduor, AK Dutta, and NK Dhar, High performance digital read out integrated circuit (DROIC) for infrared imaging, Proc. SPIE 9854, Image Sensing Technologies: Materials, Devices, Systems, and Applications III, 985409 (2016)

5: B Tyrrell, R Berger, C Colonero, J Costa, M Kelly, E Ringdahl, K Schultz, and J Wey, Design approaches for digitally dominated active pixel sensors: leveraging Moore's Law scaling in focal plane readout design, Proc. SPIE 6900, Quantum Sensing and Nanophotonic Devices V, 69000W (2008)

KEYWORDS: Digital ROIC, DROIC, Readout Integrated Circuit, Uncooled LWIR, Bolometer, Thermal, Infrared 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Design and develop the algorithms needed to fuse multiple airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensor modalities, with a focus on electro optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors. 

DESCRIPTION: Over the past decade, Airborne ISR sensors have played a large role in U.S. Army actions. Many of these sensors were deployed as Quick Reaction Capabilities (QRCs), and as such often created stove-piped data processing algorithms. As a result, intelligence products created by these stove-piped systems were limited to the data provided by only the specific sensor modality creating the product. To create products from multiple data sources, a user was forced to manually combine information from multiple sensor modalities. As these sensors transition towards formal Programs of Record (PoR), the Army desires to fuse data from multiple modalities to create new capabilities and/or increase the robustness and fidelity of existing products. To support this goal, Aided Target Recognition / Detection (AiTR/AiTD) algorithms need to be developed to autonomously fuse airborne ISR sensor. 

PHASE I: The Phase I goal is to demonstrate techniques and concepts that could be used to autonomously fuse airborne ISR sensor data from multiple (2 or more) modalities. To support development of these algorithms the contractor must provide, or simulate, their own data for the selected modalities to fuse. The Phase I proposal must describe the data to be used during this phase and give justification as to why this data is valid. The concepts and techniques to be leveraged in Phase II will be demonstrated to government Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The demonstration of fully autonomous algorithms and real-time hardware is not required during this phase. However, the concepts to be developed in Phase II must be proven. 

PHASE II: The Phase II goal is to develop autonomous algorithms for fusion of ISR sensors to demonstrate improved ability to detect targets and events of interest, or perform other relevant ISR missions. Autonomous algorithms refer to the autonomous nature in which the sensor data is fused and a target or event is detected. The results of these algorithms will still require a user to validate the detected target or event. The algorithms developed in this phase will be based off the approaches demonstrated in Phase I; however, they will be matured to the point of not needing manual interaction. During this phase, the fusion algorithms will be compared against similar single modality approaches to demonstrate improved performance and robustness. Phase II will conclude with a report describing algorithm performance and robustness as well as recommendations for future improvements to the algorithm(s). 

PHASE III: The Phase III goal is to take the algorithms from a TRL 5 to a mature state such that they can be transitioned. This includes the system and algorithm improvements described in the Phase II report. These algorithms could then be transitioned to any number of ISR programs of record through an Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) program. Examples of such programs are Gray Eagle, EMARS-G, and ARL-E. The potential for commercial applications is considerable with such mission areas as search/rescue and first responders for situational awareness. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lena M. Klasen; Pierre Andersson; Hakan Larsson; Tomas R. Chevalier; Ove K. Steinvall Swedish Defense Research Agency Proc., Aided target recognition from 3D laser radar data. SPIE 5412, laser Radar Technology and Applications IX, 321 (September 13, 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.542434

2: J.A. Ratches; C.P. Walters; R.G. Buser; B.D. Guenther, Aided and automatic target recognition based upon sensory inputs from image formatting systems. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (Volume: 19, Issue: 9, Sept 1997); doi: 10.1109/34.615449

3: A. El-Saba, M.S. Alam, and W.A. Sakla, "Pattern recognition via multispectral, hyperspectral, and polarization-based imaging," Proc. SPIE 7696, 76961M (2010)

4: F. Selzer and D. Gutfinger, "LADAR and FLIR based sensor fusion for automatic target classification," Proc. SPIE 1003, 236-246 (1989)

KEYWORDS: Target Detection, AiTR, AiTD, Algorithm Development, Pattern Recognition, ATR, ISR, Event Detection, Sensor Fusion, Data Fusion, Persistent Surveillance, HSI, LIDAR, WAMI, WAAS 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to investigate ways to improve the cycle life and capacity retention of the lithium-sulfur battery chemistry by addressing the negative effects of parasitic polysulfide reactions. 

DESCRIPTION: One of the CERDECs main research interests is Tactical and Deployed Power, a goal of which is to advance Soldier and mobile power and energy generation. Increasing the energy density of military batteries is a major focus area in the pursuit of this goal. Lithium-sulfur, with its 2600 Wh/kg theoretical specific energy (550 Wh/kg demonstrated), has been identified as a promising chemistry to achieve the CERDEC short-term rechargeable battery target of 300 Wh/kg. A higher energy rechargeable power source would have impacts across all areas of the CERDEC mission, from commanding the operation to enabling and creating decisive effects. Despite its high energy, the lithium-sulfur chemistry has not yet reached the technical maturity necessary for commercialization. The majority of the practical issues with the lithium-sulfur chemistry can be attributed to the dissolution of lithium polysulfide in liquid electrolyte, which results in parasitic reactions. These reactions cause low sulfur utilization and poor cycling efficiency via capacity fading. Recent efforts have been focused on either suppressing diffusion of the dissolved polysulfides out of the cathode or protecting the lithium anode from reacting with the dissolved polysulfides. This topic proposes the investigation of these or other methods to mitigate the inhibiting effects of polysulfide dissolution. Findings will then be incorporated into electrode materials that can provide improved cycle life performance while maintaining the high specific energy intrinsic to the lithium-sulfur chemistry. 

PHASE I: Investigate the feasibility of practical solutions to the polysulfide dissolution problem affecting the lithium-sulfur chemistry. Using the results of this investigation, synthesize and characterize proof-of-concept electrode materials that will provide the potential for improved cycle life and capacity retention. A small quantity of electrode material is an encouraged, but not required, Phase I deliverable. 

PHASE II: Continue the research efforts initiated in Phase I. Optimize the electrode materials and test the impact on the cyclability of resultant lithium-sulfur cells. Construct cells utilizing the electrode materials developed during Phase I and optimized during Phase II and provide CERDEC with an appropriate number of cell samples to conduct electrochemical performance testing. Performance targets for deliverables include specific energy of 300 Wh/kg at the cell level and 100 cycles of at least 80% capacity retention. 

PHASE III: Transition technology to the U.S. Army. Many CERDEC applications are restricted by the energy limitations of the Soldier power source. There is a consistent need for improved energy and cycle life, to either extend mission length, reduce the weight of Soldier-carried batteries, or allow for the always-increasing power draw of advanced electronic capabilities. The lithium-sulfur battery chemistry is the Armys most near-term high-energy target. Successful Phase I and II development provides opportunities for technology transition to Project Manager Soldier Warrior (PM SWAR) programs of record. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Cheon, et al. "Rechargeable Lithium Sulfur Battery: Structural Change of Sulfur Cathode During Discharge and Charge." Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 150(6). 2003

2: Cheon, et al. "Rechargeable Lithium Sulfur Battery: Rate Capability and Cycle Characteristics." Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 150(6). 2003

3: Zhang, Sheng S. "Liquid electrolyte lithium/sulfur battery: Fundamental chemistry, problems, and solutions." Journal of Power Sources, 231. 2013

4: Li, et al. "Status and prospects in sulfur-carbon composites as cathode materials for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries." Carbon, 92. 2015

KEYWORDS: Rechargeable Battery, Lithium-sulfur, Dismounted Soldier, Portable Power 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a highly reliable, externally aided, GPS receiver that leverages precise time information from an atomic clock with increased performance and integrity over typical feed forward time server designs. 

DESCRIPTION: GPS is the ubiquitous source of precise time and stable frequency for many Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems. Time is required for radar, high bandwidth communication, RF sensors, guidance systems, electronic warfare, and in fact, GPS receivers themselves. Many systems utilize a GPS time server with a stable holdover clock, such as a rubidium or other atomic clock, as a backup to maintain accurate time during short GPS outages, disciplining the holdover clock via the GPS receiver 1 Pulse Per Second (1 PPS) when GPS is available. This feed forward approach fails to capitalize on the stability of the holdover clock and to properly safeguard the holdover clock from faulty signals originating from the GPS receiver (possibly due to poor signal environment or an anomalous GPS satellite signal). Current implementations are vulnerable to errors induced into the GPS signal, such as multipath, environmental effects, signal anomalies, or GPS control segment errors. These errors will propagate into the timing output of the GPS disciplined clock unchecked by current disciplining implementations, potentially impacting their client systems. Better overall performance can be achieved if an integrated or coupled approach is applied. This integrated approach would treat the inputs of the holdover clock and the GPS receiver as sensor inputs to be evaluated and weighted to determine the best timing output, as well as deciding when to discipline the holdover clock. More deeply integrated methodologies would further leverage the holdover clock to aid the GPS receiver, increasing the availability and accuracy of the receiver by improving resistance to interference, multipath rejection, three satellite navigation, time to subsequent fix, etc. These methods would lead to a more robust positioning and timing system with better performance and resilience. The above example is one range of different techniques that could be used to better utilize and integrate a stable time and frequency source with a GPS receiver. However, other novel solutions to the stated problem will be allowed and considered. Current GPS receivers do not typically allow the type of modification necessary to integrate external sensors as navigation aids, as this fully integrated approach requires. Instead a Software Defined Radios (SDRs) provides a flexible platform with which to provide capability. It is suggested that algorithms developed for this topic be demonstrated using The Global Navigation Satellite System Test Architecture (GNSSTA) SDR architecture. Though the methodologies and algorithms developed for this topic may be applied to a large number of different clocks, the low Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C) of the Chip Scale Atomic Clock make it a desirable demonstration clock. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study that identifies the challenges and provides potential solutions for a fully integrated GPS receiver and precision clock design. Provide a fully integrated design and identify hardware and software necessary to build a prototype. 

PHASE II: Develop prototypes and demonstrate capability to TRL 4. Provide test report and analysis detailing all conducted tests and possible solutions to any identified challenges. Deliver 3 prototypes for government evaluation, including all hardware and software necessary to operate and collect data from the prototypes. Prototypes should implement algorithms using both the GPS C/A and P codes at a minimum. 

PHASE III: The purpose of this research effort is to develop a positioning and timing unit that could be useful for both personal navigation (via a low SWAP-C clock) and vehicular applications. The algorithms that are developed would enable an architecture capable of serving as both a high performance GPS receiver and a stable time source for client systems on a variety of platforms. Other applications include telecommunications systems in static installations, autonomous systems, radar platforms, and aviation applications. During this phase, the technical solution should look at applying this technique to other GNSS signals, such as M-code or the new GPS L5 civil signal, as well as the encrypted P(Y) code. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Stevanovic, Stefan, Joerger, Mathieu, Khanafseh, Samer, Pervan, Boris, "Atomic Clock Aided Receiver for Improved GPS Signal Tracking in the Presence of Wideband Interference," Proceedings of the 28th International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS

2: Preston, Sarah E., Bevly, David M., "CSAC-Aided GPS Multipath Mitigation," Proceedings of the 46th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, December 2014, pp. 228-234

3: Chan, F-C., Joerger, M., Khanafseh, S., Pervan, B., Jakubov, O., "Performance Analysis and Experimental Validation of Broadband Interference Mitigation Using an Atomic Clock-Aided GPS Receiver," Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Meeting of The Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2013), Nashville, TN, September 2013, pp. 1371-1379

KEYWORDS: GPS, Precision Timing, PNT, Kalman Filter, GPS Integration, Clock Integration, Sensor Fusion 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a Multi-spectral adjunct sensor consisting of either single element detectors or a linear array with a variety of spectral bands in the UV/Visible/Infrared that can be used to aid in detection of aviation threats (Missiles, Hostile Fire, etc.). This sensor will be used as an adjunct to current Missile Warning/Hostile Fire Indication systems for improved capability. 

DESCRIPTION: Current State of the Art Threat Warning Systems for platform protection have included imaging detector arrays in the UV and single or two-color IR that detect spectral, spatial, and temporal features of the threat and perform threat identification and classification while operating in cluttered environments. These systems usually use single broadband or 1-2 narrowband sensors, with minimal spectral discrimination capability to address accurate threat classification/identification and emerging threats where signatures are likely to be different. Due to manufacturing techniques needed to develop multispectral, high spatial resolution imaging sensors, it is impractical for the primary sensor to cover additional bands at high resolution and framerate. Multispectral (~ 10 detection bands) and hyperspectral (~ hundreds of detection bands) adjunct sensors are able to improve the current state of the art systems by adding orthogonal and/or complimentary data. Fusing this broader data set will improve declaration performance for existing threats in complex background environments and be more robust in detecting new or unknown threats. A low spatial/high temporal resolution multispectral adjunct sensor will allow for added capability at lower cost while enabling the overall system to be flexible for future algorithm developments as the threat environment evolves. Our unique application of this concept can take two formats: A single linear array with the appropriate filters and a single optic, or a constellation or ring of 1-n single element detectors with separate optics in the appropriate bands. The data from this sensor will be correlated temporally with imaging threat detection sensors. Resolving the threat with a resolution finer than the field of regard is not required. Some system-level specifications include: 90 degree Field of Regard per Sensor Frame Rate: 1,000 Hz Threshold, 10,000 Hz Objective Variety of Spectral bands across the Ultraviolet, Visible, and Infrared (NIR, SWIR, MWIR, LWIR) Maximum data processing time of 500 msec This topic will address a threat list of descending priority to include: Man-portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) and small arms. Sensors detect the propellant signatures associated with these threats. Since the phenomenology features for each wavelength varies, no single detection range can be specified. However the goals of any survivability system is to detect and counter the threat at its max effective range. This adjunct sensor must therefore be sensitive enough to detect threat phenomenology as early in the engagement as possible. The intention of this sensor is not to provide a specific false alarm rate for each wavelength, but to instead select the correct combination of wavelengths that allows threat signature fingerprinting, which will improve identification and classification for the primary sensor. For the purposes of this SBIR, form factor is not a primary concern, as the main deliverable is a brassboard prototype sensor. However, the desired SWaP growth path for this adjunct sensor would be to ultimately integrate it with the fielded primary sensor, either around the sensor as an attachment, or internally integrated. For reference, comparable primary sensor systems are typically 5x5x8 per sensor, weighing anywhere from 3.5 to 5lbs. The preliminary SWaP goals are to have the adjunct sensor have design path that supports the 5x5 dimension of each primary sensor, adding minimal depth, and a maximum weight increase of <2 lb. The main focus of this SBIR is to develop and design the hardware using existing sensor components, and to begin initial design of the processing techniques to take the individual sensor output data and correlate with the primary sensor outputs for a robust solution. 

PHASE I: Investigate the ideal spectral bands that will aid in threat identification and classification, reduction in FAR and increase in Pdec for existing Missile Warning Systems. Begin designing an adjunct multi-spectral system prototype. Deliverables include final report detailing design process, Preliminary Design Review and documentation, and supporting data. 

PHASE II: Build a brass-board prototype system that will be used for Hardware-in-the-Loop or Field testing for technology demonstration and performance analysis. Also identify areas to explore for a finalized system design and technical/programmatic risks. Deliverables include Critical Design Review and Documentation, Prototype Hardware that will be used in Government Lab and Field Data collections. 

PHASE III: I2WD will serve as the Transition partner with matching funding to leverage Phase 2 design and further mature the technology, preparing for a technology insertion program for existing programs of record that this technology may enhance. Deliverables include finalized prototype design and Hardware, including Algorithms that integrate with existing Missile warning systems. Additional PM transition partners also identified. PM transition partners: Project Manager Office Aircraft Survivability Equipment (PMO-ASE) PEO-Ground Combat Systems PM-UAS 

REFERENCES: 

1: Examples of primary Warning Systems: http://www.northropgrumman.com/MediaResources/MediaKits/SOFIC/Documents/ATW_datasheet.pdf

2: Examples of primary Warning Systems: http://www.baesystems.com/en/product/anaar57-common-missile-warning-system-cmws

3: Example of unique spectral bands: http://www.cis.rit.edu/files/CiszThesis2002.pdf

4: Multispectral references: http://www.ugpti.org/smartse/research/citations/downloads/Tack-Compact_HSI_Imager-2012.pdf

5: Multispectral references: http://spie.org/Publications/Proceedings/Paper/10.1117/12.900971

6: Multispectral references: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1026047

7: General sensor references: https://www.ida.org/idamedia/Corporate/Files/Publications/IDA_Documents/SED/ida-document-d-4642.pdf

KEYWORDS: Threat Warning, Missile Warning, Hostile Fire Indication, Multi-spectral, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, Adjunct, Single Element Array, Sensors, Electro-Optical Infrared 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Deployment of an analytic which would recognize repeated actions, interactions, and transactions that an analyst performs on device(s) to display information relevant to the analyst ex. in support of Multi-INT. 

DESCRIPTION: The scope of this SBIR is to investigate the deployment of a cloud based analytic which would recognize repeated actions, interactions, and transactions that an analyst performs on a device to ultimately display information relevant to the analyst. This information may be derived from [not be limited to] mission objectives, user roles, sensors, email, and other data feeds. The analytic should be able to capture, analyze, and then display relevant information to the user in a simplified manner. Relevancy may be inferred based on fields such as search queries, location, role, calendar, mission objectives etc. An analyst should also have the capability to perform semantic search based on the underlying analytic. Commercial analytical capabilities exist [Google Now] which analyze a users behavior, coupled with inferences, to display relevant information. These relevancies however generally draw on data banks with a pre-set ontological standard such as email and location. As such these analytics do not expand beyond specified devices [Android; IOS; Windows] where data format and subject may differ. With direct affect to military application, this additional data bank may be sourced from mission objectives, user roles, sensor information, tactical chatrooms, analyst data repositories, and non-standard data types & operating systems. To address these gaps and opportunities Analytic for Federated Data (ALFRED) should provide for analytical capabilities, where data may be sourced from any number of different data banks. The analytic should recognize repeated actions, interactions, and transactions to facilitate displaying of relevant information. Inference of relevancy should be established though standard and non-standard data sources. The results of this inference may then include: specified alerts to developing situations; event alerts; threat updates; weather alerts; and nearby situational awareness. The analytic should be deployable across different data banks and devices. Additionally a semantic search capability should be embedded, leveraging ALFREDs analytical capabilities so as to improve search accuracy by understanding of searchers intent and context. 

PHASE I: Develop a system design the incorporates an analytic which is able to capture, analyze, and then display relevant information to the user. Relevancy may be inferred based on fields such as search queries, location, role, calendar, mission objectives etc. 

PHASE II: Develop, test, demonstrate, and report on a prototype system that showcases an analytics which is able to capture, analyze, and then display relevant information to the user in a simplified manner. Relevancy may be inferred based on fields such as search queries, location, role, calendar, mission objectives etc. 

PHASE III: This cloud based analytic solution could be implemented on top of different data sources within the Intelligence or Mission Command Domains to enhance the operators situational awareness and assist with daily tasks. Commercially this solution could operate as an analytic to streamline and simplify daily operations within call centers, logistics operations, healthcare facilities, and the financial industries. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Dong, Hai (2008). A survey in semantic search technologies. IEEE. pp. 403“408

2: MacGregor, Robert (June 1991). "Using a description classifier to enhance knowledge representation". IEEE Expert 6 (3): 41“46. doi:10.1109/64.87683

3: Schalkoff, Robert (2011). Intelligent Systems: Principles, Paradigms and Pragmatics: Principles, Paradigms and Pragmatics. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 978-0-7637-8017-3

4: Singhal, Amit (May 16, 2012). "Introducing the Knowledge Graph: Things, Not Strings". Official Blog (of Google). https://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html

5: Smith, Reid (May 8, 1985). "Knowledge-Based Systems Concepts, Techniques, Examples" (PDF). http://www.reidgsmith.com

KEYWORDS: Search, Queries, Intelligent Personal Assistant, Natural Language Processing, Knowledge Navigator, Structured And Unstructured Information, Inference Engine, Ontology, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Neural Networks 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop and demonstrate an algorithm that will allow an airborne or ground-based Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) radar to discriminate among Humans, Vehicles, Animals and ground Clutter (HVAC) in Near Real Time (NRT) by using Doppler signatures, target track characteristics and (where applicable) group dynamics. 

DESCRIPTION: GMTI radars are able to reliably detect and accurately track targets moving in various terrain types. These radars, which typically have range resolutions from 1m to 5m, are limited in their ability to accurately discriminate among humans, vehicles, animals and moving clutter (e.g. flowing water, wind-blown trees). As target misclassifications can cause incorrect responsive actions by US forces in critical situations, significantly improving the HVAC classification accuracy of GMTI radars is a high Army priority. Target classification algorithms is applicable to a large number of current and future Army radars. 

PHASE I: The Contractor shall develop an approach to enhance HVAC performance. The algorithms must be robust enough to account for missed detections caused by terrain blockage, low target radial velocity, etc. The contractor will estimate how the algorithm performance will vary as a function of radar frequency, Doppler frequency resolution, length of time over which a target is observed, and the number of missed detection reports. The Contractor will show how the algorithm is expected to perform against individuals, groups of various sizes, and mixed groups (e.g. humans and animals). The Contractor will also show how the algorithm will perform under calm and windy conditions, especially in the presence of wind-blown foliage. The product of the Phase I effort will be a final report that recommends a HVAC algorithm approach to be fully developed and demonstrated in the Phase II program. 

PHASE II: The Contractor shall develop the HVAC algorithms and test with simulated and actual GMTI data provided by the Army. The initially provided data will be at frequencies ranging from UHF to X-band. The algorithm performance will be quantified as a function of radar frequency, range resolution, Doppler resolution, target observation time, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the data, sensitivity to missed detections, and ground wind conditions. The algorithm performance will be assessed against mixed groups, individual targets, groups of various sizes, groups moving in different directions and speeds. The HVAC algorithm will also be demonstrated in near-real time by processing data provided by an Army GMTI radar undergoing field testing. 

PHASE III: The Contractor shall develop a fully operational NRT HVAC algorithm for incorporation into one or more Army GMTI radars. The algorithm will also be developed for use in systems such as DHS GMTI radars that are used for border surveillance. The resulting technology will enhance these radars by providing an accurate understanding of the nature of a detected threat, and thereby minimizing the number of responses to non-threatening situations such as the detections of animals and false alarms due to wind-blown clutter. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chen, Victor C. The Micro-doppler Effect in Radar. Boston: Artech House, 2011

2: J. Palmer, J. Reed, T. Selee, R. Hersey, E. Culpepper, Dismount and Animal discrimination Using Radar Signatures, in Record 58th Tri-Service Radar Symposium, Boulder, CO, June 2012

3: Moorter, Bram Van, Nils Bunnefeld, Manuela Panzacchi, Christer M. Rolandsen, Erling J. Solberg, and Bernt-Erik Saether. "Understanding Scales of Movement: Animals Ride Waves and Ripples of Environmental Change." Journal of Animal Ecology J Anim Ecol 82.4 (2013): 770-80. Web

KEYWORDS: GMTI Radar, Target Classification, Group Dynamics 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Perform research into the techniques for the semantic representation of mission plans and design an associated software tool set that facilitates the creation and manipulation of a mission plan as missions unfold. 

DESCRIPTION: Mission plans are currently described through a collection of documents and artifacts that range across a variety of formats, both digital and analog. As a result, the mission plan is not described in a machine-readable format with well-defined semantics and cannot be processed by many automated systems, requiring human users to manually assemble the pieces and refine the plan through the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP). Research is needed to develop a representation of a mission plan with well-defined semantics that: - Enables human, computer, and combined human-computer understanding and manipulation of the mission plan; - Represents domain-independent planning concepts including states, goals, actions/tasks, plan fragments, constraints, dependencies, uncertainty, metrics, preferences, contingencies, re-planning, etc.; - Represents domain-specific militarily relevant entities and relationships including space, time, resources, units, platforms, organizations, coalitions, adversaries, non-combatants, etc; - Represents hierarchical relationships that allow high-level, abstract plans to be refined with additional information and low-level, detailed plans to be abstracted by aggregating information or hiding irrelevant information; - Permits distributed interaction though which multiple, external users or systems can simultaneously view relevant information and update the mission plan; - Permits a variety of planning workflows in which plans or plan details can be proposed, considered, committed, updated, and retracted; - Is extensible to represent new concepts and relationships in domains that are as yet unpredictable. Such a mission plan representation could facilitate much better interoperability between Mission Command systems and enable a broad range of capabilities, such as: - Collaborative workflows that streamline the MDMP across staff functions, echelons, computing environments, and mission phases; - Course of Action (COA) assessment to measure and compare alternative mission plans; - Running estimates to track the dynamic state of an ongoing operation during mission execution; - Tasking and supervision of autonomous systems. 

PHASE I: Phase I effort will include the performance of extensive literature research of appropriate topics, and will also be expected to produce an assessment of the applicability of using, combining, modifying, and/or creating specific semantic and software techniques in a potential system. A preliminary design of a functional system is also expected. Practical limitations imposed by network availability and computing platforms across the force structure should be addressed as well. Technical reports for phase I effort should include: (1) findings related to the individual data and software items that will be considered in the system development, to include the feasibility of capturing, manipulating, and using those items in a representative system (2) analysis of how those items would be collected and managed during prototype development and in an experimental environment (3) a preliminary design for a software prototype, in experimental venues as well as integrated with representative and/or relevant MC systems. 

PHASE II: During Phase II, the contractor is expected to create and then continue to enhance a software prototype. A first version of prototype software should be completed and delivered to the government for installation, demonstration, and evaluation within 90 days of the start of phase II. The contractor and government will work together to identify a target system for integration. Quarterly builds with incremental improvements are required. The contractor and government will work together to identify the venue and target system for a capstone installation, demonstration, and experimental evaluation. It will be the responsibility of the government to facilitate that capstone event. The following tasks are expected: (1) a detailed design for an operable system in both prototypical and fielded environments (2) description of all Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)and a Software Development Kit (SDK) (2) the development and ongoing refinement of prototype software (3) multiple demonstrations and evaluations of the software in a representative operational setting (4) capstone demonstration and evaluation of the software Phase II deliverables will include technical reports, working software prototypes, and associated source code. Software delivered at the conclusion of phase II should be at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5. 

PHASE III: The system developed could have broad applicability for any Army planning function, and the work could have commercial viability as well. During phase III, the contractor will continue to mature the prototype software, moving it to at least a TRL 6 level, and will work with the government to identify and then target and tailor the system for transition to an Army Program of Record as part of a current or emerging Army software system, as well as to one or more commercial applications. As new Army MC solutions targeted to lower echelon and more austere environments are developed, the work should be of immediate interest to the Army Training and Doctrine Command, for use in training schools to help gain insight into how Commanders, during lower-echelon experimentation, perform planning. Additionally, as the Army consolidates more capabilities into systems such as Nett Warrior, a plug-in that could facilitate planning with higher echelons could be invaluable. Lower-echelon systems will be in environments where more agile, less hierarchical command structures are required to maintain operational tempo, and those types of systems would be natural targets. From a commercial perspective, Emergency Response Services, where remote users must quickly share information and collaborate to save lives, a means to optimize planning, which drives efficiency of operations, should be attractive. The technology developed under this SBIR should also be interest to any organization interested in validating the effectiveness of distributed users performing joint planning and/or collaborative sessions, with a focus on quick and effective decisions. Financial instruments and commodity trading are examples. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Army FM 101-5 "Staff Organization and Operations"

2: Tracking Commander's Intent in Dynamic Networks (Martin, Carley, Sauk, Perrin and Woolley), MILCOM 2011 Military Communications Conference

KEYWORDS: Mission Plan, Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), Mission, Course Of Action (COA), Replanning 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate the ability to track paratroopers through free-fall and landing, and locate other squad members to regroup after landing in a GPS denied environment. 

DESCRIPTION: Paratroopers can provide a significant tactical advantage in a military operation due to their ability to rapidly deploy almost anywhere and with little warning. The downside is that they are vulnerable during the jump and may find themselves scattered outside of the drop zone after the jump. They need to quickly regroup, locating other squad members and equipment before proceeding with the operation. Currently they use a GPS receiver and predefined waypoints to regroup, however this approach is limited by the availability of GPS. Paratroopers may find themselves in a GPS degraded environment, separated from their equipment and squad members, with no accurate position. The capability to rapidly locate team members and equipment after landing would reduce the time they are separated and vulnerable, and enable them to quickly regroup and carry on with their mission. Furthermore, during the jump itself it is vital that they avoid colliding with other squad members and equipment, as this could prove deadly. A capability to detect squad members and equipment during the jump could help prevent these collisions, and insure the paratrooper is able to safely make it to the ground. Additionally, if the paratrooper was able to maintain an accurate position even in GPS-degraded environments, he/she may be better able to navigate through the fall, and land closer to the drop zone. The goal of this effort is to develop a low SWAP (Size, Weight, and Power) prototype that provides a solution for the desired capabilities to the paratrooper. 

PHASE I: The vendor will develop a system architecture and conduct necessary tradeoff studies to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach. 

PHASE II: Design and construct a prototype system which may be new, or may be modifications to an existing soldier navigation system, and demonstrate performance of key design elements. 

PHASE III: The vendor will commercialize the system. Military application of this topic is directly applicable to paratrooper and special operations forces, as well as the dismounted soldier via the Assured PNT program, subprogram Dismounted PNT. Envisioned endstate is the ability of soldiers to conduct their missions in these environments, maintaining a high level of OPTEMPO, where the use of this technology is transparent to themselves. Commercial applications of this technology would also be directly applicable to commercial skydiving and supply drop operations. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Precision Airdrop Technology Conference and Demonstration (4th) 2007, Final rept. 22-25 Oct 2007, ARMY NATICK SOLDIER RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER MA, Bishop, Jamie; Meloni, Andrew; Benney, Richard, FEB 2008

2: Terrain Referenced Navigation Using SIFT Features in LiDAR Range-Based Data, AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, Leines, Matthew T, 26 Dec 2014

3: RF Ranging for Location Awareness, Steven Michael Lanzisera and Kristofer Pister, EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley, Technical Report No. UCB/EECS-2009-69, May 19, 2009

KEYWORDS: GPS-Denied, Navigation, Positioning, Localization, Paratrooper 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To develop coatings for nanometer-sized metal flakes and rods which will reduce agglomeration and oxidation while maintaining infrared obscurant performance, and to develop coatings for red phosphorus which will be hydrophobic to eliminate phosphine production while not impacting burn rates or yield. 

DESCRIPTION: The defense industry frequently leverages commercially available materials for use in military applications. These materials as packaged or prepared for the commercial sector may not be in the best configuration for use in military-unique items. Some of these materials, such as those frequently used in high-performance obscurants, typically exhibit poor shelf life due to oxidative degradation or hydrolysis. To reduce degradation, surface coatings are frequently applied to the raw materials. Coatings applied to raw materials for use in other industries (e.g. pigment or plastics) may interfere with dissemination, burn rates, or produce excessively toxic byproducts when the raw materials are used for obscuration. Candidate coatings must provide protection to very small metal particles (tens of micrometers in the major dimension and ten nanometers in the minor dimension) and red phosphorus (RP) used in obscurants. Thin, high-aspect-ratio metal flakes, rods, or other nano-geometries are frequently used for IR obscuration, however these metal-based obscurants are quickly oxidized without protective surface coatings. RP is a high-performance visual obscurant, but suffers from hydrolysis with water to form toxic phosphine gas. Microencapsulates currently used to coat RP often interfere with the final burn rate when used in an obscurant system. Novel coating techniques and materials are required to reduce degradation, improve dissemination, reduce agglomeration, and maintain obscurant performance. 

PHASE I: Develop coating techniques and materials to reduce surface oxidation, inter-particle shear forces, and water reactivity of metal flakes and RP. Candidate material coatings shall not interfere with spectral absorptivity or scattering for metal-based obscurants and shall not cause particles to become agglomerated upon dissemination. Candidate material coatings shall not affect RP burn rates, yield, or adversely affect mechanical properties when pressed into pellets. Candidate materials and techniques shall produce a hydrophobic coating to eliminate the formation of phosphine. The materials and process developed under Phase I shall result in two pounds of coated metal nanoparticles and two pounds of coated RP. Materials developed under Phase I shall be delivered to the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center for material testing and further study. An extensive review of coating materials and technologies shall be presented along with an analysis of alternatives for the top three alternatives for metal nanomaterials and RP coatings. The analysis of alternatives shall address issues such as: technological barriers and factors affecting application, material and process costs, material performance, durability, and feasibility to scale up. The decision path to select the top alternative of each material and process solution for the metal nanomaterial coating and the RP coating shall be presented. The materials and processes developed under Phase I shall result in two pounds of coated metal nanoparticles and two pounds of coated RP. 

PHASE II: Scale up the process to produce batches in a minimum of one hundred pound increments or as a continuous process, while maintaining the same or better performances and efficiencies developed and demonstrated in Phase I. A successful Phase II will demonstrate scale-up to production of the processes and materials that were proven in Phase I. This phase shall produce a minimum of twenty pounds of each coated metal nanoparticles and coated RP. This production process must be representative of the final industrial process. 

PHASE III: The techniques developed in this program can be integrated into current and future military obscurant applications. Improved coatings are necessary to reduce the current logistics burden resulting from particle agglomeration. Coatings of RP will further reduce toxicity of this necessary obscurant. This technology could have application in other DoD interest areas including high explosives, fuel/air explosives and decontamination. Improved separation techniques can be beneficial for all powdered materials in the metallurgy, ceramic, pharmaceutical and fuel industries. Industrial applications could include electronics, fuel cells/batteries, furnaces and others. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Bohren, C.F.; Huffman, D.R.; Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles; Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1983

2: Marrs, T.C. ; Colgrave, H.F.; Edginton, J.A.G.; Rice, P.; Cross, N.L.; The toxicity of a red phosphorus smoke after repeated inhalation; Journal of Hazardous Materials, 1989, 22 (3), pp 269-82

3: Li, J.; Wu, R; Jing, Z.; Yan, L.; Zha, F.; Lei, Z.; One-Step Spray-Coating Process for the Fabrication of Colorful Superhydrophobic Coatings with Excellent Corrosion Resistance; Langmuir, 2015, 31 (39), pp 10702“7

4: Watano, S.; Nakamura, H.; Hamada, K.; Wakamatsu, Y.; Tanabe, Y.; Dave, R.; Pfeffer, R.; Fine particle coating by a novel rotating fluidized bed coater; Powder Technologies, 2004, 141, pp 172-6

KEYWORDS: Infrared Obscuration, Agglomeration, Red Phosphorus And Phosphine Toxicity, Degradation, Coatings 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method using bio-templating to synthesize high conductivity, infrared obscuration nanorods. Nanorod diameters should be as small as possible within the constraint of rod linearity. This may prove to be in the vicinity of 50 nm or might involve smaller nanostructures. There are three essential requirements for the nanorod produced. The length requirement is vital to the electromagnetic properties; the distribution must be relatively narrow with a length of about 3 µm in order to produce a strong resonance within the far infrared atmospheric transmission window (8 to 12 µm); there must not be debris of smaller sizes resulting from any of the processes involved. Even small mass percentages of these fines will destroy the infrared optical efficiency. Fines are generally defined as particles outside the operational window of the desired obscurant effect. Finally, the resulting nanorods must be easily separable. 

DESCRIPTION: Smoke and obscurants play a crucial role in protecting the Warfighter by decreasing the electromagnetic energy available for the functioning of sensors, seekers, trackers, optical enhancement devices and the human eye. Recent advances in materials science now enable the production of precisely engineered obscurants with nanometer level control over particle size and shape. Numerical modeling and many measured results on metal nanorods affirm that more than order of magnitude increases over current performance levels are possible if high aspect-ratio conductive particles can be effectively disseminated as an unagglomerated aerosol cloud. In spite of numerous publications, no one has yet demonstrated the IR optical attenuation efficiencies that would result from high conductivity coatings that are continuous along any low or nonconductive nanorod base having an appropriate narrow length distribution. A major issue with rod samples investigated to date is the quantity of fines contained in a sample, defined as non-target sized/shaped particles. Anything that is not a rod of the correct length contributes to electromagnetic attenuation in another portion of the spectrum and therefore only reduces the target performance. Recent publications report successes in metal coating of rod-like bacteria, viruses, DNA, amino acids and protein cages. Rod-like biological templates can have the following advantages for the synthesis of nanorods: (1) well-defined shape and dimensions on the nanoscale, (2) stability at broad pH ranges, (3) easy to purify in large scale, (4) mechanically robust, which allows the utilization of ultracentrifugation and sonication techniques during sample processing, and (5) virus particles are intrinsically monodisperse. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate with samples an ability to produce nanorods with ~50 nm diameter or less, 3 +/- 1 micron length and conductivity of iron or better (10^5 mho/cm). Any metallic material meeting these criteria will be considered. Sample should have less than 10% fines by weight, and nanorods must be separable. Provide five 10 g samples of the highest obscurant performance material to ECBC for evaluation. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate that process is scalable by providing 5 1 kg samples with no loss in performance from that achieved with small samples. In Phase II, a design of a manufacturing process to commercialize the concept should be developed. Given the laboratory preparation of high performance materials achieving scale-up while maintaining low percent fiber length distribution and uniform coating is non-trivial. The process should also examine tunability of materials through minute modifications to length, diameter, aspect ratios, conductivity, or coating material. This tunability should be achieved while still maintaining low percent fines. 

PHASE III: The techniques developed in this program can be integrated into current and future military obscurant applications. Improved grenades and other munitions are needed to reduce the current logistics burden of countermeasures to protect the soldier and his equipment. This technology could have application in other DoD interest areas including high explosives, fuel/air explosives and decontamination. Improved separation techniques can be beneficial for all powdered materials in the metallurgy, ceramic, pharmaceutical and fuel industries. Industrial applications could include electronics, fuel cells/batteries, furnaces and others. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Bohren CF, Huffman DR: Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles. Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1983

2: Liu L, Hong K, Hu T, Xu M: Synthesis of Aligned Copper Oxide Nanorod Arrays by a Seed Mediated Hydrothermal Method. J Alloy Compd 2012, 511:195-197

3: Young M, Willits D, Uchida M, Douglas T: Plant Viruses as Biotemplates for Materials and Their Use in Nanotechnology. Annu Rev Phytopathol 2008, 46:361-384

4: Sotiropoulou S, Sierra-Sastre Y, Mark SS, Batt CA: Biotemplated Nanostructured Materials. Chem Mater 2008, 20:821-834

5: Lee LA, Niu Z, Wang Q; Viruses and Virus-Like Protein Assemblies Chemically Programmable Nanoscale Building Blocks. Nano Res 2009, 2:349-364

6: Valenzuela K, Raghavan S, Deymier PA, Hoying J: Formation of Copper Nanowires by Electroless Deposition Using Microtubules as Templates. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 2008, 8:1-6

KEYWORDS: Biotemplate, Nanorod, High Conductivity, Narrow Length Distribution, Infrared Obscuration 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a material that reacts with a component of the atmosphere when disseminated to produce a visible obscurant. The material will have to react nearly instantaneously upon release and be of such particle size as to produce agglomerates with the reacted component on the order of a micron or less. Packaging of the material will be a consideration to allow near instantaneous reaction and to prevent loss of effectiveness during storage. 

DESCRIPTION: Smoke and obscurants play a crucial role in protecting the Warfighter by decreasing the electromagnetic energy available for the functioning of sensors, seekers, trackers, optical enhancement devices and the human eye. Nearly as crucial as performance is the safety of the material. Legacy visible smoke materials were developed decades ago and work very well. Unfortunately, the high performance is attended by toxicology and incendiary issues. The speculation in this topic is that there is a way to use creative chemistry/material science to duplicate or exceed the performance of the legacy smokes without the deleterious effects. The reason for the high performance of chemically reactive smoke agents, such as phosphorus and hexachloroethane (HC) is that they have a yield factor greater than one. This increase in aerosol mass over the loaded mass is due to the fact that they undergo a hydration reaction when exposed to atmospheric moisture. This pulls the mass of the available moisture out of solution in the atmosphere and causes it to condense on the nucleation sites created by the chemical smoke agent aerosol. Therefore, the relative humidity affects the resulting smoke aerosol cloud formed from chemical reactive smoke and obscurant agents. Oxygen is a limiting factor when phosphorous smoke agents are used in a closed environment since the reaction requires oxygen to form an intermediate. This reaction with atmospheric oxygen and water vapor produces aerosol clouds with droplet particles sizes in the 0.5 to 2.0 micron range. These small droplets scatter light rays and produce a smoke which appears to be white. One potential route of exploration is polymer chemistry. There is a class of polymers known as superabsorbent that can absorb up to 400 times its weight in water. If it is possible to modify the characteristics of one of these polymers to act quickly and in a smaller size regime, then it may be possible to compete with phosphorus in performance as a smoke. Also, 80% of the atmosphere is nitrogen. The author is not aware of any mechanism that can take advantage of this fact, but it would be game changing. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate in the laboratory a material capable of producing a white smoke instantaneously when exposed to the atmosphere. It must have a yield factor greater than one, and have no incendiary effect. Use a literature search or other means to demonstrate that the material has low human toxicity. 

PHASE II: Refine the material to achieve a yield factor of 4 or greater. Prepare devices that will store and disseminate the material. Devices should be self-contained. Provide 5 such items to ECBC for measurement of obscuring performance achieved. In Phase II, a design of a manufacturing process to commercialize the concept should be developed. Phosphorous, depending upon relative humidity, produces a yield factor of about 4, that is, 4 pounds of aerosol is produced for every pound of phosphorus in the munition. The goal of this effort should be to meet or exceed that number with lower toxicity. Toxicity should be less than 1 mg/m3, which is the TLV/TWA (Threshold Limit Value over 8 Hours of work/Time Weighted Average over 8 hours of work) for phosphoric acid (the main component in phosphorus smoke) and for zinc chloride (the main component in HC smoke). 

PHASE III: The material developed in this program could be revolutionary in scope and can be integrated into current and future military obscurant applications. Improved grenades and other munitions are needed to reduce the current logistics burden of countermeasures to protect the soldier and his equipment. This technology could have application in other DoD interest areas including decontamination and waste disposal. Improved moisture control techniques can be beneficial for the food, pharmaceutical and fuel industries. This material could have application for police and for firefighter training. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Bohren, C.F.; Huffman, D.R.; Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles; Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1983

2: Committee on Toxicology; Toxicity of Military Smokes and Obscurants, Vol 1; National Academies Press, 1997

3: Lundy, D.; Eaton, J.; Occupational Health Hazards Posed by Inventory U.S. Army Smoke/Obscurant Munitions; DTIC 276774, 1994

4: Eaton, J.C.; Lopinto, R.J.; Palmer, W.G.; Health Effects of Hexachloroethane (HC) Smoke; DTIC 277838, 1994

5: Milham, M.; A Catalog of Optical Extinction Data for Various Aerosols/Smokes; DTIC 034500, 1976

KEYWORDS: Visual Smoke, Atmospheric Reaction, Yield, Low Toxicity 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop/demonstrate technologies for aiding in planning and conducting A2AD entry operations. Develop force projection support technologies that provide an ability to rapidly update beach topography and surf-zone bathymetry in the dynamic littoral zone from small aerial platforms with quantified uncertainty for improved maneuver support and battlespace awareness during littoral operations. 

DESCRIPTION: Reconnaissance of the dynamic littoral zone requires technology that can provide rapid, robust geospatial data of shallow sub-aqueous (0 to -10 m depth) and low-lying sub-aerial terrain (0 to 10+ m elevation), nearshore waves and currents, as well as sediment characteristics to inform trafficability assessments. Small, mobile, unmanned systems offer unique platforms that can deploy a wide variety of sensors that will allow for frequent monitoring or rapid updating of these littoral processes and surfaces that may have changed significantly since the last reconnaissance mission, however current sensor packages do not provide the necessary data for collection of mobile, long-dwell imagery collection. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem”instead a fusion of technology (e.g. Long-dwell Electro-Optical or Infrared Imagery, Hyperspectral Imagery, Topo/Bathymetric Lidar) and analysis approaches (e.g. Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry, Bathymetric Inversions, etc) will be required to provide best estimates of littoral terrain, hydrodynamics, and geological properties, particularly in turbid, breaking-wave environments. In addition, state-of-the-art analysis approaches that will integrate these products into important GEOINT data are focused on model-data assimilation frameworks that require all data products to provide rigorous error estimates in addition to the measured quantity. Approaches are needed to quantify and propagate error through the data collection and processing algorithms. The ERDC encourages submission of proposals which address any and all aspects of this problem, however, a few key areas are identified below that could be addressed individually or combined in the proposal: (1) high-frame-rate, wide field-of-view passive camera systems that could fit in a nose-cone mount of a small, man-portable, and hand launch-able UAS and provide the imagery needed for mobile bathymetric mapping; (2) fast and robust error propagation algorithms and software that provide uncertainty estimates for littoral terrain observations; and (3) fused active and passive sensor packages and algorithms designed to collect high spatial resolution data in shallow, breaking wave environments that are capable of being mounted on a small to moderately sized UAS. These sensors and software packages will be utilized in support of 6.2 and 6.3 projects focused on SPOD Assessment. Pay off would be: Up-to-date GEOINT data in the highly dynamic littoral zone to ensure safe and efficient maneuverability for improved identification of ingress/egress routes at SPODs. Uses and applications include: Denied/Semi-denied reconnaissance; JLOTS exercises; Mapping of ingress/egress routes for post-disaster situational awareness, etc. 

PHASE I: The initial phase will consist of identifying innovative technology and algorithms, conducting feasibility investigations, and preparing preliminary hardware/software design solutions, including initial assessments of various approaches. Preliminary designs must show capable promise in turbid and breaking-wave littoral environments and be capable of being integrated onboard a UAS or working with UAS-based data. The test equipment or software must also be designed to handle collection or processing of large data sets, as well as have a plan for handling and communicating uncertainty. The final product will be a report documenting the design processes and the assessments of the validity of approach in an open-coast littoral environment. 

PHASE II: The second phase will include preparation of a final design solution, fabrication of a working prototype, and demonstration of the device under relevant site conditions. The demonstration will occur at ERDC-CHLs Field Research Facility in Duck, NC and will be ground-truthed and evaluated using traditional and in-situ methodology (nearbed altimeters, direct GPS ground-surveys, terrestrial or manned-aircraft lidar surveys, acoustic surveys), or existing software packages. The working prototype must address the uncertainty of the data and provide error propagation through algorithms, where applicable. The working prototype code or technology will be delivered to the ERDC for testing, evaluation, verification, and validation. Up to two-weeks of new equipment or software training will be provided to the ERDC upon receipt of the prototype measurement or software package. 

PHASE III: A final prototype version of any measurement systems will be fabricated based upon extensive testing and evaluation by the ERDC. All software, including source code will be delivered to the ERDC with potential integration with existing DoD SPOD assessment approaches. It is anticipated that the new technology will provide the DoD with a greatly enhanced measurement tool or software package capable of aiding in the rapid, robust, reconnaissance of the littoral zone. This technology or analysis software would be applicable in both civil and military applications, providing increased accuracy and efficiency in mapping the littoral zone in pre/post-disaster assessments (e.g. Hurricanes), continual monitoring of coastal terrain (e.g. beach nourishments), as well as military austere entry applications. Based upon the obvious multi-use applications, a strong commercial potential is anticipated at the federal, state, and local levels. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Holland, K.T., Lalejini, D.M., Spansel, S.D. and Holman, R.A., 2010, April. Littoral environmental reconnaissance using tactical imagery from unmanned aircraft systems. In SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing (pp. 767806-767806). International Society for Optics and Photonics

2: Dugan, J.P., Piotrowski, C.C. and Williams, J.Z., 2001. Water depth and surface current retrievals from airborne optical measurements of surface gravity wave dispersion. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 106(C8), pp.16903-16915

3: Piotrowski, C.C. and Dugan, J.P., 2002. Accuracy of bathymetry and current retrievals from airborne optical time-series imaging of shoaling waves. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on, 40(12), pp.2606-2618

4: Snavely, N., Seitz, S.M. and Szeliski, R., 2006, July. Photo tourism: exploring photo collections in 3D. In ACM transactions on graphics (TOG)(Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 835-846). ACM

5: Harwin, S. and Lucieer, A., 2012. Assessing the accuracy of georeferenced point clouds produced via multi-view stereopsis from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Remote Sensing, 4(6), pp.1573-1599

6: Westoby, M.J., Brasington, J., Glasser, N.F., Hambrey, M.J. and Reynolds, J.M., 2012. ˜Structure-from-Motionphotogrammetry: A low-cost, effective tool for geoscience applications. Geomorphology, 179, pp.300-314

7: Mancini, F., Dubbini, M., Gattelli, M., Stecchi, F., Fabbri, S. and Gabbianelli, G., 2013. Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for high-resolution reconstruction of topography: The structure from motion approach on coastal environments. Remote Sensing, 5(12), pp.6880-6898

8: Colomina, I. and Molina, P., 2014. Unmanned aerial systems for photogrammetry and remote sensing: A review. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 92, pp.79-97

9: Plant, N.G., Holland, K.T. and Haller, M.C., 2008. Ocean wavenumber estimation from wave-resolving time series imagery. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on, 46(9), pp.2644-2658

10: Holman, R., Plant, N. and Holland, T., 2013. cBathy: A robust algorithm for estimating nearshore bathymetry. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 118(5), pp.2595-2609

11: McIntyre, M.L., Naar, D.F., Carder, K.L., Donahue, B.T. and Mallinson, D.J., 2006. Coastal bathymetry from hyperspectral remote sensing data: comparisons with high resolution multibeam bathymetry. Marine Geophysical Researches, 27(2), pp.129-136

12: Sandidge, J.C. and Holyer, R.J., 1998. Coastal bathymetry from hyperspectral observations of water radiance. Remote Sensing of Environment, 65(3), pp.341-352

KEYWORDS: Passive, Inexpensive Sensor, Lightweight, Man-portable Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS), Bathymetric Lidar, Littoral Reconnaissance, Littoral Terrain, Coastal Topography, Surf-zone Bathymetry, Error Propogation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Design and build hardware and software components for an air-transportable system capable of measuring pavement deflections from a moving platform for determining pavement layer strength/stiffness values. Measured pavement deflections and calculated stiffness values would be used to aide in rapid evaluation of pavement load carrying capability. As a secondary goal, this system may also be useful in locating areas with potentially hazardous voids and/or identifying fragile pavement sections posing a high risk for catastrophic failures. 

DESCRIPTION: This system is needed in support of DODs force projection and maneuver missions into austere areas with extremely marginal, aging pavement infrastructure. As we project forces in support of military operations or humanitarian relief missions, our logistical lines of communication including both aerial ports of debarkation and connecting roadways are essential for rapid decisive operations. These pavements will require large numbers of heavy cargo/transport aircraft and vehicles. Our force projection requirements will far exceed many of the NATO/host nation day-to-day operations, both in magnitude of wheel loading and number of missions. Pavement failures in the U.S. have been attributed to aging and dilapidated sub-surface drainage structures. Fortunately, these failures have not occurred during a critical deployment scenario, but it illustrates the type of problems to anticipate with aging infrastructure. As we plan for future deployments, we must consider the aging infrastructure of the host nations including both airfields and roads. Because many of their airfields and roads that will be utilized in the theater or operations are not being subjected to large numbers of heavy transport aircraft and vehicles, we may not see a problem until we deploy. Failures of the sub-surface drainage structures often result in a catastrophic punch through. There can be considerable damage to vehicles and aircraft, and pavement repairs can result in lengthy closures of a facility, critically degrading sustainable operations. An assessment tool is needed to rapidly and reliably assess structural integrity of airfields and roads. This tool could also identify potentially hazardous and/or weak areas that would hinder deployments. The current state-of-practice for pavement structural assessments involves the use of a heavy weight deflectometer (HWD) in combination with ground penetrating radar (GPR), visual surveys, and cone penetration tests. For testing, an HWD (trailer-mounted) is positioned over a test point, its load plate is lowered to the pavement surface, its weight is hydraulically lifted and released, and the resulting dynamic load and surface deflections are recorded. This method provides discrete point measurements (i.e. measurements only at the HWD test location) and requires that the equipment be moved and set up at each new test location. Therefore, it is not feasible to conduct routine structural assessments of entire airfields or road networks in a rapid and global manner. This discrete point methodology also limits the usefulness of the HWD for secondary tasks such as void detection. Note that GPR is typically a more mobile technology and can identify some voids but is typically limited relative to the HWD in terms of its ability to identify voids in thick pavement systems such as those encountered in concrete airfield features. In addition, GPR technology maturity and ease-of-use of commercial systems limit its applicability for troop use. Recent developments in rolling wheel deflectometer (RWD) (i.e. continuous) equipment have demonstrated potential with regard to more rapid structural assessments; however, typical devices are large, cumbersome, and/or not fully validated with respect to performance, reliability, availability, and accuracy (see Flintsch et al., 2013). There is an urgent operational need to identify state-of-the-art testing technology with potential application to a continuous deflection measurement system from a moving platform. 

PHASE I: The initial phase will consist of identifying innovative technology, conducting a feasibility investigation, and preparing a preliminary hardware/software design solution. Table 1 provides key design criteria where consideration should be given to accuracy, speed of testing, ease-of-use by novice users, and integration/fielding with existing military hardware/software for pavement assessment. Data output files must be in a format that interfaces with the pavement evaluation software PCASE (see Adolf, 2010). RWD equipment must be operable in remote areas from the moving vehicle platform. Depth of deflection measurement is dependent on applied load as well as effective sensor bar length and pavement layer properties. Therefore, required depth of measurement cannot be specified in an absolute sense. Alternatively, the RWD sensor package must be designed such that measurement depths are equivalent to that of the HWD for a similar applied load and pavement structure. Note that accurate void detection, while a beneficial use of deflectometer equipment, depends heavily on RWD coverage density (i.e. number of RWD passes per unit area of pavement). For this reason, specific void detection requirements (e.g. void size, depth of void, etc.) are not provided herein as this is more of an indirect use of the equipment, though it is an intended use nonetheless. Essentially, the ability to detect voids will ultimately depend more on operational procedures (e.g. number and spacing of passes) and less on equipment capability (a deflectometer capable of performing routine structural assessments should, consequently, be able to detect voids). The preliminary RWD design must include a cost estimate for a Phase I prototype. A final report documenting the design process and a formal presentation will be delivered to ERDC-APB upon completion of Phase I. Table 1. Key RWD Equipment Criteria Parameter; Objective; Threshold Operating Speed; 60 mph; 30 mph Applied Wheel Load; Variable 9 to 50 kips; Variable 9 to 25 kips Load & Deflection Measurement Accuracy; Equivalent to HWD as defined in ASTM D469; --- Transportation; C-130 transportable; C-17 transportable Data Output; PCASE compatible; --- Notes: -- Objective is targeted outcome of project; threshold is minimum acceptable outcome if satisfying objective is not feasible. -- Where threshold criteria is not provided (i.e. dashes), objective criteria must be satisfied. -- Operating speed refers to vehicle and/or RWD platform speed during testing. -- Variable applied wheel load criteria implies a full range (e.g. 9 to 50 kips equates to as low as 9 kips to as high as 50 kips). 

PHASE II: The second phase will include the preparation of a final design solution, fabrication of a working prototype, and demonstration of the device under relevant site conditions. Midway through the phase II effort, the prototype will be demonstrated to the ERDC-APB. The demonstration should include comparisons with results from traditional equipment such as the HWD and pavement-mounted instrumentation (LVDTs, velocity transducers, accelerometers). Upon successful demonstration of the first prototype, the hardware and software will be refined based on ERDC-APB comments and recommendations. A working prototype system will be fabricated and delivered to the ERDC-APB for testing, evaluation, verification, and validation. Two weeks of new equipment training (NET) will be provided to ERDC-APB upon receipt and delivery of the prototype measurement system. 

PHASE III: A final prototype version of the measurement system will be fabricated based upon extensive testing and evaluation (T&E) by the ERDC-APB. All software, including source code, will be delivered to ERDC-APB for potential integration with existing DOD infrastructure assessment software applications (e.g. PCASE). It is anticipated that the new technology will provide the DOD with a greatly enhanced measurement tool capable of rapidly and reliably assessing, by continuous measurement, the structural integrity of a pavement from a moving platform. This equipment would be applicable for routine testing of roads and airfields in the DOD inventory and the expedient assessment of force projection platforms and road networks in a theater of operations. The highway community would likely also benefit from the successful implementation and fielding of this equipment. For highway testing, the continuous measurement capability is particularly desirable for transportation management and safety assurance. Based upon the obvious dual use applications, a strong commercial potential is anticipated at the Federal, State, and Local levels. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA). 2002. Airfield Pavement Evaluation Standards and Procedures. ETL 02-19. Tyndall AFB, FL: Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency

2: ASTM International. 2009. Standard Test Method for the Use of the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer in Shallow Pavement Applications. Designation: D 6951-09. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International

3: Flintsch, G., S. Katicha, J. Bryce, B. Ferne, S. Nell, and B. Difenderfer. 2013. Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies. SHRP 2 Report S2-R06F-RW-1, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

4: Adolf, M. 2010. Pavement-Transportation Computer Assisted Structural Engineering (PCASE): User Manual, Version 2.09, US Army Corps of Engineers, Transportation Systems Center and Engineering Research and Development Center

5: ASTM International. 2009. Standard Test Method for Deflections with a Falling-Weight-Type Impulse Load Device. Designation D4694-09. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International

KEYWORDS: Airfield Pavements, Roads, Pavement Voids, Pavement Stiffness 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a high-performance, lightweight composite material suitable for multi-use including building construction, force protection, and force projection applications. 

DESCRIPTION: The DoD requires multi-use, high-performance materials to support 1) sustainability of critical infrastructure, 2) force protection for facilities and critical assets, and 3) force projection and maneuver operations. Installations require new resilient construction materials that provide long-term durability, contamination impermeability, and chemical stability, while allowing user-friendly installation. DoD facilities and critical assets require alternatives to traditional construction materials that provide greater structural performance and/or protection levels. Current polymer and steel materials used for constructing facilities and infrastructure come with many disadvantages, such as low strength and fire resistance, low toughness, high contamination potential, high weight, and high cost. In addition to fixed facility construction, a proactive means of rapidly constructing required facilities and infrastructure in deployed scenarios is also needed to ensure DoD forces can deploy and freely enter the theater of operations by various means in areas where resources may be limited. The preliminary properties of a geopolymer composite with basalt fiber reinforcement show a strong promise for applications in flexible and temporary pavement construction, platform construction, and ballistic protection. These materials have the potential to replace the application of similar, traditional materials within non-traditional applications, to provide a higher level of structural performance. A geopolymer binder is an inorganic material known for its excellent long-term durability, contamination impermeability, chemical stability, and user friendly, low cost. In addition, geopolymer binders cure at room temperature and have an amorphous 3-D chemical structure, due to polycondensation. Basaltic fiber is made from extruding filaments from molten basalt rock. Basalt fiber is a lightweight, resilient material, one tenth the weight of steel. Additionally, basalt filaments cured with epoxy polymers, have over twice the tensile strength of steel. Many fiber reinforced polymer materials have similar traits to basalt. However, basalt is distinguished by its superior properties, such as very low conductivity, corrosion resistance, non-magnetism, and high heat resistance. The basalt filament material is gaining ground as an alternative to replace concrete and asphalt in various pavement applications, and steel reinforcement in many force protection and structural applications. 

PHASE I: Experimentally demonstrate the structural performance of a geopolymer composite with basalt fiber reinforcement under appropriate loads to include but not limited to vehicle, aircraft, ballistic and blast, and structural loads. Specifically, the testing would need to demonstrate capability of the composite to withstand extreme environmental conditions without degrading performance. The composite material must not degrade under UV exposure or absorb water and must be capable of passing flame resistance standards of self-extinguishing after 2 sec, no melt/drip, and no more than 50% consumption (ASTM D6413). It should be noted that since basalt is a naturally occurring material with mechanical property variations depending on the different mineralogical sources, a systematic investigation of the effects of source and composition of the reinforcing basalt will be performed. The results of such a study will indicated how to optimize the mechanical properties by the amount and reinforcement types (e.g. fiber length, type of weave, combination of reinforcement). Phase I deliverables will include small-scale structural samples for ERDC experimentation, a final report describing the preliminary system design and testing, and a cost and economic analysis assessing the value of the material technology and its further developmental applications. 

PHASE II: Design, analyze and fabricate larger-scale composite components for evaluation in terms of load-bearing capacity including blast. Test and demonstrate the components for use in structures, pavements, and blast protection applications. Determine installation time, ease of use, and safety aspects. A final report describing the larger-scale composite components will be provided to ERDC. 

PHASE III: Deliver final full-scale structural component prototypes for examination in the various applications mentioned previously. A final report describing the full-scale structural component prototypes will be provided to ERDC. The technology would support a wide range of protection, construction, and projection applications including blast panels, building platforms, and expedient pavement surfacings. Phase III Dual Use Applications: Transition to commercial building and pavement construction, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps air and vehicle mobility applications. Other potential users include police, Department of Homeland Security, and other stakeholders. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Ahmad, Mohd Rozi, Jamil Salleh, and Azemi Samsuri, Effect of Fabric Stitching on Ballistic Impact Resistance of Natural Rubber Coated Fabric Systems Materials & Design, 29(7), 2008, 1353-1358

2: Billon, H.H. and D.J. Robinson, Models for the Ballistic Impact of Fabric Armor, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 25(4), 2001, 411-422

3: Inorganic Polysialates or ³Geopolymers², W. M. Kriven, (invited paper), American Ceramic Society Bulletin, 89 [4] 31-34 (2010)

4: Jena, P.K., K. Ramanjeneyulu, K. Siva Kumar, and T. Balakrishna Bhat, Ballistic Studies on Layered structures, Materials & Design, 30 (6), 2009, 1922-1929

5: Lesser, Alan J. Development of high Performance Polymer Fibers using Subcritical and Supercritical CO2 , Final Report, Defense Technical Information Center, Accession Number ADA379124, http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA379124, March 1, 2000

6: Ribero, D. R. and W. M. Kriven, Properties of Geopolymer Composites Reinforced with Basalt Chopped Strand Mat or Woven Fabric, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., in press, DOI: 10.1111/jace.14079, (2015)

7: United Facilities Criteria 4-01-010-01, DoD Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings

8: V50 Ballistic Test for Armor. ARMY MIL-STD-662F. Army Research Laboratory, Weapons and Material Research Directorate. Dec 18, 1997

KEYWORDS: Basalt, Geopolymer, High Performance Material, Heat Resistant Pavement, Force Protection Material System, Helicopter Platform 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Chem Bio_defense 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate a multicomponent ticket or chit that affords a human-readable indicator response to chemical agents, protein-content, and explosive/energetic materials for presumptive field identification. 

DESCRIPTION: Reconnaissance teams rely on a variety of technologies to provide threat detection and presumptive identification. A variety of operational situations anticipated in the global environment involve the possible presence of chemical or biological threat materials or energetic/explosive compounds. Soldiers train with a variety of products to enable the detection and identification of certain threat agents. With respect to chemical agents, the principal product employed to detect and characterize the threat agent is the M8 paper which yields a multicolor response on exposure to small quantities of liquid chemical warfare agents, classifying them as G, V, or H based on the specific color response of the ticket as compared with an included reference chart. The modern operational environment presents an expanded set of potential threats that pose a hazard to operations, to include additional chemical agent types and chemistries, biological materials, and energetic/explosive compounds. Enabling technology in indicator-impregnated chemistry has evolved since the introduction of the M8 paper tickets, potentially affording a much more rich and versatile product that can yield comparable or better performance as a human-readable ticket for G, V, and H agents but also expanding the threat basis to include additional types of blister agents, nerve agents, Toxic Industrial Chemicals, and biological threats. Additionally, new chemistries have been reported in recent studies that afford higher selectivity indicator response to specific threat agents. An innovative integration of multiple detection indicators into a single-chit form factor is needed to define an advancement in capability over the M8 paper. The application of the detector ticket should be functionally similar or identical to the concept of operation of the existing M8 paper: the paper (or other material) is dabbed or wiped onto a surface containing a small but apparent deposit or residue and then its response compared to a color chart to presumptively classify or identify the contaminant. A wetted paper probe may be defined for powder analysis. Reactions leading to an observable color change on contact with the tested material (in neat liquid form or wetted powders) should be complete within a few (0-15) seconds. While biological agent identification may not be feasible, a simple screening capability that identifies the threat of biomarkers such as proteins or amino acids is within reach. Energetic and explosive compounds often present as solid matter, but reactions are known that give rise to a colorimetric response. The intent of this development project would be to demonstrate a comprehensive enhanced chemical agent indicator with the added capability of indicating the presence of explosive or energetic compounds as well as proteins, amino acids, or other biomarkers that can be used to screen potential threat materials for further interrogation and analysis as biological threat agents. 

PHASE I: Define a conceptual suite of co-deposited detection dye technologies that deliver a potentially useful observable color change that can be compared to a reference bar or chart for presumptive identification of G-, V-, H-, L-, arsenicals, alkylating agents, protein, and energetics/explosive compounds on exposure to a single drop (10-30 microliters) or a few grains of powder on a wetted surface (e.g., chit or ticket consisting of a paper or polymer substrate). Explore options for the construct to yield a uniform ticket form factor that closely resembles M8 paper in appearance and functionality. Assess human factors as a constraint to the architecture of the chit. The user must be able to quickly compare the observed response to a standard graphical chart with a minimal number of reference elements. 

PHASE II: Design a prototype ticket or chit that integrates the proposed chemistries onto a human-readable format, and demonstrate the reliable use of the ticket or chit for presumptive detection and identification of chemical agents, Toxic Industrial Chemical, energetic or explosive chemicals, and possible proteinaceous or similar biomarkers to characterize suspect materials (rule in/rule out) as potential biothreat agents. Further optimize the ticket/chit performance and demonstrate its performance against each targeted threat agent, protein and/or biomarker presence, Toxic Industrial Chemical, and energetic/explosive compound. 

PHASE III: Optimize the threat agent indicator tickets for reliable and reproducible production at the minimum possible per ticket cost. Analyze cost-performance trade-offs for various chemistries. Commercialize the product for a variety of security and defense markets. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Multi-indicator threat detection tickets could find broad application across an extensive market beyond the Department of Defense. First responder and HAZMAT teams, Law Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the US Postal Service are all exemplars of viable consumers for the technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1: El Sayed, Sameh; Pascual, Lluis; Agostini, Alessandro; Martinez-Manez, Ramon; Sancenon, Felix; Costero, Ana M.; Parra, Margarita; Gil, Salvador (2014) A Chromogenic Probe for the Selective Recognition of Sarin and Soman Mimic DFP , ChemistryOpen, 3(4), 142-145

2: Goud, D. Raghavender; Pardasani, Deepak; Tak, Vijay; Dubey, Devendra Kumar (2014) A highly selective visual detection of tabun mimic diethyl cyanophosphate (DCNP); effective discrimination of DCNP from other nerve agent mimics, RSC Advances, 4(47), 24645-24648

3: Goswami, Shyamaprosad; Manna, Abhishek; Paul, Sima (2014) Rapid ˜naked eye response of DCP, a nerve agent stimulant: from molecules to low-cost devices for both liquid and vapour phase detection, RSC Advances, 4(42), 21984-21988

4: Feng, L.; Musto, C. J.; Kemling, J. W.; Lim, S.H.; Suslick, K. S.(2010) A Colorimetric Sensor Array for Identification of Toxic Gases below Permissible Exposure Limits, Chem. Commun., 46, 2037-2039

5: Feng, L.; Musto, C. J.; Kemling, J. W.; Lim, S.H.; Zhong, W.; Suslick, K. S. (2010) A Colorimetric Sensor Array for Determination and Identification of Toxic Industrial Chemicals, Anal. Chem., 82, 9433-9440

6: Carey, J. R.; Suslick, K. S.; Hulkower, K. I.; Imlay, J. A.; Imlay, K. R. C.; Ingison, C. K.; Ponder, J. B.; Sen, A.; Wittrig, A. E. (2011) Rapid Identification of Bacteria with a Disposable Colorimetric Sensor Array, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133, 7571-7576

7: Germain, Meaghan E. and Knapp, Michael J., (2009) Optical explosives detection: from color changes to fluorescence turn-on, Chem. Soc. Rev., 38, 2543“2555

KEYWORDS: Environmental Sampling, Presumptive Identification, Chemical Detection, Dye Chemistry, Indicator, Agent Disclosure, M8 Paper, Colorimetric Identification 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research, develop, and demonstrate a computer vision system capable of accurate and robust geometric pose estimation for the human body that would support the use of emerging robotics and autonomous systems for applications in combat casualty care in future operational environments. This computer-vision and perception system will need to accurately determine the position and orientation of major body parts (limbs, torso, head, etc.) in real-time and be invariant to environmental conditions typically seen in the far-forward operating environments. 

DESCRIPTION: The application of unmanned/robotic technologies has the potential to perform timely extraction of casualties in man-denied environments and reduce the risk of injury to medics and other personnel during casualty extraction attempts in high threat areas. Current robotic systems are prohibitively slow and rely heavily on tele-operation. In order for autonomous robotic systems to be utilized effectively for causality extraction missions, the perception system must identify and locate a casualty at a distance. Once the casualty is located, the robotic system requires a reliable and robust means for autonomously determining the location and orientation/posture of the body of the casualty at close range. This capability is critical for enabling future unmanned systems to perform the autonomous dexterous manipulation tasks required during fully autonomous casualty extraction or semi-autonomous casualty extraction with the human operator providing high-level commands and supervisory control. This system should include the sensor/computing hardware and software required to perform the perception tasks with the ability to easily integrate with future mobile robotics platforms. Therefore, an open architecture and compliance with existing interoperability standards is required. This capability should be extensible to a wide range of robotic applications that require close interaction with humans. As outlined in the Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2013-2038, the Department of Defense expects unmanned systems to play a key role in many of the Tier One Joint Capability Areas (JCAs), and specifically mentions the capabilities of unmanned systems to provide medical resupply and casualty extraction and evacuation as future systems are enabled through greater autonomy with respect to both navigation and manipulation. In order for autonomous systems to be used for casualty extraction, and other medically-relevant operations, a number of key technology areas need to be further developed and matured in order for these robotic systems to effectively and safely interact with casualties and their care providers in the field. One of these technology areas that needs to be further matured and tailored for the combat environment is a robotic perception system that is capable of precisely determining the position/pose of a soldier, and more specifically a casualty or patient, in real-time. The observed position and orientation of the casualties body, acquired from this perception system, is needed for any robotic system to interact safety with casualties because it is required to effectively plan the kinematics of the robotic system. There are several computer vision systems in the commercial arena, focused on human pose estimation for various different applications. These commercial available systems are not robust enough for the combat environment and are often highly sensitive to environmental factors, e.g. lighting and background imagery. They also usually require a large standoff distance to work effectively. Existing systems typically focus solely on the mapping of joint locations, but mapping the exterior surface of the body is also important if this perception system is to be used effectively for applications in which the robotic system needs to physically engage with a human. There are also considerations unique to the combat casualty care environment that would needed to be addressed in a human/casualty pose estimation system, e.g., casualties in the prone position sometimes in close proximity to the robotic system, camouflaged clothing, partial occlusion of the body by gear, medical equipment, or the environment, etc. It is the intent of this topic to research and develop a robust human pose estimation system, consisting of both the sensors and computational components, that addresses the specific needs of the combat casualty care environment in the field that can be leveraged in future robotics systems to enable the capability of autonomous casualty extraction, and evacuation. This human pose perception system needs to be developed with a strong emphasis on ease of integration with future robotic and autonomous systems, which would use this perception system as a modular component, using a system of systems approach. As the perception technology matures for combat casualty care, it could be extended to future robotic systems with dexterous manipulation capability that could provide some level of remote monitoring, imaging, or intervention to support enroute care, or prolonged field care, in future operational environments in which traditional medical resources are unavailable or denied access. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study of the proposed approach for applying the state-of-the-art in human pose estimation systems and techniques for use in a far-forward combat casualty care environment. The feasibility study shall take into account the challenges likely to be imposed by the system in a far-forward operational environment and should be extensible to combat casualty care applications, when integrated into robotic systems with dexterous manipulators, that would enable capabilities like remote patient monitoring, and remote imaging (e.g. ultrasound) and examination. The feasibility study of the proposed approach shall be used to inform the conceptual design of a human/casualty pose estimation system. The conceptual design of the casualty identification and pose estimation system should take into account the ease of integration into existing and emerging robotic platforms, both in terms hardware and software interfaces. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate the functionality of the system by accurately identifying and locating a casualty at a stand-off distance, and mapping of a casualties pose and 3D boundary volume at close-range and in real-time in an environment representative of far forward field care. Because this perception system is targeted for applications of autonomous casualty extraction, it needs to not only accurately identify the pose of major body components, but also estimate weight and center of gravity of individual components and the body as a whole. The perception system should demonstrate robustness to different types of poses (e.g. crouching, sitting, laying, and standing) and variation in Soldier height and body type. Modularity of the casualty pose perception system needs to be demonstrated by providing an open application program interface that would allow for a robotic manipulator system to easily ingest the body pose mapping information for use in kinematic/trajectory planning for applications involving close proximity human-robot interaction in real-time. The perception system shall be prototyped, in both hardware and software, as a modular system that shall be demonstrated by integration with an existing robotic platform with a manipulator. The integrated robotic prototype system shall demonstrate the robots ability to use the 3D pose and body mapping provided by the perception system in order to execute a relevant task. 

PHASE III: Further develop these capabilities to TRL-7 or 8 and demonstrate the application of this casualty pose estimation system through a robotic system designed for either casualty extraction, or assisted or autonomous en route care capabilities. While the primary intended use for this system is for stand-off casualty extraction on the battlefield, an alternate use could be as an integral component to a medical device with a target application to provide stand-off casualty care capabilities. Once validated conceptually and technically, the dual use applications of this technology are significant in both civilian emergency services, and other military operations. The technology could be used in applications, in which standoff interaction with soldiers or civilians is of paramount importance, e.g. environments with CBRNE exposure with potential applications to mortuary affairs operations. This technology could be extended in the future to allow medical experts remote care capabilities to far-forward casualties that would otherwise be inaccessible at the Role 1 level of care. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2013-2038, Department of Defense

2: U.S. Army Roadmap for UAS 2010-2035, U.S Army

3: Early Entry Medical Capabilities Concept of Operations Capabilities Development Integration Directorate, U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, U.S. Army Health Readiness Center of Excellence, August 2015

4: Safe Ride Standards for Casualty Evacuation Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles NATO STO Technical Report TR-HFM-184, December 2012

5: UAS Control Segment Architecture, https://ucsarchitecture.org/

6: SAE AS-4 JAUS Standard, http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/jaus.htm

KEYWORDS: Combat Casualty Care, Human Pose Estimation, Robotics, Autonomous Systems, Robotic Perception, Casualty Extraction, En Route Care, Casualty Evacuation, Unmanned Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, UAS, UGV, CASEVAC 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to investigate, develop and demonstrate a biometric identity and access management capability on Android-based platforms that enable rapid authentication of medical personnel into medical devices and software, role-based access to medical personally identifiable information (PII), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protection, and the rapid identification of casualties provisioned before mission execution. This research will incrementally advance the state of the art biometric mechanisms for authentication of mobile medical devices and software at the point of injury (POI), such that the final demonstration shows proof-of-concept feasibility of biometrics identity and access management in medical systems used in the operational environment. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic is designed to address the imbalance between security requirements for protection of information and operational requirements for mobile electronic health record systems. The security requirements for protection require that access mechanisms to information prevent unauthorized access. This is in contrast to the operational requirements to meet user expectations for easy and rapid mechanisms for employment of a capability that does not detract focus from their mission of providing care to traumatically injured personnel. Through the use of biometric identity and access management, android-based systems can facilitate rapid user access authentications during combat that do not require the use of additional authentication mechanisms such as Common Access Card (CAC), pins, passwords, or other physical authentication tokens. This would allow for information protections by enabling role-based access controls for user specific "need to know" access to medical personally identifiable information (PII) subject to Health Information Privacy Protection Act (HIPPA) protection as well as tactical, operational, intelligence, and situational awareness information. The capability for the end user (Medic) to log into the Android and into Android applications, such as the electronic DD Form 1380 Tactical Casualty Card (eTCCC), is a mandatory requirement. The capability should be implemented to facilitate the integration into any suitable current and future application. The capability to use biometrics to identify a casualty at the point of injury is optional, but preferred. Proposals that address both capabilities with solution strategies that are feasible under combat conditions will be more favorably considered. The biometric identification and access mechanisms would be utilized in the austere conditions on a battlefield that is dirty, noisy, extremely stressful, and require the users to wear protective gear (i.e. body armor, gloves, goggles/eye protection). The protective gear may limit ease of access to some biometric identification features. Additionally, for casualty identification, some biometric features may not be available based upon the injuries and condition of the patient. The biometric identification and access management mechanism would ultimately be employed on the U.S. Armys Nett Warrior platform, and integrated into the eTCCC application (minimum requirement). The biometric identification and access management system should have mechanisms for the provisioning and management of both biometric user authentication and biometric identification of soldiers. The biometric identification and access management mechanism would be utilized in systems that are connected to the network through the Tactical Radio Network and would need to minimize network traffic requirements. 

PHASE I: Develop system design and Proof of Concept, to include system hardware and software architecture for an Android-based biometric identification and access management capability that allows for user authentication into both an Android device and an Android application (mandatory), and also allows for biometric identification of casualties (optional) that were previously provisioned. The Proof of Concept should include the basic properties of software architecture, underpinning hardware technology concepts and description of the system concept that addresses feasibility and benefit in an austere (battlefield) environment with intermittent low-bandwidth communications. The Proof of Concept should identify key capability parameters and provide predictions that will later be validated in Phase I and II activities. Conduct feasibility testing of system components and provide results of analytical and experimental results that validate the assertions about the key capability parameters identified in the Proof of Concept. Seek partnerships within government and private industry for transition and commercialization of the production version of the product. 

PHASE II: From the Phase I design, develop a ruggedized prototype of a biometric identification and access management capability that could be used on any Android mobile device and demonstrate the capability with soldier medical attendants and simulated casualties in a relevant environment; such as at a US Army TRADOC Battle Lab. The capability will be used with Nett Warrior End User Devices, which currently are Samsung S5 phones with cybersecurity hardening. Demonstrate the biometric identification and access management capability for the medic to log into the Nett Warrior device, eTCCC app and other applications. The biometric identification and access management capability for casualty identification should be integrated into a government provided eTCCC app. Access to the eTCCC app source code will be provided. 

PHASE III: Incorporate system improvements resulting from Phase II evaluation results and user feedback. Execute system evaluation in a suitable operational environment (e.g. Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD), Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD), Marine Corps Limited Objective Experiment (LOE), Army Network Integration Exercise (NIE), etc.). Present the prototype project, as a candidate for fielding, to applicable Army, Navy/Marine Corps, Air Force, Cost Guard, Department of Defense, Program Managers for Combat Casualty Care systems along with the government and civilian program managers for emergency, remote, and wilderness medicine within state and civilian health care organizations, and Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, and Veterans Affairs. Execute further commercialization and manufacturing through collaborative relationships with partners identified in Phase II. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Edwards, John and E. Keiser, DoD rethinks Identity and Access Management strategy, C4ISR & Networks, 17 May 2015. http://www.c4isrnet.com/story/military-tech/cyber/2015/05/17/dod-identity-access-management/27167901/

2: Project Manager, Department of Defense Biometrics (DoD Biometrics) Website. http://www.eis.army.mil/programs/biometrics

3: NSTC Subcommittee on Biometrics and Identity Management, NSTC Policy for Enabling the Development, Adoption and Use of Biometric Standards, 7 September 2008. http://www.biometrics.gov/standards/NSTC_Policy_Bio_Standards.pdf

4: White House National Science and Technology Council, Registry of USG Recommended Biometric Standards Version 5.0, September 2014. http://www.biometrics.gov/standards/Registry_v5_2014_08_01.pdf

5: Department of Defense Integrated Data Dictionary Version 5.0, 8 December 2011, DIN: BIMA-STB-STD-11-001.2

6: Manemeit, Carl and G.R. Gilbert, Joint Medical Distance Support and Evacuation JCTD, Joint Combat Casualty Care System Concept of Employment NATO HFM-182-33 paper, 21 April 2010. http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public/PubFullText/RTO/MP/RTO-MP-HFM-182/MP-HFM-182-33.doc

KEYWORDS: Android, Authentication, Automation, Biometric, Combat Casualty Care, Combat Medic, Identification, Mobile Device 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research and study the effects of maneuvering/ acceleration G-Forces and altitude have on casualties during flight and ground evacuations, and develop a constraint system that will restrict and limit the vehicles movement/maneuver capabilities during casualty extraction and evacuation missions to within casualty tolerable limits. The movement/maneuver restrictions and limitations need to be established on autonomous Unmanned Systems, namely Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) when performing Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) missions. Also, the preliminary research and development look at hypoxia and hypothermia effects at altitude on casualties during evacuation via a UAV. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently, casualties are air evacuated via manned helicopters from the battlefield with altitude, acceleration and g-forces in manned piloted flights limited to the pilots human performance, and ground evacuated casualties are transported by manned vehicles. Drones and UAVs/UGVs are being deployed with operational forces and being unmanned, UAVs without a human onboard, they are only bound by their structural limitations. An unpressurized UAV can still fly at a high altitude and could make serious G-Force maneuvers that normally may not occur in an unpressurized aircraft with human pilot onboard. So with the operational forces looking to deploy with UAVs/UGVs for logistical medical resupply missions, it is only a matter of time before a commander decides to use an UAV/UGV asset for transporting a casualty from the battlefield back to a rear facility. If a human is put on a UAV, the UAV may exceed human-tolerable g-forces and altitude, and further injure a casualty during an extraction mission. The U.S. Navys Chief of Naval Operation Instruction (OPNAVINST) 3710.7U (Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standards (NATOPS) General Flight and Operating Instructions) restricts manned piloted flight for unpressurized aircraft; paragraph 8.2.4.1 - Unpressurized Aircraft governs the use of oxygen equipment in unpressurized aircraft with oxygen systems. In unpressurized aircraft with oxygen systems, the pilot at the controls and aircrew participating in physical activity (loadmasters) shall use supplemental oxygen continuously when cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet. When oxygen is not available to other occupants, flight between 10,000 and 13,000 feet shall not exceed 3 hours duration, and flight above 13,000 feet is prohibited. In aircraft where oxygen systems are not available (such as helicopters), it must be determined that it is mission essential for flight altitude to exceed 10,000 feet. Time above 10,000 feet shall not exceed 1 hour and altitude shall not exceed 12,000 feet. Casualty evacuation/extraction limitation have not been fully developed for UAVs in this instruction, so instructions may need to be changed or waived to reflect the realities of UAV/UGV operations for casualty extraction. UAV/UGV guidelines are still being developed; this research can aid the personnel writing doctrine to institute guidance on UAV/UGV operations that will be used for casualty evacuation. This research should investigate the limits a casualty can handle during an air/ground evacuation for G-Force maneuvers, acceleration and altitude. The research needs to focus and look at a variety of different wounds: open and closed head trauma; internal abdominal bleeding and chest wounds (lung and heart damage); and closed long bone fractures. 

PHASE I: Conduct preliminary G-Force and altitude investigation on human performance on healthy individuals and casualties during air evacuation in unpressurized and pressurized flights that are manned piloted. Investigate human performance on G-forces (vibration and repeated mechanical shock) dealing with ground and air transport. This initial research will be the baseline going into Phase II evaluating the effects of G-Forces and altitude has on casualties during medical evacuation in a UAV/UGV. At the end of the Phase I, provide a feasibility study and a plan to develop a concept design on software and/or design a breadboard/proof of concept constraint solution that can be further developed into a test bed product that can be field tested from the Phase II research. Also, prepare Human Use documentation to be submitted for Use of Humans in Research (IRB) trials in Phase II, if needed. RESEARCH INVOLVING ANIMAL OR HUMAN SUBJECTS: The SBIR/STTR Programs discourage offerors from proposing to conduct Human or Animal Subject Research during Phase 1 due to the significant lead time required to prepare the documentation and obtain approval, which will delay the Phase 1 award. All research involving human subjects (to include use of human biological specimens and human data) and animals, shall comply with the applicable federal and state laws and agency policy/guidelines for human subject and animal protection. Research involving the use of human subjects may not begin until the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's Office of Research Protections, Human Research Protections Office (HRPO) approves the protocol. Written approval to begin research or subcontract for the use of human subjects under the applicable protocol proposed for an award will be issued from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, HRPO, under separate letter to the Contractor. Non-compliance with any provision may result in withholding of funds and or the termination of the award. 

PHASE II: From the results of the Phase I feasibility study and proof of concept constraint system demonstration, continue development to a production prototype that further investigates the effects of acceleration, g-forces, and altitude has on casualties during flight and ground evacuations. Design and develop a mission constraint solution to restrict and constrain a current or future UAV/UGV during a casualty evacuation mission is required. The focus should be on how the g-forces and motion affect a variety of different wounds: open and closed head trauma; abdominal and chest wounds; and long bone fractures. The prototype constraint solution that is to be developed should mitigate these forces on the human physiology to ensure the casualty does not incur more harm while being transported via a UAV/UGV. At the end of Phase II, a field able prototype constraint system needs to be developed to be used in field evaluation testing in a simulated operational mission. Also, a commercialization plan needs to be developed. 

PHASE III: If a Phase III option is available; the CASEVAC mission constraint system should be targeting toward integrating with current and future medical resupply and CASEVAC UAV/UGV platforms. Platforms for consideration are the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) autonomous Squad Maneuver Equipment Transport (SMET), The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) to name a few. Reports and documents on the research study and the developed prototype may be presented to aviation and ground system combat developers on how the system can be used to mitigate these forces and reduce further harm to the casualty during transport. The research study will be used to provide guidance to combat developers and requirements branches as UAV/UGV casualty extraction doctrine is being developed. Develop a commercialization plan identifies the potential of the product to save casualty lives during rapid extraction from a hostile environment to a safe location to be further treated. The commercialization plan needs to include development pathways and military potential, to also include civilian sectors. 

REFERENCES: 

1: U.S. Army Publication: Medical Evacuation ATP 4-02.2 http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp4_02x2.pdf

2: Article by Andrew Tarantola: Why the Human Body Cant Handle Heavy Acceleration. http://gizmodo.com/why-the-human-body-cant-handle-heavy-acceleration-1640491171

3: USAF Flight Surgeons Guide: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDgQFjAEahUKEwiFxpHrn-rHAhVH0oAKHYirAmY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dlielc.edu%2Folc%2Fset%2FANC%2Favdocs%2Findex.php%3Fdir%3D3%2BAerospace%2BMedicine%252F%26download%3DUSAF%2BFlight%2BSurgeons%2BGuide.pdf&usg

4: OPNAVINST 3710.7U NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions. http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/arwg/Documents/WaiverGuide/OPNAVINST_3710_7U_General_NATOPS.pdf

KEYWORDS: Combat Casualty Care, UAV, Casualty Evacuation, Human Flight Limitations, G-Forces And Altitude Limitations 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and characterize novel, flexible live-attenuated tetravalent vaccines against dengue capable of rapid adaptation to natural antigenic variation and generation of a dengue serotype-specific humoral cellular responses. 

DESCRIPTION: Dengue viral (DENV) diseases is the third most significant natural infectious threat to U.S. deployed forces (Burnette et al., 2008). An efficient vaccine against DENV is urgently needed to protect our servicemen and women when they deploy to DENV endemic regions across the globe such as South East Asia, Southern Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, South America, and Africa. Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are two disease syndromes associated with infection by one of the four serotypes of DENV, and these are highly debilitating diseases “ impacting mission efficiency for 14-28 days. (Gibbons et al, 2012). Transmission to troops occurs through the bite of the Aedes aegypti or the Aedes albopictus mosquito (Heinz et al. 2012). These mosquitoes are traditionally found in many theaters of current and future US military operations. DENV has affected US troops since the Spanish American War and there are in field examples from modern conflicts of how DENV can have a marked effect on troop health. For example, in operations Restoring Hope (Somalia, 1993) and Uphold Democracy (Haiti, 1994), 20-30% and of hospitalized febrile troops were positive for dengue fever (Trofa et al., 1997). Live vaccines are typically the most efficacious, as compared to inactivated and subunit vaccines. Since live attenuated vaccines (LAV) activate all branches of the immune system, they have been proven to be superior in terms of immune response and protection when compared to inactivated or subunit vaccines. However, two major problems have impeded the development of a live DENV vaccine: 1. Low stability of attenuated phenotype in previous vaccine candidates. Traditional LAV development has been an empirical procedure, relying on a lengthy serial passage adaptation in non-human tissue culture cells and/or experimental animals. The resulting virus may acquire mutations that mute its virulence when inoculated into the human host; however, the number of mutations responsible for the attenuated phenotype is usually very small (less than 10), often resulting in unacceptably low genetic stability of the phenotype (Shimizu et al., 2004). 2. Unbalanced immune response. The difficulty of DENV vaccine development is compounded by the presence of four distinct serotypes and the phenomenon of Antibody-Dependent Enhancement (ADE) (Murphy, et al., 2011). Each DENV serotype is sufficiently different, such that there is no long term cross-protection between serotypes, and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyper-endemicity) can result. It is believed that when four fully competent dengue viruses are introduced at the same time that they potentially interfere with each other and/or replicate with different efficiency. This potentially leads to an unbalanced immune response perhaps leading short lived cross protective antibodies and longer term sub neutralizing antibodies. ADE occurs when prior infection with one serotype predisposes an individual to an enhanced severity of disease (dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome, DHF/DSS) upon re-infection with a different serotype (Thomas and Endy, 2011). During ADE, antibodies against the first virus bind, but do not neutralize the second virus, instead increasing its infectivity by Fc receptor-mediated uptake into a wider variety of host cells. Thus, it is essential that a successful DENV vaccine induces an adequate and equal level of protection against all four serotypes simultaneously, or else the incomplete vaccine response against one of the serotypes, may predispose an incompletely immunized vaccine recipient to ADE. Lastly, natural antigenic variation among the four serotypes of Dengue necessitates a Dengue vaccine that could be rapidly and rationally modified to respond to these shifts as opposed to one that would require the standard empirical process used for traditional live vaccines. Ideally a dengue vaccine for our deploying troops should be: 1) easily administered with immunity in 28 days; 2) offer durable/long-term immunity; 3) protect/seroconvert against ALL serotypes, 4) significantly reduce risk of ADE; and 5) allow for rapid scale-up of production. 

PHASE I: Proposed efforts should be focused on the development of a tetravalent, live attenuated dengue vaccine“ ideally a vaccine that induces both a humoral and cellular dengue-specific response. The approach used for dengue vaccine development should be easily applied to rapidly generate other live attenuated vaccines of interest to the Army as the need arises. Activities in Phase I should include generation and characterization of lead candidate(s) for the tetravalent dengue vaccine. At the conclusion of Phase I work, successful offerors must present in vitro and if possible within the time constraints in vivo characterization of a lead candidate(s) for at least 2 components of a tetravalent, live attenuated dengue vaccine including attenuation, immunogenicity, and manufacturing stability. 

PHASE II: Phase II work should focus on 1) identifying and producing candidate for all 4 dengue virus serotypes 2) develop a tetravalent dengue product(s) 3) evaluate candidates in vivo and in vitro as demonstrated in phase 1 to include demonstrating balanced replication among the 4 serotypes 4) manufacture non-GMP lots 5) demonstrate efficacy of the lead candidate(s) in non-human primates, including quantification of antibody response in vaccinated NHPs as well as vaccine strain induction of an anti-dengue T cell response Selection of dose and dosing schedule should be addressed in NHP studies. Durability and level of immunity must be demonstrated in challenge studies for both monovalent and tetravalent vaccine formulations. Protection must be demonstrated in tetravalent vaccine using established NHP challenge experiments. 

PHASE III: Produce vaccine under GMP pilot production conditions, conduct an FDA phase 1 trial in healthy adults of monovalent and/or tetravalent formulations. Safety and immunogenicity must be explored during the clinical trial including durability with a minimum 6 month post vaccination time point. The results of the clinical trial will permit an evaluation of immune response and preliminary safety assessment. Vaccine shelf-life assessment will also be initiated during this phase. Provide a comprehensive report of all testing performed during this phase, including a complete searchable dataset of the clinical trial. In addition potential exploitation of this platform to other viral vaccine needs can be explored during this phase. These might include Chikungunya or Zika. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Burnette WN, Hoke CH Jr, Scovill J, Clark K, Abrams J, Kitchen LW, Hanson K, Palys TJ, Vaughn DW. Infectious diseases investment decision evaluation algorithm: a quantitative algorithm for prioritization of naturally occurring infectious disease threats to the U.S. military. Mil Med. 2008 Feb;173(2):174-81

2: Gibbons, Robert V., et al. "Dengue and US military operations from the Spanish-American War through today." Emerg Infect Dis 18.4 (2012): 623-630

3: Heinz, F.X., Stiasny, K., 2012. Flaviviruses and flavivirus vaccines. Vaccine 30, 4301-4306

4: Murphy, B.R., Whitehead, S.S., 2011. Immune response to dengue virus and prospects for a vaccine. Annu Rev Immunol 29, 587-619

5: Shimizu, H., Thorley, B., Paladin, F.J., Brussen, K.A., Stambos, V., Yuen, L., Utama, A., Tano, Y., Arita, M., Yoshida, H., Yoneyama, T., Benegas, A., Roesel, S., Pallansch, M., Kew, O., Miyamura, T., 2004. Circulation of type 1 vaccine-derived poliovirus in the Philippines in 2001. J Virol 78, 13512-13521

6: Thomas, S.J., Endy, T.P., 2011. Critical issues in dengue vaccine development. Curr Opin Infect Dis 24, 442-450

7: Trofa AF, DeFraites RF, Smoak BL, Kanesa-thasan N, King AD, Burrous JM,MacArthy PO, Rossi C, Hoke CH Jr. Dengue fever in US military personnel in Haiti.JAMA. 1997 May 21;277(19):1546-8

KEYWORDS: Infectious Diseases, Dengue, Dengue Vaccines, Live Attenuated Dengue Vaccines, Tetravalent Dengue Vaccines, Antibody Dependent Enhancement 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop novel methods to engineer vascularized tissues for volumetrically large organs. 

DESCRIPTION: In the last decade, research groups have made great advances in stem cell science, tissue engineering, biomedical engineering, and other areas of regenerative medicine that have begun to show results. However, the wealth of basic research advances has thus far produced few clinically applicable solutions to organ injury and disease, especially in complex organs such as the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. The ability to vascularize thick tissue constructs has been identified as a key limiting factor in this effort (3,4,5). Currently, technology to create thick tissue assays and constructs that closely recapitulate human physiology is limited by the capacity for diffusion of nutrients into the engineered tissue. This limits our capabilities to creating tissues that are no more than a few millimeters thick. Recent advances have begun to develop technologies capable of expanding this to greater than 1 cm thick tissues (3,7,8); however, more work is required to create sustainable constructs capable of use in drug testing, disease modeling, and for tissue repair and regeneration in human patients. Of particular interest in this SBIR topic is the capability of producing thick tissue replacements for patients in need of repair or regeneration of lost tissue and functionality of the major thick-walled organs including: heart, liver, lung, kidneys, pancreas, or muscle tissues. Functional evaluations should be appropriate to the organ type selected and are not limited to, but may include: Organ: Cell Types: Functional Evaluation: Heart Cardiomyocytes Contractile Force Liver Hepatocytes Albumin & Bilirubin production Kidney Nephrons Glomerular Filtration Rate, Urine production Lung Pneumocytes O2 and CO2 Exchange Muscle Myocytes Contractile Force The HHS-led Vision 2020 report estimates that the world market for replacement organ therapies alone is over $350 billion. In addition, the Alliance for Regenerative Medicines annual report states that potential savings from regenerative medicine treatments “ for the U.S. ¦ have been estimated at approximately $250 billion a year. However, clinical translation of actual solutions has been limited and slow to progress beyond a few, relatively non-complex organs such as the trachea or bladder (2, 3). This solicitation aims to extend that capability to more complex, thick-tissue organs that could be useful for injured warfighters, in disaster response, and for the health-care industry at large. 

PHASE I: The performer will develop concepts for a technology capable of engineering and maintaining a thick tissue construct (>1cm) with parenchymal cells functioning similar to those of one of the thick-walled organs including the heart, lung, liver, kidneys, or muscles and demonstrate feasibility of the technology concepts through in-vitro or ex-vivo testing. Feasibility will be established through demonstration of tissue construction, perfusion, and limits on cell necrosis of the tissue over a minimum one week using an in-vitro or ex-vivo system. 

PHASE II: The performer will test the long-term survival and functionality of in-vitro tissue constructs and demonstrate a minimum 30 day trial period noting levels of tissue necrosis and demonstrate structural and functional performance parameters relative to those of a healthy adults performance of the same tissue type. Performance metrics of a healthy adult must be included in the final comparison and must include the structural and functional performance measurements appropriate for the organ model system selected. The model selected should be appropriate to the tissue type being tested. Engineered vascular tissues must be evaluated in an in vivo setting where the tissue is able to recapitulate the intended function of the native tissue. Demonstrations where the engineered vascular tissue is able to fully replace the function of the native tissue over a period of several days are encouraged but not required. 

PHASE III: Vascular engineering to support manufacturing of complex biological tissues is an open problem with a large potential market and with direct applicability across the full spectrum of medical treatment, biological manufacturing, diagnostics, on-chip drug screening, and long-term unattended biologically based sensor platforms. The effort should include a description of plans to address the commercialization of the underlying technology. Potential paths to commercialization may benefit from potential future funding under programs administered through USAMRMC such as USAMMDA or CDMRP. It must describe one or more specific Phase III military applications and/or supported S&T or acquisition programs as well as the most likely path for transition of the SBIR from research to operational capability. For example, the proposal might relate the use of cryopreservation solutions, protocols or equipment to the potential use in the treatment of particular diseases or conditions of military interest. Specific defense applications include manufacture of engineered tissues. Additionally, the Phase III section must include (a) one or more potential commercial applications OR (b) one or more commercial technologies that could be potentially inserted into defense systems as a result of this particular SBIR project. The performer or a suitable partner will pursue development of the approach to permit the vascular engineering of successively larger tissues and organs. This award mechanism will bridge the gap between laboratory-scale innovation and entry into a recognized FDA regulatory pathway leading to commercialization. 

REFERENCES: 

1: ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, Ryan, S-L., A-M. Baird, G. Vaz, A.J. Urquhart, M. Senge, D.J. Richard, K.J. OByrne, and M. Davies Anthony. February 2016, 14(1): 19-28. doi:10.1089/adt.2015.670

2: The Promise and Potential of ˜Organs-on-Chips as Preclinical Models, Session Moderator: A. Bahinski. Participants: R. Horland, D. Huh, C. Mummery, D.A. Tagle, and T. MacGill. Applied In Vitro Toxicology. December 2015, 1(4): 235-242. doi:10.1089/aivt.2015.29002.rtl

3: 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs, S. V. Murphy, A. Atala, Nature Biotechnology, vol 32, no. 8, August 2014

4: Vascularization strategies for tissue engineering, Tissue Engineering Part B, vol 15, no 3, Sept 2009 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2817665/)

5: Vascularization is the key challenge in tissue engineering, Advanced Drug Delivery Review, April 30, 2011 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21396416)

6: Microvascular Guidance: a challenge to support the development of vascularized tissue engineering construct, I Sukmana, Scientific World Journal, 2012. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22623881)

7: 3D Bioprinting of Vascularized, Heterogeneous Cell-Laden Tissue Constructs, D.B. Kolesky, R.L. Truby, A.S. Gladman, T.A. Busbee, K.A. Homan, J. A. Lewis, Advanced Materials, Volume 26, Issue 19, pages 3124“3130, May 21, 2014

8: Three Dimensional Bioprinting of Thick Vascularized Tissues, D. B. Kolesky, K. A. Homan, M. A. Skylar-Scott, J. A. Lewis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 113 no. 12, March 22, 2016

KEYWORDS: Vascular, Tissue, Engineered, Trauma, Regenerative, Medicine 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Further develop and mature concentration technologies for food products to produce lower weight and volume rations with increased stability. Isolate and purify heat-sensitive health-promoting foods and compounds. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a need to ease overburdened soldiers in small units by lightening the soldier load. An innovative solution is needed to reduce the water content and volume of ration components while ensuring nutrient retention. This would create lighter, more compact, higher-density energy sources for the soldier, thereby decreasing the soldiers physical load, improving readiness, and optimizing nutritional support for enhanced energy and cognition. Using novel concentration technologies, food may be reduced in volume and weight but still maintain the nutrients and sensory quality of fresh-like foods. For example, a concentration technology which utilizes evaporation and hydrolyzation removes up to 95% of the water from pasteurized milk, and its final concentrated product is 17% of its original volume. This research proposal seeks to demonstrate proof of concept that there are novel concentration technologies able to reduce water content of foods by at least 50%, and significantly reduce volume, while maintaining quality and nutrients. Concentration technologies will reduce water activity of foods to prevent microbial growth and chemical reactions to lengthen shelf life and increase quality. Foods should be produced in such a way that water may or may not be added to the concentrated item at the time of preparation and consumption, depending on the nature of the food. The removal of water from foods will in turn reduce packaging, transportation, and storage costs. Concentration processes include evaporation, reverse osmosis, osmotic water transfer, and freeze concentration (Berk 2013). Microwave vacuum and solid-liquid separation are also examples of emerging concentration technologies. 

PHASE I: The goal of Phase I is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing a food product with a 3 year shelf-life using concentration technologies. The concentration technology should result in a reduction in weight and/or volume of the food by at least 50%. Provide an overview of the concentration process, mechanisms, and predicted outcomes. Provide a demonstration of feasibility of technology in the form of an initial concentrated prototype. Identify target foods ideal for concentration technology, such as fruits, vegetables, and shelf-stable milk. Develop a detailed analysis of predicted performance and outcomes of using such technology such as recovery and preservation of nutrients and sensory quality, viscosity, shelf-life. Define and develop key technical milestones. Provide cost savings of applying such technology to the field. Provide estimate of cost of production food item. Mitigate risk by identifying and addressing the most challenging technical hurdles in order to optimize the technology/process. The deliverables of this phase will include the identification of ideal representative food components, preliminary processing parameters to ensure stability, and a final report specifying proof of concept and data on potential volume, weight, water reduction, shelf-life stability, sensory acceptability and nutrient retention. 

PHASE II: Using preliminary processing parameters determined during Phase I, develop and produce pre-production prototypes with targeted weight, volume and water reductions. Define manufacturability issues related to full-size production of the prototypes for military and commercial application. Pre-production prototypes produced should be sufficiently mature for analytical analysis (microbiological, sensory, nutritional and shelf life), technical demonstrations and limited field-testing. Prototypes should include three varied types of food items. Based on analytical results, finalize processing parameters and optimize foods using matured concentration technology. The Phase II effort will deliver the following: pre-production prototypes, validated novel concentration technology that provides higher quality food components when compared to traditional drying and/or concentration processes, a report documenting the technology, performance characterization and manufacturing capability. 

PHASE III: The novel concentration technologies identified, developed/advanced and validated under Phase I and Phase II will be used to optimize existing ration components as well as provide high quality ingredients to develop stabilized, low weight and reduced volume rations components. These novel technologies are applicable for the civilian market and will benefit all users by reducing logistics, costs, and weight while improving the nutritional quality of rations.  

REFERENCES: 

1: http://www.berryondairy.com/Milk.html

2: http://nfscfaculty.tamu.edu/talcott/courses/FSTC311/Textbook/3-Chapter%203%20Separation%20and%20Concentration%20Technologies.pdf

3: http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c10/E5-10-04-04.pdf

KEYWORDS: Concentration Technology For Food, Evaporation, Volume Reduction, Weight Reduction, Water Reduction, Dehydration 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a highly expeditionary three sink sanitation system to achieve low volume pack out during transportation. Furthermore, investigate novel methods to achieve increased fuel efficiency, lower weight, and a rugged design tailored to military applications. 

DESCRIPTION: Army mobile kitchens require a method to wash, rinse, and sanitize kitchen wares in order to conduct field feeding operations. The Army has fielded the Food Sanitation Center (FSC) to provide this capability, which is equipped with a three sink system heated by three burners utilizing an open combustion heat exchange concept that is noisy, inefficient, and requires a large amount of volume for packing off during transportation. One such kitchen that is supported by the FSC is the Armys Assault Kitchen (AK). The AK is designed to support a feeding strength of 250 Unitized Group Ration “ Heat and Serve (UGR-H&S) meals in stationary as well as mobile operation. It is also able to prepare a subset of Unitized Group Ration “ A (UGR-A) menus, but only while stationary. For washing, rinsing, and sanitizing kitchen wares, the AK can either be supplemented with an FSC transported by a separate vehicle, or utilize a field expedient method of sanitation that involves cleaning and sterilizing kitchen wares in insulated food containers filled with hot water. Thus, the Army would greatly benefit from a low-volume, energy-efficient sanitation solution that would allow storage of said system within the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that tows the Light Tactical Trailer (LTT) containing the AK. With this new system, the Army could provide the AK with the capability of a fully functional sanitation system without reliance on a separate FSC, or a field expedient method. The envisioned future system consists of three separate sinks with a closed combustion heat exchanger that enables the use of a single burner to achieve the required minimum temperatures in each sink to meet regulatory standards (110°F for wash sink, 120°F for rinse, and 171°F or higher for sterilization) and can pack-off into a volume of no more than 25 W x 28 L x 42 H. An innovative approach will be required in order to meet this constraining pack out volume. Offerors should consider different approaches to modularize different components, including the combustion chamber (whether as part of separate water heater or internal to the system), and the trade-offs between technical approaches to sink design. In addition to low risk approaches (ex. nesting sinks), higher risk approaches that can achieve smaller pack out volumes will also be considered. Such approaches include, but are not limited, collapsible sinks utilizing gasket lined side walls or novel utilization of fabrics. There is no exact target size and fill volume for the sanitation sinks, the only requirement is that it must be possible to sterilize kitchen wares in accordance to regulatory standards. Any approach should consider the largest items that require washing, which are the 15 gallon stock pot (NSN 7330-00-292-2307), insulated beverage dispenser (NSN 7310-01-245-6937), and insulated food container (NSN 7360-01-408-4911.) After sanitation operations have been completed, waste water will need to be drained from the system. In an expeditionary setting it cannot be assumed that there will be appropriate waste water tanks or blivets to receive sanitation waste water, but if run through a grease trap to remove grease and particulate solids the waste water may be drained to the ground. The proposed design should include details regarding the hosing, grease trap, and potentially sump pump (if necessary) to address this need. The burner for the envisioned system is government owned and will be provided to selected offerors at the appropriate time. The burner is a 60,000 BTU/hr gun-style pressure atomizing type designed for on/off modulation. It is powered by 120VAC NEMA 5-15 cord, weighs approximately 20 pounds, is approximately 16 W x 65/8 L x 9 H, and has a 35/8 diameter firing tube thats centered approximately 101/2 left side of the burner and 27/8 from the top. Any proposed approach should contain justification for why this firing rate is sufficient for their design, or if not, provide justification for a higher firing rate if necessary. It is fueled by an external five gallon jerry can that will need to be considered as part of the pack off requirement. There are a few additional factors that need to be considered for any proposed design as well. Since this is an expeditionary piece of equipment, weight has to be considered since it will be need to be man portable. The weight target for each separable component should be 36 pounds or less with a threshold of 72 pounds. Operator safety concerns should also be addressed, including scenarios requiring the proper ventilation of combustion gases if operated in an enclosed space. Complexity, reliability, maintainability, and cost of the system should be considered when proposing a design. The per unit production cost objective for manufacturing in quantities of 100 or more units is $9,000 or less, with a threshold of $15,000. (Assume a burner cost of $1500 in production.) 

PHASE I: During Phase I, offerors shall materially demonstrate (i.e., not just perform a paper study) the feasibility and practicality of the system with breadboard fabrications of component technologies. A final report shall also be delivered that specifies how full-scale performance requirements will be met in Phase II. The report shall also detail the conceptual design, performance modeling, safety, risk mitigation measures, MANPRINT (Manpower and Personnel Integration Program), estimated production costs, and knowledge gained during the development process. Phase I proposals will be judged on how clearly they present a focused innovative concept, developmental path, and arguments for feasibility. Comparisons should be made against existing technology, as well as other conceivable approaches that might be proposed. Concepts will be judged on innovation, anticipated performance, and important metrics such as cost, complexity, reliability, maintainability, pack out volume and weight. These and other measures of worth should be discussed explicitly and quantified when possible. Research teams will be evaluated based on their core competency relative to the technology proposed, their ability to commercialize, and the potential for commercialization of the specific technologies. 

PHASE II: During Phase II, the offeror is expected to develop, fabricate, and deliver two fully-functional prototypes that are mature enough to operate and demonstrate in a lab setting and under limited operational conditions. Before delivery, the offeror is expected to subject the prototype systems to an array of performance tests and exercises demonstrating the current level of capability and maturity. Quantitative and qualitative data collected during these activities shall be delivered in progress reports and final reporting along with updated design, safety, MANPRINT, component specifications, performance characteristics, production cost estimates, recommendations for future technology development, and opportunities to reduce cost/complexity during manufacturing. 

PHASE III: During Phase III, the offeror is expected to complete final system modifications and testing needed to sufficiently validate that requirements necessary to begin transition and commercialization will be met. Delivered prototypes will undergo technology demonstrations and potentially additional development in collaboration with Product Manager “ Force Sustainment Systems. If successful, system will transition to the Assault Kitchen Program of Record. This new sanitation system stands to greatly benefit the Armys expeditionary field sanitation capabilities, as well as reducing fuel usage, cost, and logistics burden. If successful, the technology could expand to commercial and industrial food service in remote settings, the off-grid community, and disaster relief applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: https://www.logsa.army.mil/etmpdf/files/080000/085410.pdf

2: https://www.logsa.army.mil/etmpdf/files/060000/067500/068741.pdf

3: http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/media/print/FSE_3ED.pdf

KEYWORDS: "Field Feeding, Field Sanitation, Three Sink Sanitation, Modular Prototype, Fabrics" 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop new tactical camouflage materials to enhance the level of protection against emerging sensor threats in support of the Ultra-Lightweight Camouflage Net System (ULCANS) Capability Development Document (CDD), approved 17 November 2015. This material will enable better concealment of heavy military equipment and platforms with a given background against a variety of sensor threats when viewed from an adversarial position. Once production is established, the material will be used in applications to cover equipment like military vehicles and shelters. It is paramount that the materials be durable enough to last in austere environmental conditions while also being flame resistant and while still providing multispectral concealment of assets compared to their background. Developed materials and prototypes will be measured for physical performance using testing methods already common to other shelter and netting systems in addition to any or all of the following: bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), directional-hemispherical reflectance (DHR) and emissivity measurements. Data from this testing may be inserted into hyperspectral modeling and simulation efforts to gauge performance. 

DESCRIPTION: The commercial and governmental land use markets continue to advance remote sensing technologies for crop and forestry applications. Distinct spectral characteristics have been studied for use in the fields of agriculture and farming. Characteristics such as plant species identification, vegetation density, overall health, and maturity for harvest are all currently identifiable traits using remote sensing technologies with mindful analysis. The variety of multispectral signatures typical to vegetation have military applications because they could be used as a means to discern current military vehicle camouflage systems. Current systems are able to conceal objects in woodland or arid backgrounds in the visible and near-infrared spectra. The objective of this effort will be to conceal equipment using materials as spectrally matched as possible through the entire threat spectrum to include as many of the following as possible: UV (200-400 nm), Visible (400-700nm), Near-Infrared (600-900 nm), Shortwave Infrared (0.9-2.5 µm), Midwave IR (3-5 µm), Longwave Infrared (8-12 µm), and Radar (1 mm “ 1 m). The use of careful analysis combined with capable multispectral sensors may highlight the differences between man-made materials not spectrally matched and any surrounding vegetation or terrain features. At the lab level, these methods are capable of identification of commercial organic compounds or coating resins down to the producers part number. The remote sensing instrumentation is not yet capable of this selectivity but is moving in this direction. Regions of the electromagnetic spectrum that are of interest to this effort include the wavelengths between ultraviolet and far infrared. Radar scattering and absorption also continue to be important methods for concealment Successful tactical camouflage systems must be lightweight to facilitate short strike and erect cycles. Durability is also a factor and a minimum 2 years of continuous field life is required with a stretch goal of 5 years. Multiple visible camo patterns must be available with the associated spectral response of woodland, desert, urban and the arctic terrain. In addition to these basic patterns, the operational force may require unique patterns for matching mission specific terrains. The Army seeks an advanced technical material capable of meeting the planned requirements set forth within the ULCANS CDD (a copy of this CDD can be provided after the contract award). The fabric shall be flame resistant, durable, flexible and as lightweight as possible. The production-level fabric shall have a target cost not to exceed $3.34 per square foot or $35.95 per square meter. The new tactical camouflage material will possess at a minimum the following capabilities: 1. Protection against Multi-spectral/hyper-spectral detection: Recent advancements in sensor acquisition and information-processing technologies have fostered the advancement of multi-spectral and hyper-spectral sensors. Multi-spectral sensors are able to scan through multiple channels within the electro-magnetic spectrum such as the portions of the visual, near infrared, and thermal infrared. Such sensors assess a cross section of wavelengths and, with analysis, are able to assist in acquiring a target within a window of particular spectral region even though it might be effectively concealed in another. Hyperspectral sensors collect data across a continuous portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum. These sensors can scan many narrow bands across a wide region of the spectrum and are able to provide detailed information about target spatial and spectral patterns. As absorption and emission bands of given substances often occur within very narrow bandwidths, they allow high-resolution hyper-spectral sensors to distinguish the properties of the substances to a finer degree than an ordinary broadband sensor. 2. Protection from visual detection, observation and surveillance: Woodland, Desert, Urban and Arctic systems shall have a mean detection range equal to or less than 1000 meters when deployed in both a leafless and fully leafed deciduous tree background when viewed by individuals with vision no worse than 20/30 vision and normal color perception during day light hours. 3. Provide force protection from detection, observation and surveillance by electro-optic, thermal, shortwave-infrared, near-infrared, radar, ultraviolet systems: a. Thermal Signature: The system shall provide thermal concealment in daytime and nighttime conditions in their respective background environments. The temperature of the systems shall closely track the average apparent background temperature within a maximum of ± 5º C [14º F] above and below the average apparent background temperature within the 3-5 and 8-12 micron band. b. Near Infrared: When deployed under nighttime low light conditions (quarter to half-moon) the system shall be undetectable at a distance of 500 meters or more when being viewed with a PVS-7 and/or AN/PVS-14 tactical starlight image intensifier. c. Shortwave-Infrared: The system shall closely match the background and/or foreground spectral properties in the 1.1 to 2.5 micron band undetectable above 500m. d. Radar: The system shall blend with the background radar signature to a degree similar to or better than the most current version of camouflage in the Army inventory. e. Ultraviolet (snow only): Provide ultraviolet reflectance characteristics that blend with snow background equal to or below the visual range. 4. Overall dry weight The maximum weight of the camouflage system (not including support structure) shall be less than 9 oz. per sq. yd. 5. Climate and weather conditions The system shall perform in all environments, climates, and weather conditions (See MIL-PRF-44271C pages 21-22) 6. Fungus The screen material shall not support fungal growth (Samples shall be tested in accordance with Aspergillus niger according to AATCC 30 (1999), test III without glucose) 7. Flame Resistance The system needs to be flame resistant or self- extinguishing with no melt drip. (Four 12x12 samples will be tested according to Option B of ASTM D 3659). 

PHASE I: The awardee shall propose a six (6) month period of performance with a three month option period to research and develop material solutions to address the detailed spectral performance characteristics. This first phase will focus on the creation of a hyperspectral prototype that has blending performance across the infrared spectrum in the regions of visible (400-700 nm), near-infrared (700-900nm) and shortwave infrared (900-2500nm) for one (1) of the four environments (woodland, arid, snow, urban). The awardee shall also document a plan of action that details the method to prototype and manufacture a hyperspectral material that will blend into all regions of the threat spectrum; UV (200 nm) through Radar (1 m). In addition, in order to fulfill reporting requirements, the awardee shall report monthly on their progress in the form of a 4-8 page technical report indicating accomplishments, project progress and spending against schedule, associated data tables, graphics, and any other test data. Deliverables: Six (6) monthly reports as described above A final report suitable for publishing onto the Defense Technical Information Center that describes the project and the work performed A total of three (3) 1 m2 swatch samples of prototype fabric showcasing the awardees solution capable of hyperspectral blending in the VIS-NIR-SWIR bands in the awardees selected operational environment (woodland, desert, urban, or arctic). Limited evidence depicting the fabrics ability to meet hyperspectral blending in the visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrums. This limited evidence may include fabric testing and component material specifications. A detailed report or plan of action that describes a method to achieve full threat spectrum blending performance in each of the 4 operational environments. This plan should include details on how to effectively conceal against Hyperspectral, Multispectral and LADAR. 

PHASE II: Phase II is a significant R&D effort resulting in swatches and full width sample materials. Additionally, the fabric developed must be producible in 500 yard lengths or more in an automated manner. The Phase II effort will significantly improve upon on the performance and manufacturability of the fabric technology developed under Phase I. This effort will not exceed 2 years or $1M in cost. Required Phase II tasks and deliverables will include: o Development and prototype of the hyperspectral material solutions for the remaining two (or three) operational environments across the VIS-NIR-SWIR bands. o A plan of action for how to achieve both personnel and facility security clearances for the awardees organization. o Once a security clearance is granted by DSS, the awardee shall develop and prototype hyperspectral material solutions for the entire threat spectrum (UV through Radar) for each of the four operational environments. Three swatches for each operational environment shall be constructed with an area of 1 m2 each. o The awardee shall also develop four (4) full scale prototypes in the form of a hexagon; one for each of the four (4) terrain types (woodland, desert, urban, arctic). The materials used in the construction of the prototypes must be capable of hyperspectral blending across the threat spectrum. Each prototype should be in the dimensions found on page 1-7 of ULCANS Technical Manual (TM 5-1080-250-12&P). Each full scale prototype does not require the installation of becket loops but at least each corner must have a means to use in staking the system to the ground. The length of each hexagon shall be 32.2 ft. across, the width shall be 27.9 ft. and the area of the hexagon shall be 673.6 sq. ft. o Laboratory testing results of the hyperspectral swatches designed to blend into the entire threat spectrum (BRDF, DHR, Emissivity, etc.) o Laboratory report of accelerated aging results (300hrs of continuous light exposure on a QUV Weatherometer with intermittent condensation cycle. Reference AATCC Method 186, Option 1 for guidance) o Formulation used to produce samples o Monthly reports that detail progress in the form of a 4-8 page technical report indicating accomplishments, project progress and spending against schedule, associated data tables, graphics, and any other test data for each month of the effort. These reports may be classified. o A final report suitable for publishing onto the Defense Technical Information Center that describes the project and the work performed with a classified addendum that gives full detail and test results of the materials developed, their performance and the method by which the goals were achieved. 

PHASE III: The initial use of this technology is for military camouflage applications, but we foresee an extension of the technology to military vehicles on the move, shelters and stationary military assets. Additional applications include the possibility for use in concealing large unsightly manmade structures within a natural environment by the Department of the Interiors Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and potentially by the Federal Aviation Administration for use in hiding different areas of airports. Additional applications could be used to either provide shade for large assets as a means of energy reduction or be incorporated into another system as a means of electromagnetic shielding or insulation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Joint Committee on Tactical Shelters (JOCOTAS) http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/media/print/JOCOTAS.pdf

2: Technical Manual for Ultra-Lightweight Camouflage Net Systems (ULCANS) TM 5-1080-250-12&P http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-5-1080-250-12-and-P.pdf

3: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TEST METHOD STANDARD ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING CONSIDERATIONS AND LABORATORY TESTS - MIL-STD-810G http://www.atec.army.mil/publications/Mil-Std-810G/Mil-Std-810G.pdf

4: PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION TENT, EXTENDABLE, MODULAR, PERSONNEL (TEMPER) “MIL-PRF-44271C http://www.bondcote.com/military/MIL-PRF-44271C.pdf

5: Technology Readiness Assessment http://www.acq.osd.mil/chieftechnologist/publications/docs/TRA2011.pdf

KEYWORDS: Camouflage, Textile, Spectral, Concealment, Signature Management 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Military deployable laundry systems consume large amounts of water cleaning soldier uniforms, under wear, and towels. The objective of this effort is to develop an innovative, low water consumption or waterless laundry system that exhibits military hardening, conforms to existing transport and logistics requirements, and ensures military personnel can service the equipment. A low flow or waterless laundry system will allow for laundry functions at more austere locations currently constrained by limited water and fuel resupply. This in turn will increase the morale, welfare and hygiene for soldiers deployed at remote basecamps, increasing overall mission readiness and effectiveness of our Army. 

DESCRIPTION: U.S. Army high-level objectives dictate that basecamp efficiencies shall be increased, and in turn, the frequency of water and fuel resupply operations decreased. In support of this mandate, Force Provider and the US Army medical community aim to field more efficient and expedient laundry systems. An additional benefit to increasing laundry efficiency, is the ability to provide this function at remote and resource-constrained basecamps, further increasing Warfighter morale, welfare and hygiene where it may be needed most. Historically, the Containerized Batch Laundry (CBL) system has been deployed with U.S. Army Force Provider 600-man Rest and Refit or Theater Reception operating bases to provide a laundry service for returning troops between mission operations. These established basecamps were supplied sufficient water and fuel, and could thereby afford committing resources to laundry functions. The CBL consisted of a 20 ft. ISO container containing two large commercial washers and two similar sized dryers, all mated to a 32 ft. TEMPER tent. The overarching requirement for this system was to clean all rotating troop uniforms within 3 days; which was the length of the soldiers stay on base. The Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) for the individual that operated the laundry facility was 92S (Shower/Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist), while MOS 91J (Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repair Specialist) performed maintenance and repair on the CBL system. 92S trained personnel would receive soldiers' laundry, inventory (by identity tag), prepare it for laundering, and perform the wash and dry cycle. This was done to allow for multiple soldiers' laundry to be processed simultaneously, with confidence of returning laundry to the rightful owner after cleaning. The expected throughput was 15 lbs. of soldier laundry per week. This process resulted in a cumbersome logistic trail, and extended the time between soldiers delivering their clothing for cleaning, and receiving their cleaned clothes back from the facility. Force Provider is now focusing on individual-serviced laundry systems, and transitioning away from the collective cleaning of laundry as a service. In recent years, Force Provider has standardized their common shipping platform to a TRICON container, and developed a new laundry system to conform to this standard. The Expeditionary TRICON System - Batch Laundry (ETS-BL) consists of a TRICON container, with a single conventional 50 lbs. commercial UNIMAC washer and 75 lbs. UNIMAC dryer installed. Using this system, laundry alone constitutes 36% of the daily water consumption at a Force Provider basecamp. The washer itself consumes 68 gals. per ~45 lbs. load of laundry. For 30 soldiers, at 15 lbs. of laundry each (or 10 loads of laundry), this estimates to 680 gals. of wash water consumed in 10 hours of cumulative washing and drying time. Energy consumed in that period of time for heating of the wash water, drying clothing, environmental control of the TRICON container, and any miscellaneous items (lighting etc...) is equal to 124 kWh. Of the 124 kWh, 46 kWh is used by the washer, environmental control, and lighting. The remaining 78 kWh are consumed by only the dryer. These metrics can be seen as baseline values in Table 1. (TABLE 1 TO BE UPLOADED WITH TOPIC) As another example, field deployed hospitals have an even greater proportionate laundry water consumption rate, as they not only wash uniforms and hospital linens, but also run sterilization cycles in their Hospital - Containerized Batch Laundry (H-CBL) system. The H-CBL is effectively identical to the ETS-BL except that it has twice the number of machines (and throughput) and is configured in a 20 ft. ISO container vs. the Force Provider ETS-BLs TRICON container. In the U.S. Army 248 Bed Combat Support Hospital (CSH), H-CBL laundry facilities consume 6,720 gals. of the total 15,875 gals. potable water consumed in a day. At 42% of the total water consumed, laundry exhibits the highest consumption rate of any single functional area at field-deployed hospitals. The U.S. Army has conducted a preliminary investigation into several alternative laundry systems in an effort to reduce the demand-side water requirement at forward operating bases. Systems investigated included liquid CO2 and polymeric bead-assisted washing, but none have yet demonstrated integration into military deployed infrastructure, nor have been evaluated for efficacy in military garment cleaning. Regardless of the technology pursued by the offeror, it is vital that the proposed system exhibit intuitive operation, and be user serviceable to the greatest extent possible. Specifically, offerors should ensure that the system conforms to, or is acceptable for incorporation into 92S and 91J MOS training requirements. In addition, the integrated laundry system should conform to all transport requirements, which include those of air cargo, helicopter sling-load, 10,000 lbs. forklift, intermodal transport (by ship or rail), and truck/trailer transport. The proposed technology should also exhibit high cleaning efficacy in situations where Petroleum, Oils, and Lubricants (POLs), blood, urine, feces, vomit, and mildew are present on garments and linens. Though the military does not have a formal specification for cleanliness, the proposed system efficacy can be evaluated through side-by-side comparison of cleaned and uncleaned samples. The procedure for this test involves staining a lab coat material sample with pig's blood, grass, soil, and motor oil, and then taking photo-spectroscopy measurements before and after laundering in the delivered laundry system. The resultant values are compared to results from existing laundry systems, namely the (legacy) M85, Laundry Advanced System (LADS), CBL, and ETS-BL. In addition, soldier qualitative feedback on shrinkage, odor, and garment feel will also be used as performance measures. It is imperative that the proposed system life-cycle cost is also considered by the offeror. The fully burdened cost of resupply to forward operating basecamps is $1.76 per gal. of water and $2.90 per gal. of fuel. The current ETS-BL should be considered as the baseline technology for this effort to improve upon. At 680 gals. of wash water consumed in a day, the ETS-BL daily water costs are $1,196.80. A fully-loaded 60kW Tactical Quiet Generator consumes 5.06 gals. per 60kWh generated. Given the aforementioned 124kWh consumed in a 10 hour wash a day (10 loads of laundry) by the ETS-BL, the 60kW generator will consume 10.5 gals. of fuel to power it, resulting in a daily fuel cost of $30.33. Detergent is inexpensive at $0.35 per load, resulting in $3.50 in detergent costs a day. The total daily water, fuel and consumables cost for 10 loads of laundry is $1,230.63, or $123.06 per 45 lbs. load. In order to reduce the Armys reliance on potable water, and thereby reduce the need for high-risk resupply operations, it has been determined that a reduction in laundry water consumed would have the most significant overall net effect on military resource consumption. As we are aiming to address multiple U.S. Army agencies requirements, the proposed laundry system should exhibit the following characteristics: Shall meet or exceed the Threshold metrics established in Table 1. Shall be operationally deployable within a 6 x 8 x 8 TRICON container, alongside a right-sized dryer, or exhibit washing and drying capability all on its own. Shall not exceed a system total weight (including container) of 10,000 lbs. This is a Force Provider Material Handling Equipment (MHE) requirement. Offeror should aim to meet objective values in Table 1. Shall process a minimum of 15 lbs. of laundry (a single soldiers laundry for a week). Shall not interfere or cause a hazardous condition when washed fabrics are dried with conventional drying processes. Shall not deteriorate or degrade military garments and hospital linens at an expedited rate, relative to commercial laundry solutions. Shall exhibit high efficacy in cleaning of both organic, non-organic and Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant (POL) based stains. Shall minimize the logistical burden on the supply chain, and not require the transportation of unsafe or hazardous materials/chemicals. Shall interface with 100A or 60A Class-L 208V 3-phase power connector (MIL-DTL-22992). Shall not use a proprietary detergent, or consumable. Shall exhibit a life-cycle cost comparable to or lower than incumbent laundry systems, for equal throughput and capacity. This considers cost of consumables (including water and fuel), maintenance items, and the initial capital cost of the equipment over a 5 year period. Shall provide an environmentally controlled environment to the laundry operator. May run in either a batch or continuous mode. May exhibit additional capability such as chemical application (permethrin, hydrophobic coating), or sanitation through chemical means, pressure and/or heat. 

PHASE I: The awardee shall propose a 6 month period of performance with 4 month option period, to research and develop an innovative laundry (washing and drying) system addressing the aforementioned requirements. In addition, in order to fulfill reporting requirements, the awardee shall report monthly on their progress, in the form of a 4-8 page technical report indicating accomplishments, project progress against proposed schedule (manage to budget), tables, graphics, and any other associated test data. Deliverables: o Six monthly reports, with each report containing the following: o Expenditure to date, against proposed schedule. o Technical progress to date, against proposed schedule. o Technical achievement highlights, as well as problems or decision-points reached. o Within first two reports, present market research of all existing and future laundry solutions and their applicability to a military deployment. o Final Technical Report, submitted within 15 days after contract termination, containing the following: o Plumbing and power interfacing plan, ensuring interoperability with Force Provider basecamp infrastructure. o Conceptual drawings of the TRICON containerized laundry facility. o A list of maintenance items, frequency of replacing such items, and specific training required. o A material degradation analysis, of textiles being subjected to the respective wash cycle. o A cost analysis of the systems life cycle, including the cost of maintenance items and consumables, as well as the initial capital cost of procuring the system “ over 5 years. 

PHASE II: Phase II is a significant R&D effort resulting in a well-defined washing and drying laundry solution that is reproducible, and exhibits confidence in transition to both military and commercial markets. The Phase II effort will significantly improve upon the performance and efficiency of the conceptual design developed under Phase I. This effort will not exceed 2 years or $1M in cost. Required Phase II tasks and deliverables will include: Monthly and Final reporting, as mentioned for Phase I, to cover the 24 month Phase II Period of Performance. Generate technical drawings of a TRICON integrated laundry solution, exhibiting both washing and drying functions. Devise laundry facility maintenance plan, and indicate all supplies needed, including cost, quantity, and frequency of replacement thereof. Deliver a complete TRICON-based laundry system exhibiting the desirable performance characteristics as shown in Table 1. Demonstrate functionality and increased efficiency over incumbent laundry system in a side-by-side test to be conducted at the Base Camp Integration Lab, Fort Devens, MA. Demonstrate interoperability with Force Provider water, power and fuel infrastructure. 

PHASE III: The initial use of this technology is for military expeditionary basing systems, but we foresee an extension of the technology to other governmental organizations and commercial industry. For example, the following areas have been identified as commercial markets requiring improvements in the efficiency of fabric laundering: Cleaning and/or sanitation of medical garments during domestic and global disease pandemics Linen cleaning in the hotel and hospitality industry Fabric coating and material sciences industry Manufacturing-related textile preparation for dyes 

REFERENCES: 

1: MIL-DTL-22992 “ Detail Specification “ Connectors, Plugs and Receptacles, Electrical, Waterproof, Quick Disconnect, Heavy Duty Type, General Specification For http://www.landandmaritime.dla.mil/Downloads/MilSpec/Docs/MIL-DTL-22992/dtl22992.pdf

2: MIL-STD-810G “ Test Method Standard “ Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests http://www.atec.army.mil/publications/Mil-Std-810G/Mil-Std-810G.pdf

3: MIL-PRF-44103D “ Performance Specification “ Cloth, Fire, Water, and Weather Resistant http://www.bondcote.com/military/MIL-PRF-44103.pdf

4: Force Provider - Containerized Batch Laundry http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-10-3510-225-13-and-P.pdf http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2007jointcbcdip/Briefs/Given.pdf

5: 60kW Tactical Quiet Generator http://www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil/Portals/105/pdmeps/docs/MEP/B1016B1021.pdf

6: MIL-STD-209K “ Interface Standard for Lifting and Tie-down Provisions https://www.sddc.army.mil/sites/TEA/Functions/Deployability/TransportabilityEngineering/Modeling/Documents/MIL-STD-209K_2005-02-22.pdf

KEYWORDS: Laundry, Water, Dryer, Wash, Detergent, CO2 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop a multi-dimensional, computer-aided stochastic model to simulate fire behavior in military shelters. The objective of the model is to reduce the amount of destructive testing required to evaluate fire safety considerations in rigid and soft-wall military shelters. 

DESCRIPTION: The ability of our Warfighters to quickly exit a tent or rigid shelter in the event of a fire incident, is of utmost importance. Three soft-wall shelter fire-related incidents between 2013 and 2014, have motioned for a re-evaluation of current performance specifications, material selection, and design considerations. Existing shelter performance specifications only indicate component level requirements, and have no bearing on system level considerations. These component-level specifications do not consider the overall shelter enclosure design and how it contributes to flame, heat and smoke generation. However, when leveraging material improvements or the addition of fire retardant intumescent coatings, a system-level test for soft-walled shelters would be beneficial. In a similar fashion, rigid-wall shelter performance requirements are limited to only components of the shelter system. Specifically, rigid-wall shelter flammability requirements only address the shelter walls composite core material, but not the skin material. This is due to the incumbent shelters skin material being made of aluminum, therefore, naturally non-flammable. Although, in order to improve shelter system performance, new, lighter and stronger fiber-based composites are being investigated to replace the aluminum skin. Given the limitations of existing performance requirements, prototype fiber-based composites have not been evaluated for rigid wall shelters as the destructive live burn testing of these would be cost prohibitive. Currently, NSRDEC and its transition partners are seeking novel ways to evaluate system-level shelter considerations; to include: flame propagation, heat release, smoke generation, amongst many other factors. A three-dimensional stochastic modeling and simulation tool would improve the Armys ability to design and evaluate shelter systems for fire-safe operation. The modeling and simulation tool provides for an inexpensive method to perform iterative design, material, or configuration changes at low cost, without having to conduct expensive live-fire destructive testing. The U.S. Army is hereby soliciting for a software package that can import three-dimensional (CAD) models, such as soft and rigid-wall shelters, invoke flame ignition and visually simulate and quantify the effects of a fire scenario. Using a drafting programs such as SolidWorks, generated CAD models shall be inserted into software using STL, STEP, IGES or any other popular file format. Within the software the user shall be able to impinge a known ignition source on any point of the shelter system. The ignition sources heat concentration, magnitude and duration shall be adjustable. The imported models component material properties, such as thermal conductivity, specific heat, melting point, and permeability must be modifiable. The software packages simulation shall also depict realistic internal and external environmental conditions, such as wind direction and magnitude, around and through the models material. Throughout the simulation, the software shall quantify heat released, smoke generated, thermal gradients within the model, material consumption by fire, oxygen concentration, and any other crucial fire safety related properties. Upon completion of the simulation, the user shall have the ability to quantify the aforementioned and be able to pause or play back the simulation by using a timeline or similar software feature. Modeling software must have a graphical user interface and be user-friendly to a general engineer familiar with modeling and analysis software. The delivered software shall also be accompanied with a comprehensive user manual. The software package must be capable of running on the average computer available to the intended user, as depicted in Table 1 (TABLE 1 TO BE UPLOADED WITH TOPIC). The annual cost of operating the software should not exceed $10,000 per seat, to remain competitive with other simulation software packages. 

PHASE I: The awardee shall propose a 6 month period of performance with 4 month option period, to research and develop the alpha version of a fire modeling and simulation software package. Upon the completion of Phase I, a software demonstration is requested in order to verify and validate the alpha version softwares capabilities. The capabilities expected for a Phase I alpha software deliverable are as follows: Shall accept a premade three-dimensional CAD model of a swatch sample, with actual material properties Shall illustrate, in three-dimensional space, the flame propagation on a material swatch sample subjected to a vertical flame test, as discussed in ASTM D6413. Shall quantify the heat released as a function of time. Shall give the user the flexibility to adjust ignition flame magnitude, direction, and placement relative to the sample under test. Shall provide the user environmental parameters to adjust, such as humidity and temperature Shall demonstrate the feasibility of further advancements to the software package, to instill confidence in a Phase II award. The awardee shall also perform market research on existing fire modeling software that may be used in support of this project, in order to avoid a redundant effort. It is desirable for the modeling and simulation software package to be novel, and thereby exhibit other inputs, outputs, capabilities or variables not clearly indicated in this solicitation. In order to fulfill reporting requirements, the awardee shall report monthly on their progress, in the form of a 4-8 page technical report indicating accomplishments, project progress against schedule, tables, graphics, and any other associated data. Deliverables: Six monthly reports, with each report containing the following: o Expenditure to date, against proposed schedule o Technical progress to date, against proposed schedule. o Technical achievement highlights, as well as problems or decision-points reached. o Within first two reports, present market research of all existing fire modeling and simulation software and their feasibility in addressing the solicitation requirements. A final technical report summarizing the entire effort, submitted within 15 days after contract termination. A demonstration of the developed alpha version software, to be conducted at NSRDEC and exhibiting the following qualities: o The ability to simulate an ASTM D6413 vertical flame test. Contractor should have preemptively conducted a video-recorded ASTM D6413 burn test of a sample that is identical in size, shape and material properties of the sample simulated in the software package. A side-by-side comparison of the simulation and the recorded footage will allow for validation of the model. This may not be a preprogrammed, or catered demonstration. Any and all visual depictions presented by the model must be calculated and simulated. o Software shall also exhibit the aforementioned alpha version required capabilities. 

PHASE II: Phase II is a significant developmental improvement to the Phase I alpha version software, and must result in a more mature and capable beta version software package. This effort will not exceed two (2) years or $1M in cost. Phase II tasks include adding the following capabilities to the alpha software package: Import a highly detailed three-dimensional model of a soft- and rigid-wall shelter that exhibits complex configurations. Shelter model selected will be at the government agencys discretion. Modify a shelter models individual material and component properties (i.e. specific heat, thermal conductivity, melting point, and permeability) and view a corresponding change in the simulation outcome. Configurable ignition source location, both inside and outside the shelter model. Change internal and external environmental conditions, to allow for specific air flow (i.e. wind direction and magnitude) around and through the shelter material. Adjustable mesh setting to augment simulation resolution (likely at the expense of processing time) Quantify flame spread, heat release, smoke generation, toxicity produced, thermal variations, material consumption, Oxygen concentration, and other crucial fire safety properties, and allow for applicable visual depictions in real time. After the shelter fire simulation, an actual shelter (identical to the one selected for the simulation) may be burned by the government to validate the simulations accuracy in predicting a live fire incident. Phase II deliverables include: "Beta version software demonstration at NSRDEC, validating aforementioned required capabilities. Training of two government personnel on delivered software package. Submit the following documentation: o Specification (architecture and framework) for software package o User manual for software package o Monthly reports to cover the period-of-performance o Final report summarizing entire effort 

PHASE III: The initial use of this technology is for the military expeditionary basing systems, but there is an inherent benefit to other governmental organizations and commercial industry. The product developed under the Phase I and Phase II efforts shall also aim to enhance commercial three-dimensional fire modeling and simulation software. Technology areas that could benefit from commercialization of this software technology are as follows: Commercial and residential real estate: Such as mobile homes, temporary housing/shelters, shopping centers, storage facilities and apartment buildings. Land, Air, and Sea transportation safety. Such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, shipping containers and tractor trailers. Raw materials and composites fire safety predictability. In support of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in developing fire safety standards and codes. In support of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in certifying products for fire-safe operation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: ASTM D6413 “ Standard Test Method for Flame Resistance of Textiles (Vertical Test) http://www.textileinstruments.net/okit88/UploadFiles/ASTM%20D6413-Vertical%20flammability%20testing.PDF

2: MIL-PRF-444103D “ Performance Specification “ Cloth, Fire, Water, and Weather Resistance http://www.bondcote.com/military/MIL-PRF-44103.pdf

3: NFPA 251 “ (2006 Edition) Standard Method of Tests of Fire Resistance of Building Construction and Materials http://hamyarenergy.com/static/fckimages/files/NFPA/Hamyar%20Energy%20NFPA%20251%20-%202006.pdf

4: MIL-STD-1472F “ Design Criteria Standard “ Human Engineering http://www.denix.osd.mil/ergoworkinggroup/upload/milstd14.pdf

KEYWORDS: Modeling, Simulation, Software, Fire, Heat 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Investigate and develop lightweight, thin-film solar cells coupled to periodic optical nanostructures that can scale up to large-area, low-cost modules deployed by the military for extended missions. The periodic optical nanostructure should enhance power conversion efficiency by light-trapping, reducing overheating, and/or other mechanisms. 

DESCRIPTION: Thin-film solar cells are increasingly relevant to both military and commercial sectors [1]. Thin-film lightweight solar cells form modules (solar blankets) that may be folded, placed in a rucksack, and carried by Warfighters (and outdoors enthusiasts). These modules are used to reduce the number of extra batteries carried on long, extended missions. In addition, there is increasing interest in the Shelters and Expeditionary Basing community in deploying photovoltaic panels to reduce the amount of material required for re-supply to small bases and shelters. As production and deployment costs for high-quality but brittle and heavy traditional thick film solar cells increase, there is renewed interest in depositing solar cells, instead of etching from a crystal, onto lightweight substrates for mobile applications. State-of-the-art of solar blankets that have been employed in some cases by the US military conform to the specification sheets in Ref. 2 (power/weight ratio 18-19.5 W/lb and power/area ratio 3-6 W/ft2, with output powers of 62 W or 120 W under full sun). Despite having been employed and tested by the US military, these state-of-the-art solar blankets do not meet current US Army solar blanket requirements to produce a minimum of 100 W output power over a maximum of 25 ft2 and with a maximum weight of 4.7 lb. One of the state-of-the-art solar blankets given in Ref. 2 produces 120 W but over 33.4 ft2 and with a weight of 6.5 lbs; the other state-of-the-art solar blanket only produces 62 W, and still does not meet the derived power/weight metric (e.g., is too heavy). The market for lightweight solar panels in the developing world, much of which lacks infrastructure to transport heavy, bulky panels, is increasing, and there are more applications where solar cells must be able to withstand mechanical shock (e.g., the hammer test) “ for example, rigid-wall Shelters for expeditionary military units. Thin-film cells can be lightweight and relatively inexpensive, but have absorption limited by the thickness of the active solar absorber, which limit solar cell conversion efficiency and requires the solar blankets unfolded area to be tens of square feet to produce sufficient power. A number of technologies, including antireflective coatings, randomly (nano)structured top surfaces, and back reflectors, have been introduced to better trap light inside the solar cell, and have resulted in modest efficiency gains. Lightweight substrates such as plastic sheeting with deposited metal back reflectors, flexible, lightweight thin-film glass, and/or thin metal foils have been introduced to reduce weight. Periodic optical nanostructures, such as photonic crystals, have demonstrated high-precision control of light, optical bandgaps, ultrahigh reflectivity, selective angle- and polarization-dependent transmission [3] and advanced spectral control for radiative cooling [4,5]. These periodic optical nanostructures have been predicted to enhance solar cell efficiency through both light-management/light-trapping effects and by increasing infrared emission [6], but so far have not been utilized to a great extent (with the exception of References 7-8) for improving the absorption and efficiency of solar cells and modules. One key way in which periodic optical nanostructures could improve solar cells is by spectrally controlling the flow of light into and out of the solar cell [5]. By transmitting only the visible light that generates electron-hole pairs and by emitting only the thermal infrared derived from the solar cells temperature (especially into the atmospheric window of 8-13 um), a periodic nanostructure such as a photonic crystal could increase visible-light absorption and yet prevent the solar cell from overheating, thus enhancing efficiency relative to solar cells that overheat due to absorbed infrared light. This SBIR program will investigate innovative ways, based on advanced periodic optical nanostructures, of increasing solar efficiency to reduce solar blanket area and while retaining high output power (100 W or more) to achieve revolutionary advances in the power/area (efficiency) and power/weight derived metrics used to characterize solar blankets. The periodic optical nanostructures will be employed to increase solar cell efficiency by improving light trapping, reducing solar cell temperature, acting as an antireflective layer, and possibly other mechanism(s). Other technical strategies, for example the employment of novel lightweight substrates to reduce solar blanket weight, may be employed as well. A total energy production during a partially sunny day of at least 200 W-hr is desirable, but not a critical goal. 

PHASE I: An innovative solution, involving periodic optical nanostructures, is sought to advance performance far beyond current US Army requirements, for a new generation of solar blankets. Research, develop, and evaluate methods for increasing the output power per unit mass (W/kg) by employing new, manufacturable substrates, and introduce a periodic optical nanostructure to improve efficiency such that there is a clear path to achieving 6 W/ft2 over the large areas required to produce output powers of 100 W. Deliverable #1 is a demonstration of a periodic optical nanostructure that yields an output power density of 5 W/ft2 and, if possible, 21.3 W/lb (thus exceeding current requirements). Working solar cells with area 1 square inch must be demonstrated (Deliverable #2). A technical report (Deliverable #3) should be generated with a detailed plan to achieve at least 6 W/ft2 and 30 W/lb; for example, 100 W from a thin“film lightweight solar cell, having a periodic optical nanostructure, over an area of 16.67 ft2 (1.55 m2) or less with total weight less than 3.33 lbs (1.51 kg). 

PHASE II: Building on results from Phase I and employing a periodic optical nanostructure, demonstrate (Deliverable #1) thin-film lightweight solar cells with total area of at least 1 ft2, that produce at least 6 W/ft2 output power density (100 W/(16.67 ft2) = 6 W/ft2 = 64.5 W/m2) with specific output power of 100 W/3.33 lb = 30 W/lb = 66.1 W/kg. Detail the research and development activities leading up to Deliverable #1, including the employment of the periodic optical nanostructure, in a technical report, and explain how to scale up to areas of 16.67 ft2 in a manufacturing process (Deliverable #2). A cost model (Deliverable #3) should be presented that shows how this technology would compete with other lightweight thin-film portable solar cells by reducing price to less than $10/Watt). 

PHASE III: Scale the technology demonstrated in Phase II up to a level that produces lightweight thin-film solar modules with 100 W output, area of 16.67 ft2, and total weight less than 3.33 lbs. The production cost must be low and competitive in the market for thin-film solar cells. This technology would satisfy official requirements for solar blanket power output, size, and weight, needed for dismounted Soldier power and potentially also for small base camps and expeditionary shelters, because of the light weight, low cost, high power output, and flexibility/ease of use. Lightweight thin-film inexpensive solar cells will also impact the enormous personal electronics industry, by enabling civilians (outdoors enthusiasts initially, but extending to anyone living in a sunny climate) to charge personal electronics (e.g., smart phones, electronic textiles) while on the move. It is envisioned that this technology will benefit from large emerging civilian markets by seeing price reductions as demand for portable power increases. 

REFERENCES: 

1: http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/43425/solar-frontier-achieves-world-record-thin-film-solar-cell-efficiency/

2: See the following two links for state-of-the-art solar blankets: a) http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/sitevizenterprise/website/cgibin/file.pl/powerfilmsolar/media/products/120_Watt_ Foldable_Sales_Sheet_583DA5D4AF047.pdf b) http://www.globalsolar.com/products/military/p3-62.

3: Shen, Y. et. al., Optical broadband angular selectivity, Science 343, 1499 (2014).

4: Rephaeli, E. et. al., Ultrabroadband Photonic Structures to Achieve High-performance Daytime Radiative Cooling, Nano Letts. 13, 1457 (2013) http://web.stanford.edu/group/fan/publication/Rephaeli_NL_13_1451_2013.pdf

5: Raman, A. et. al., Passive Radiative Cooling Below Ambient Air Temperature under Direct Sunlight, Nature 515, 540 (2014). http://web.stanford.edu/group/fan/publication/Raman_Nature_515_540_2014.pdf

6: Yu, Z., et. al., Fundamental limit of light trapping in grating structures, Optics Express (2010), https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1006/1006.4331.pdf

7: Li, X., et. al., Integration of Subwavelength Optical Nanostructures for Improved Antireflection Performance of Mechanically Flexible GaAs solar cells fabricated by epitaxial lift-off, Solar Energy Mats. Solar Cells 143, 567 (2015). http://etylab.ece.utexas.edu/pdfpubs/SOLMAT_143_567_2015.pdf

8: Curtin, B., et. al., Photonic crystal based back reflectors for light management and enhanced absorption in amorphous silicon solar cells, appl. Phys. Lets. 95, 231102 (2009) http://optoelectronics.ece.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/publications/ApplPhysLett_95_231102.pdf

KEYWORDS: Thin Film, Solar Cell, Lightweight, Optical Nanostructure, Photonic Crystal, Portable Power 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a method to impart flame protection to Nylon 6,6 textile fiber/yarn used to fabricate the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). 

DESCRIPTION: The current Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is fabricated from a fabric consisting of a 50:50 blend of cotton and Nylon 6,6. This fabric is not inherently flame retardant, and when soldiers are deployed they are issued Flame Retardant ACUs (FR-ACU). The current FR-ACU is made from very expensive fabric, one of the constituents of which is not Berry Amendment compliant. Along with increased cost, this fabric also has issues with decreased durability and comfort. Emerging threat scenarios, such as subterranean and megacities are necessitating that the Army reassess its current FR-ACU to develop fabrics that are more durable, comfortable and lower cost while having flame protection properties equal to or surpassing the current FR-ACU and not use halogenated or toxic materials that may be released while burning. One approach to meeting these requirements is to develop a nylon 6,6 fiber/yarn that has flame resistant characteristics that can be used in conjunction with FR cotton thread to construct a novel FR-ACU fabric. Various approaches will be considered, and could consist of additives to nylon polymer or finishes or coatings on the yarn itself, however fabric level coatings will not be considered. The new FR-ACU fabric (approx. 6.5oz/yd) based on the novel fiber technology developed here should have these properties: Must not melt or drip when exposed to heat or flame and must self-extinguish when heat or flame is removed Must not introduce health hazards to the wearer if it comes in contact with an open wound and/or inhalation if burned Must maintain its flame resistance and system durability and minimize shrinkage through 50 launderings Shall resist ripping/tearing, IAW ASTM D1424 (Tear Strength) minimum 30 lbs, and ASTM D5034 (Tensile Strength) minimum 300 lbs Shall cost no more than $20/yd at full volume 

PHASE I: A successful Phase I program will: Design a concept for imparting flame retardant properties for Nylon fiber that could potentially be scaled to meet the price requirement Prepare test samples of fiber or compounded polymer in sufficient quantity to perform laboratory-scale testing Demonstrate, through laboratory testing, flame retardant behavior that would indicate potential to meet flame requirements of the fabric Perform preliminary cost estimate for fiber and fabric Deliverables will include samples of fiber or compounded polymer for testing at NSRDEC 

PHASE II: A successful Phase II program will: Prepare enough FR Nylon yarn to prepare FR fabrics of 50:50 NyCo for the testing listed below and to supply to NSRDEC for testing Prepare fabric consisting of FR Nylon with FR cotton in quantities sufficient for testing listed below and to supply to NSRDEC for testing Demonstrate the FR properties of a 50:50 NyCo fabric through Vertical Flame Testing (ASTM D6413) of the as-prepared fabric and after 50 wash cycles (AATCC Test Method 135-2014) Demonstrate tear strength and tensile strength of the Demonstrate the ability to continuously prepare FR Nylon fiber/yarn Provide a detailed cost estimate for the proposed FR fabric 

PHASE III: The initial use for this technology will be to provide soldiers with high performance, cost effective FR uniforms. FR clothing is also used in several commercial industries such as: petrochemical, electrical and gas utilities, and fire response personnel. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Villa, Kay M and Krasny, John F. Fire Safety Journal 16 (1990) 229-241, Small-scale Vertical Flammability Testing for Fabrics", http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire90/PDF/f90014.pdf

2: AATCC Test Method TM 124-1996 - Appearance of Fabrics after Repeated Home Laundering. https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/001/aatcc.tm.124.1996.pdf

3: GL-PD-07-12, REV. 8 - PURCHASE DESCRIPTION CLOTH, FLAME RESISTANT (uploaded in SITIS on 11/30/16).

KEYWORDS: Flame Retardant, Military Uniforms, Nylon 6, 6, Textiles, Fabric 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate innovative materiel solutions for Army parachutes to measure forces exerted on individual suspension and control lines during the challenging airdrop environment 

DESCRIPTION: Presently during military parachute testing, force measurements are taken with one or two load cells attached to a riser that has multiple suspension lines attached. These measurements provide valuable information about the forces exerted on the instrumented suspension line group but there is no current capability to capture the forces on control lines. The cords typically used in parachute systems include PIA-C-5040, PIA-C-2754, and PIA-C-7515. Traditional strain links and/or load cells are too large and bulky to realistically and functionally instrument an individual suspension line or control line without significantly increasing the risk of major damage during parachute deployment. Having the capability to measure force on each of the suspension lines as well as control lines will provide valuable data to support many efforts including evaluation of service life, new parachute development, and computer modeling. The purpose of this SBIR solicitation is to develop materials and methods that could be used to measure dynamic force and strain on individual parachute suspension and control lines through deployment. The challenge described here is greater than existing electro textile and sensor technologies for two main reasons (See References). First, the sensors need to be small enough to incorporate on every line without significantly increasing the bulk of the parachute system. Second, the smart lines need to be durable to withstand the high shock loads experienced during parachute opening while remaining flexible to withstand the repeated handling, packing of the parachute system. All sensors should be capable of data capture rates of at least 1000 Hz in order to accurately capture dynamic forces within the lines occurring during canopy deployment and inflation. It is desired to have a sensors solution capable of use with up to 500lb payloads but solutions for any range of payloads from 1-500lbs or a smaller subset of that range (ex 5-20lbs or 100-400lbs) would be acceptable. It is recommended that any sensors used are able to interface with a data processor or recorder that could be located at either attachment point of the line. Analog or digital (I2C, SPI, etc.) interfaces between sensors and data processor are both acceptable The data recorder could be located in the parachute canopy itself or at the payload, AGU, or pack tray depending on system. Sensors that would be able to transmit information across the suspension and control lines are desirable. Guided airdrop systems such as the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) use a steerable cargo ram air canopy and an airborne guidance unit (AGU) to guide a parachute to its target using GPS. Current research to incorporate and network sensors and actuators into the canopy fabric is ongoing. These systems have used local batteries and wireless data transmission. Incorporating the ability to transmit data and power between the AGU and an in canopy sensor network into the suspension lines is desirable to ensure reliable data transmission. It is desired that the final system shall cost no more than double that of traditional lines, however, it is dependent on the technology used. 

PHASE I: This phase will focus on determining the technical feasibility to develop materials and/or methods to measure force and strain on individual parachute suspension and control lines. Multiple methods to measure dynamic forces exerted on parachute suspension and control lines during deployment and static state should be investigated to determine suitability for use in an airdrop environment. The smart lines shall be electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielded, lightweight, flexible, and durable to withstand parachute manufacturing, packing, deployment and recovery procedures. It is anticipated the lines incorporating developed materials or sensors will have similar performance, durability and service life expectancy characteristics as current lines with the additional benefit of being able to measure force and sustain an electronic network. Benchtop proof of concept demonstrations of the smart lines should be performed in a laboratory setting. The demonstration should show the strain range and capability of the system. Concepts should be provided for the development of a prototype system useable on small and mid-scale ballistic and ram-air parachute systems. Phase I deliverables include a final report detailing all procedures employed in the research, all results of tests conducted, all potential technologies reviewed and functional material samples or small scale prototypes (if applicable) as well as a detailed description of materials, processes and associated risk for the proposed Phase II effort and a recommended path forward. 

PHASE II: During Phase II, further development of the concepts derived in Phase I should be pursued with the ultimate goal to demonstrate the smart cords on a full-scale parachute system deployed from an aircraft. Provide a detailed plan to test and validate Phase I designs. Produce 10 full-scale, prototype smart cord systems for use on either cargo or personnel parachutes in the sub-500lb. weight class. Demonstrate operation of the prototype systems in a relevant environment. This would entail releasing the system from either a fixed or rotary wing aircraft to assess airworthiness in the airdrop environment and quantify usability. Repeat testing of the prototypes will be conducted to assess the operational life of the system and validate durability in an airdrop environment. Partnerships between companies with electro textile knowledge and those with experience manufacturing and developing military parachutes is encouraged. In addition to the delivery of full-scale prototype systems, a report shall be delivered documenting the research and development supporting the effort along with a detailed description and specification of the materials, designs performance and manufacturing processes. A full drawing package including all 3D CAD models, schematics, wiring diagrams, etc. should be provided with the final report. 

PHASE III: The initial use of this technology will be to collect information about forces exerted on parachute lines during military airdrop. This information could be applicable to both military and civilian applications that utilize load-bearing textiles to determine when a particular cord, line or rope has reached the end of its usable life. Smart cords could enable longer service lives by extending the time in service of lightly used cords, lines or ropes beyond the standard service life models used presently. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Favini, E; Niemi, E; Niezrecki, C; Willis, D; Chen, J; Desabrais, K; Charette, C; Manohar, S. (2011) Sensing Performance of Electrically Conductive Fabrics and Suspension Lines. May 23, 2011; doi: 10.2514/6.2011-2512 (uploaded in SITIS on 11/30/16).

2: Military Specification, MIL-C-5040H, CORD, FIBROUS, NYLON https://www.milspecmonkey.com/materials/MIL-C-5040H(550cord).pdf

3: JPADS Ultra Light Weight-http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/media/fact/airdrop/JPADS%20ULW.pdf

KEYWORDS: Force Sensor, Strain Measurement, Parachute, Instrumentation, Airdrop, Smart Textiles, Cord, Suspension Lines, Nylon, Polyester, Spectra, Braid 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an instrumentation system to measure and record the on-board continuous strain field in a parachute canopy during inflation and once it is fully inflated 

DESCRIPTION: Traditionally, parachutes are developed through full-scale flight testing which is a time consuming and expensive process. Advanced computer models are being developed by the US Army Natick Soldier Center to simulate airdrop systems in order to provide a resource for early evaluation and initial development of airdrop systems. These computer models require validation against test data to ensure accurate prediction results from the simulation. The validation of the parachute canopy structural dynamics in the simulation would be greatly aided by detailed knowledge of the temporally evolving strain field in the canopy as the parachute inflates and once the canopy is fully inflated and falling/gliding under steady descent. In addition, guided airdrop systems rely on control systems which use the dynamic characteristics of the canopy and airborne guidance units to navigate to a predetermined ground location. Sensors provide feedback which serve as critical inputs to the control system, and as such have a direct impact on system efficiency and accuracy. If the control systems could also include information about the temporally evolving strain field in the canopy, then the ability to navigate airdrop systems would be significantly enhanced. The intent of this solicitation is for the development of an instrument or sensor system which measures the fabric strain over large portions of the canopy surface, up to and including the entire surface of the parachute canopy, either as a continuous two-dimensional field measurement or at a sufficient number of discrete points such that the single point measurements could be extrapolated to obtain an accurate representation of the continuous field. By having the capability to measure the strain over the entire surface, a complete strain field can be obtained for a thorough comparison with the numerical simulation ensuring a more complete validation of the simulation. If the strain measurement system were used in a parachute development program, then regions of high strain in the canopy could be identified allowing the parachute designer to take measures to reduce the strain in those regions thereby reducing the chance of structural failure. After a number of drops the cumulative effect of the strain data would also provide life-cycle and sustainment data to assist in the determination of future system procurement decisions. Estimates of the peak strain in a parachute range from 0.2% for a fully inflated parachute canopy while it is in steady descent to 3% during the canopy inflation process with fabric failure at approximately 25%. It is, therefore, desired to be able to measure strain over the estimated range of 0.002% to 40% to capture the entire range of strain the canopy could encounter. The strain measurement system should have a frequency response of at least 2000 Hz in order to accurately capture strain events occurring on the order 1 ms which occur during the canopy inflation. The total mean error caused by strain velocity is expected to be on the order of ± 5% in strain. The system should be able to measure the strain on parachutes ranging in size from mid-scale ballistic parachutes (3 - 20 ft in diameter) to full-scale ram-air parachutes (3400 ft2). Solutions requiring the instrumentation be mounted on the parachute payload are acceptable although it should be noted that the mid-scale parachutes typically have small payloads (as low as 3 lbs in weight). It is envisioned the small-scale ram-air parachutes will be tested by flying them via radio controlled powered methods (powered parafoil), while mid-scale ballistic parachutes may be tested indoors inside a large hangar allowing for the strain measurement instrumentation to be mounted on the ground or a scaffolding system near the parachute and communication completed via a wireless link. Additional parachute testing will be completed as deployments from an aircraft. Any solution should avoid significantly altering the material properties of the fabric although attachment of small objects or devices onto the surface of the canopy fabric would be considered. Small is defined relative to the influence the device has on the structural during deployment as well as in relation to the final deployed canopy geometry. The measurement system might be susceptible to electrostatic energy induced in the canopy fabric during inflation and descent. Therefore steps should be taken to mitigate any electrostatic discharge or EMI induced failures in the system. If the proposed solution to the topic includes sensors or arrays of sensors being attached to the canopy fabric, it is recommended the sensors operate wirelessly or contain on-board data storage eliminating the need for long lead wires to the data processor/recorder. Optical interrogation measurement methods which involve modifying the canopy surface through application of an optical pattern or fabric coatings would be considered as possible solutions provided the material properties of the fabric are not significantly altered. Should an optical interrogation method system be proposed, careful consideration should be given on how the optical systems will be positioned for full-scale parachute testing. Possible mounting positions for the optical systems include attachment to the payload, canopy, or on a chase aircraft or parachute system. To enhance the possible transition of the developed technology, final system unit cost are expected to be less than $50,000. 

PHASE I: During Phase I, a feasibility demonstration of the strain measurement system should be provided in a laboratory on various samples of parachute fabric. The demonstration should show at a minimum the: 1) measurements of strain in the range of 2%-25% and 2) frequency response capability of the system. Concepts should be provided for the development of a prototype system useable on small and mid-scale ballistic and ram-air parachute systems. Wind tunnel testing to determine the fidelity of the system to document material responses induced by relevant air flows may be appropriate. Deliverables desired include a Final Technical Report documenting the research and development supporting the effort along with a detailed description of testing apparatus and processes. In addition, an analysis, as appropriate, of the cost-to-accuracy ratio should be addressed to gauge the current state of the technology for this application and the potential transition of the technology to the airdrop application. 

PHASE II: During Phase II, a prototype system should be developed for demonstration of the system on mid-scale parachutes initially and then developed for deployment on full-scale parachute systems. The ultimate goal is to measure the strain on a full-scale parachute system deployed from an aircraft. The successful demonstration would include repeatable data collection supported by validation against wind tunnel testing or other experimental data sources. It is desired that a live demonstration from an aircraft be performed. Deliverables desired include a Final Technical Report documenting the research and development supporting the effort including specification of design performance. Also desired is one complete prototype system for use on full-scale systems. 

PHASE III: A successfully developed system would be used as a tool to acquire data for the validation of numerical computer models of parachute systems. A properly validated computer model will be used to expedite and decrease the costs associated development and improvement of parachute systems. The development of a strain measurement system is a critical tool needed to aid in the validation of these numerical parachute models. A strain measurement system capable of measuring the strain in a large flexible fabric could be applied to numerous structures and objects such as tents or clothing. The device would also make it possible to test and measure strain in other textile objects such as webbing used to secure loads on trucks or in aircraft, airbag systems, kites, or sails. Non-aerodynamics applications may include water/liquid flexible membrane/material measurements. The successful transition from SBIR research to an operationally capable system would require the refinement of the prototype systems developed during Phase II to a user-friendly, turn-key commercial instrumentation system. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Thomas W. Jones, James M. Downey, Charles B. Lunsford, Kenneth J. Desabrais, and Gregory Noetscher, Experimental Methods Using Photogrammetric Techniques for Parachute Canopy Shape Measurements, paper AIAA 2007-2550, AIAA Balloon Systems Conference, Williamsburg, VA, 21 “ 24 May, 2007 (uploaded in SITIS on 11/30/16).

2: P. M. Wagner, "Experimental measurement of parachute canopy stress during inflation", Wright -Patterson Air Force Base Technical Report No. AFFDL-TR-78-53, May 1978, Ohio 45433 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oaiverb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA058474

3: Tony J. Ragucci, Alan Cisar, Michael L. Huebschman, and Harold R. Garner, Film Strain Measurement through Hyperspectral Polarimetry, paper AIAA 2007-2619, AIAA Balloon Systems Conference, Williamsburg, VA, 21 “ 24 May, 2007 (uploaded in SITIS on 11/30/16).

4: Mattman, C., Clemens, F., and Tröster, Sensor for Measuring Strain in Textile, Sensors, 2008, ISSN 1424-8220, www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/8/6/3719/pdf

KEYWORDS: Strain, Measurement, Fabric, Parachute, Instrumentation, Airdrop, Fiber, Stress, Canopy 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a controllable 3D food printer incorporating an effective paste-delivery system with positive displacement technology (such as by pneumatic, peristaltic or progressive cavity pumps). This system must be food-grade and enable smooth printing of multicomponent consumable items, without clogging/fouling of the print head. System interface must be sufficiently user-friendly such that an untrained Soldier could operate the printer. 

DESCRIPTION: There would be a great benefit to nourishing soldiers who are in isolated small units (i.e., Forward Operating Base (FOB)) or who require specialized diets (i.e., in field hospitals) by offering sustenance that is on-demand and tailored to individual requirements and needs. An innovative solution is 3D printing, which can provide tailorable ration components that fulfill individual preferences and nutritional needs. Printable ration components, in forward operating base camps for example, can be produced by pre-provisioned ingredients that are stockpiled and ready to use. Such technology also reduces unit waste and can improve the Soldiers psychological and physical well-being and readiness, thus optimizing nutritional support for enhanced energy and cognition. Using novel printing technologies, tailored food may be targeted to fulfill specific Soldier nutritional needs and menu preferences. Such ration items furthermore would not require storage, improving logistical demands as well as providing freshly-made high quality foods for the individual/unit; improvements in quality and fulfillment of preferences would increase consumption and consumer satisfaction. 3-D printing of on-demand ration components will in turn reduce packaging, transportation, and storage costs. 

PHASE I: The goal of Phase I is to provide a feasibility demonstration of the 3D food printer and software to demonstrate the technical practicability (and user ease) of producing a formed, consumable food product. A demonstration 3D printed food prototype (i.e., such as an energy bar) is required as part of this Phase. The deliverables are thus: 1) a demonstration of the adapted food 3D printer with positive-flow delivery of at least two different product streams by separate print-heads; 2) the user-friendly interface; and 3) at least one demonstrated consumable multicomponent food product and formulation/process variables. Deliverables of this phase will include the Phase 1 report detailing the system, estimated production costs, and the written formulation(s) and process parameters for the test prototype. 

PHASE II: Expand the system to allow thermal treating of the printed products. (1) Provide for in/post-processing cooking of formed products. (2) Provide for thermal treatment of the extruded stream during processing (i.e., by a targeted laser), thus facilitating setting of the product (facilitating build-up of successive layers). (3) Using technology currently available determine maximum throughput and optimize speed of the printer. Provide at least two multicomponent consumable prototypes produced from Phase II work, to include post-extrusion processing/setting, for technical and sensory evaluation. It is envisioned this printer could be used in a Force Provider (FP) modular kitchen that is restrictive in overall space. The FP modular kitchen consists of the same building blocks which allows for configuring appliances in different variations. Printer should be ruggedized for durability, with minimized weight and footprint, capable of printing multicomponent food in short duration, and electrically compatible with mobile military field kitchen power supplies. This system should be sufficiently mature for technical and operational testing, limited field-testing, demonstration, and display. Deliverables of this phase: 1) printer with all modifications; 2) software source code; 3) least two multicomponent consumable prototypes; 4) the Phase 2 report detailing the augmented system, written operating manuals, and the written formulations and process parameters for the test prototypes. 

PHASE III: Refine 3D printing technology process and provide validation of results. Prove feasibility of technology for technology transition and commercialization through advanced testing and optimization of the process. Products and processes demonstrated under Phase I and Phase II will be used to improve comparable commercial items and may be used in more complex food systems. The development of this technology will benefit all users by reducing logistics, costs, and weight while improve the quality of rations. Further, this technology may be applicable beyond military applications to NASA, Antarctic and disaster relief sites. 

REFERENCES: 

1: De Roos, B. 2013. Personalized nutrition: ready for practice? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 72(01), 48-52. http://unfoldfab.blogspot.com/2014/12/Unfold-Viscotec-Professional-Paste-3D-Printing.html

2: Jie Sun, Zhuo Peng, Weibiao Zhou, Jerry Y.H.Fuh, Geok Soon Hong, Annette Chiu; Procedia Manufacturing, Volume XXX, 2015, pages 1-12; A Review on 3D Printing for Customized Food Fabrication; http://namrc-msec-2015.uncc.edu/sites/namrc-msec-2015.uncc.edu/files/media/NAMRC-Papers/paper_10_framed.pdf

3: Modular Appliances to Dramatically Improve Field Feeding, US Army Homepage, http://www.army.mil/article/100177/Modular_appliances_to_dramatically_improve_field_feeding/

KEYWORDS: 3D Printing, Food Printer 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop Innovative technologies and/or methodologies that optimize the range and precision of current US mortar systems focusing on propulsion energy and aerodynamics. 

DESCRIPTION: A mortar system by its very nature needs to be light weight, low cost, and maneuverable. This restricts the ability to fire at longer ranges with greater accuracy since firing range and accuracy are a function of the size and weight of the system (the bigger the system, the farther it shoots). Advanced technologies and methodologies have emerged that show promise in optimizing the launch and flight conditions of the mortar system to provide a more efficient sequence of launch and flight events (i.e. ignition of propellant, expansion of propellant gasses, travel of the mortar round up and out of the tube, ballistic flight, and terminal impact). Specifically, optimizing energies imparted on the munition within the launch tube can increase the propulsion forces to increase range. Similarly, aerodynamic and flight characteristics can be investigated and modified to increase range and precision. Major modifications to the weapon system could achieve the desired results, but that is not the intent of this topic. The objective is to investigate high payoff improvements to the current design, which will include: 1) detailed modeling of the launch and flight conditions noted above, 2) assessment of areas that can be optimized based on the models, and 3) identification and application of specific technologies or methodologies that will optimize performance. The analysis will include the expected payoff of the improvement in terms of percent range gained and decrease in dispersion expected. Since no major modifications to the weapon system are desired, it is expected that only minor changes will be required to the overall design of the mortar weapon and ammunition to accommodate these solutions, and that the weight of the system will not increase (and objectively will decrease). The final Phase II demonstration of the technology will be on the 120mm mortar to demonstrate at least a 20 percent increase in maximum range as well as a 20 percent decrease in dispersion (measured using Circular Error Probable (CEP) method). The operational environment for mortar systems is very demanding and includes the rough handling of the soldiers and extreme environmental conditions (as described in the latest version of MIL-STD-810), and high shock and pressure conditions during firing. Cost is also a key consideration, as the new technologies shall not significantly increase system cost. Detailed information regarding operational environment will be provided after award of the Phase I contract. 

PHASE I: Perform detailed scientific analyses and modeling on the launch and flight conditions, and the feasibility of one or more approaches considering the operational environment, including detailed analyses of propulsion and energy transfer, and analysis of resulting product costs. Conduct laboratory studies/experiments as needed to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed solutions with respect to the range and dispersion metrics listed above. The result of Phase I will be a report citing 1) detailed modeling of the launch and flight conditions noted above, 2) assessment of areas that can be optimized based on the models, and 3) identification and prioritization of specific technologies or methodologies that can be applied to optimize performance. 

PHASE II: Based on the results and recommendations of Phase I, produce actual models/prototypes that incorporate the selected high value solutions, and test in a simulated operational environment. Modify solutions as necessary based on test/demonstration results and retest. The final deliverable of Phase II will be prototypes with demonstrated improvements incorporated, as well as a report of the demonstration results with supporting data indicating and quantifying 1) the extended range capability as a percent increase of current maximum range, and 2) the decrease in dispersion from current CEP. The report will also include a scientific explanation of the underlying physical properties/characteristics that validate the demonstrated performance as predicted in Phase I. 

PHASE III: The resulting successful technologies will be evaluated and qualified in the end item(s) for possible implementation in current or future mortar systems. Successful technologies will be incorporated into future ongoing production of mortar weapons/ammunition as product improvements. Potential commercial applications include jet turbine engine modeling and design, as well as possible application to hybrid engine design and residential or commercial heating systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Army Field Manual 7-90, Tactical Employment of Mortars, October 9, 1992. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/7-90/

2: Mortar Increments, General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems. http://www.gd-ots.com/download/Mortar%20Increments.pdf

3: 120mm Mortar System Accuracy Analysis, Raymond Trohanowsky, US Army RDECOM-ARDEC, May 17, 2005. http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2005smallarms/tuesday/trohanowsky.pdf

4: MODELING AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF INTERIOR BALLISTIC PROCESSES IN A 120mm MORTAR SYSTEM, Ragini Acharya, 2009. https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/5428

5: Design and Wind-Tunnel Analysis of a Fully Adaptive Aircraft Configuration, D. Neal, M. Good, et al., Am. Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, vol. 1727, pp. 1 9, 2004.

6: Computation of the Circular Error Probable (CEP) and Confidence Intervals in Bombing tests, Armido DiDonato, November 2007, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a476368.pdf

KEYWORDS: Mortar, Propulsion, Aerodynamics, Aeroballistics, Pressure, Forces, Flight Dynamics, 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and/or processes that that will produce a full-up munition. 

DESCRIPTION: As AM technologies become more mature, the US Army envisions the ability to print an entire full-up munition on a single AM machine/production line. However, integrating metal/polymer components, electronics, sensors and energetics into a single AM environment is very challenging and likely beyond the scope of a typical SBIR program. Therefore the focus of this topic will be to investigate cutting edge AM technologies and processes as they relate to the needs of producing full-up munitions, and identify any required technology and/or process gaps that would be needed to complete the AM toolbox for a full-up munition. An end-to-end analysis is required, to include modeling, from material selection and qualification, definition of design parameters, printing and product qualification processes, robustness of the supply chain, and transactional issues such as data transfer. The result will be a gap analysis of the current state vs the to-be state, and proposed solutions to address the gaps. Ideally the culmination of the Phase II will be demonstration of the gap solutions on a pilot production line either at the contractors facility or elsewhere, utilizing the 40mm low velocity ammunition for demonstration purposes. Inert substitutes will be used to demonstrate printing of energetics. No energetics processing is required at the contractors or other commercial facility.  

PHASE I: Perform a detailed analysis of the end-to-end process needs of printing a full-up round. Based on that analysis, assess the feasibility of current and emerging AM technologies and processes to address those needs, and identify the gaps that would require new and specialized technology and process solutions. Further identify new and specialized technology concepts that would address the identified gaps, including an analysis and rationale of why the solutions were selected to fill those gaps. The result of Phase I will be a report citing 1) results of the end-to-end analysis of process needs, 2) assessment of current and emerging AM technologies that can apply to printing a full-up round, and 3) proposed solutions to any gaps identified between the current state and the desired state. The report will include detailed supporting data and rationale, and a proposed prioritization of gap solutions that can be addressed within the scope of the Phase II. 

PHASE II: Develop specific technology or process solutions based on the prioritized gaps identified in Phase I, and individually demonstrate the full functionality of each in a laboratory environment. Produce models and prototypes of the inert 40mm round using the newly developed technologies for evaluation, focusing on the individual processes and technologies developed. Once the developed solutions are proven out individually, integrate the individual solutions into a single lab scale AM environment, demonstrated by production of prototype inert 40 mm rounds. The result of Phase II will be demonstrated AM technologies used to produce a full-up 40mm munition, along with all required supporting documentation and analyses, including but not limited to process documentation, AM machine capabilities and limitations, material requirements. 

PHASE III: The resulting successful technologies will be demonstrated using a pilot production line and assessed for implementation in the ammunition plant. Potential commercial applications vary widely for any item that is comprised of multiple components and materials (such as mobile phones) 

REFERENCES: 

1: Additive Manufacturing Methods, Techniques, Procedures, & Applications - Enabling Technologies for Military Applications, Ralph Tillinghast, US Army RDECOM-ARDEC, April, 2015. http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2015armament/wed17417_Tillinghast.pdf

2: Additive Manufacturing Energetics and Electronics, Army ManTech Manager, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Munitions Engineering and Technology Center (METC), ATTN: RDAR-MEM-L, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-

3: Additive manufacturing: opportunities and constraints, A summary of a roundtable forum held on 23 May 2013 hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering. http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/additive-manufacturing

4: Opportunities, Challenges, and Policy Implications of Additive Manufacturing, General Accounting Office Report, GAO-15-505SP, June 2015. http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/670960.pdf

KEYWORDS: Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Munitions Manufacturing, 40mm, Production Processes, Integrated Production, Fuze Manufacturing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative industrial scale biogenic process to convert propellants and/or energetics into usable byproducts such as biofuel. 

DESCRIPTION: The US Army has a large stockpile of unused propellants and energetics that have exceeded their useful life and must be disposed of. Rather than burning and/or detonating this excess material, the US Army wishes to convert it to something that could be re-used, such as biofuel. This would have a double benefit, it would reduce emissions from burning and detonation activity, as well as create a usable product that would reduce the demand on fossil fuels. For the purposes of this SBIR, the focus will be on M6 Propellant, which has the following composition: 87% Nitrocellulose, 10% Dinitrotoluene, 3% Dibutylphthalate, and less than 1% Diphenylamine and Potassium Sulfate. 

PHASE I: Perform scientific analyses on the feasibility of one or more approaches to convert propellants and energetics into usable byproducts, documenting the results in a final report. Conduct laboratory studies/experiments as needed to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed process(es). Inert surrogates for the propellant/energetic shall be used, no live energetics shall be used in Phase I. The result of Phase I will be a report citing the results of Phase I studies with supporting data and rationale, and a recommendation on continued work in Phase II 

PHASE II: Optimize the process(es) resulting from Phase I, demonstrate the full capability of the process in a laboratory environment (either at the contractors facility or at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ), using either live or inert energetics. Scale up the process(es) to industrial level in preparation for transition and demonstrate at a pilot facility. The result of Phase II will be a scaled process that has demonstrated success in converting propellants/energetics into usable by-products, including all related production documentation and instructions. The contractor shall also ensure that the resulting process(es) comply with all national and regional laws and regulations. 

PHASE III: The process will be transitioned to a production facility to reliably convert the propellant/energetics. 

REFERENCES: 

1: "What is M6? US Environmental Protection Agency; https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-02/documents/part_2_-_facilitator_dialogue_presentation_2.12.2015.pdf

2: Material Safety Data Sheet for Explosive M6 Propellant - US Environmental Protection Agency; https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-12/documents/06-9530601.pdf

3: "Propellants “ Ammunition Pages; http://www.ammunitionpages.com/download/167/PROPELLANTS%20COMPOSITIONS.pdf

KEYWORDS: Demil, Propellant, Energetics, Biofuel, Enzymes, Bacteria, Environmental, Air Quality 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Design and demonstrate rapid and agile component development technologies for graphical reuse in modular avionics architectures, incorporating emerging standards-based avionics approaches such as ARINC 661, Future Airborne Capabilities Environment (FACE), Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Control Segment (UCS), Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA), Hardware Open Systems Technologies (HOST), Open Mission Systems (OMS), Joint Common Architecture (JCA), System of Systems Architecture (SOSA), and/or other standards for reusable avionics. 

DESCRIPTION: Reusable and modular software drive improvements in commercial software development, but in the avionics domain, particularly in defense aviation, rapid and agile software development practices, innovations in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Software Design Patterns, and improvements in software development and testing processes are limited. New research and the emergence of standards create new opportunities to innovate avionics architectures in ways to implement a highly aligned (to what?) and loosely coupled (in what way?) paradigm to achieve more modular software. Very often in avionics software, the reuse of graphical components is limited due to airworthiness restrictions; however, recent standards such as ARINC-661 and FACE have provided the possibility of safety critical graphical components (or widgets, etc.) to be provided in a reusable package then configured during integration to the specific needs of a platform. Relatively little actual demonstration of such cross vendor and cross platform reuse has occurred. This is of significant interest to the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) community of interest because it both invites participation from smaller software companies that specialize in component development and also maximizes potential reuse of PVI for training, simulation, and actual avionics across a wide variety of platforms, including unmanned ground stations. FACE Units of Portability (UoPs) and ARINC-661 must be incorporated for acceptance; use of other open standards is encouraged. 

PHASE I: Design and demonstrate innovations for the overall Mission Systems Architecture (MSA) to allow rapid integration of new capabilities through FACE UoPs and similar emerging standards. Capabilities might include primary flight display (PFD) components, radio interfaces, engine interfaces, sensor management screens, navigation, and various flight planning user interfaces. Phase I Deliverables will include software design artifacts. The sponsor can provide Real Time Operating System (RTOS) lab environment support for proof of concept on Phase I prototypes. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype architecture suitable for a proof-of-concept demonstration on avionics hardware. The proof of concept will demonstrate; hardware portability across hosts (different flight display hardware), software modularity, and a representative avionics architecture supplied by the sponsor. Phase II Deliverables will include functional software and completed designs. Capture of requirements, design, and verification results will support qualification and certification. 

PHASE III: The small business is expected to obtain funding from non-SBIR government and private sector sources to transition the technology into viable commercial products. Component toolkits and graphical widgets have broad application in the civil avionics domain, including commercial and private aircraft. The innovation of technology and processes in support of rapid fielding of avionics and improvements to the security of the aviation architecture will benefit the defense and commercial avionics industrial base, perhaps also crossing into automotive or other embedded software domains. 

REFERENCES: 

1: FACE Technical Standard, ARINC-661, ARINC-653, POSIX, DO-178, DO-326, AR 70-62, MIL-STD-882E, SAE ARP 4754, SAE ARP 4761, Risk Management Framework

KEYWORDS: FACE, IMA, JCA, HOST, OMS, SOSA, MBSE, Joint Common Architecture, Integrated Modular Avionics, Software Airworthiness, Mission Systems Architecture, Reusable Avionics Software, Model Based Systems Engineering, Avionics Software Development 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a High capacity and low mass/volume non-volatile Solid State Disk (SSD) of 100s of Terabyte Capacity in order to record high-resolution video for multiple hour-long missions. The multi Terabyte SSD will be designed to interface with Unmanned Aerial System Payloads (EO/IR/Multi Spectral) as well as Ground Control Video and Data Processing Systems. 

DESCRIPTION: There is an urgent need for significant improvement in power density management and development of new design tools that enable 5-10 times reduction in size, weight, and cost”a level unachievable with conventional manufacturing technologies. These objectives are now attainable through emerging miniaturization-manufacturing technologies that enable the integration of dense processor/memory building blocks into high performance electronic system solutions for the DOD. Advanced miniaturization technology will be rapidly inserted into UAS payloads and ground video storage systems that will increase on board and ground sensor processing and sensor storage without increasing payload size and weight, thereby enhancing the capability of space and mass-constrained platforms such as manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The integration of this miniaturized SSD will build more functionality onto a small footprint including 1) High write bandwidth of a minimum of multi GBs/sec for said SSD (up to 20 GBs/sec), 2) On board video processing capability that can stream high-resolution video (up to 4K) to the ground station in real-time, 3) Significantly reduce latency from image capture to ground station possession as well as providing the highest quality of video possible real time to enhance situational awareness while providing actionable intelligence, and 4) inserting 100s of Terabytes (even Petabytes) of data storage capacity in the same mass constrained device. 

PHASE I: Currently, there is no known sensor SSD that can meet the Army Unmanned Aviation future mission requirements to record long endurance missions. Applicants should demonstrate that they have the ability to innovate, invent, mature, modify, and miniaturize sensor electronics technology for integration with future unmanned aircraft sensors. Applications should propose an advanced sensor miniaturized electronics technology for investigation for the Phase 1 task with rational on why they believe it to be the best technology for investigation and development. Advanced miniaturized electronics technology should be capable of dramatically increasing performance (100s of Terabytes of storage) while decreasing Size, Weight, and Power over any existing storage devices now in operation. Applications should provide rationale on why they are well suited for developing the proposed sensor electronics technology. Phase 1 tasks will be to conduct technical analysis, trade studies, and development planning that provide a clear technology path for a SSD prototype development in Phase 2, with a high likelihood of success. Phase 1 should show that the SSD is technically achievable, is cross platform migratable and scalable across a wide range of the existing Groups of UAS (Groups 1-5), designed with an open architecture for rapid plug and play. The Total Ownership Cost and Technology insertion Return on Investment will be calculated over the Armys future UAS Roadmap. Phase 1 will study payloads and missions to determine the amount of Terabyte Capacity is required in order to record longer missions. 

PHASE II: Further develop the SSD mechanical and electrical demonstrator including a demonstration of the open architecture mass storage devices across multiple sensors. Verification of program applications and benefits should be analyzed and reported. Research and Design the Solid State Disk for multi Terabyte Capacity meeting Size, Weight, and Power requirements of the payload. Transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2 should be based in part on the applicants understanding of the technical challenges, the plan to manage the technical risks and a rough order of magnitude cost estimate of a commercialized end product. Phase 2 deliverables include a working prototype tested in a lab environment, ground demonstration, analysis of the technical capability, test report, a final report that documents the Phase 2 effort in detail, a plan for integration onto an unmanned aircraft as well as ground control systems and a plan for further sensor electronics maturation and development that will lead to a successful Phase 3 effort. 

PHASE III: Further development and maturation of the SSD ready for integration of the SSD onto an aircraft for a flight demonstration of the technology as well as ground demonstration into the next generation ground system. Transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3 should be based in part on the applicants understanding of the technical challenges and the plan to manage the technical risk. Phase 3 deliverables include a successful ground and airborne test, analysis of the technical capability, test report, a final report that documents the Phase 3 effort in detail, ROM cost estimate of the technology size, weight and power results. 

REFERENCES: 

1: RQ-7B Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) http://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/aviation_shadow-tuas/

2: U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Sytstem Roadmap https://fas.org/irp/program/collect/uas-army.pdf

3: Patent US 8,587,126 B2, Stacked microelectronic assembly with TSVs formed in stages with plural active chips, Tessera, Inc., Nov 19, 2013

4: Patent US 8,735,287 B2, Semiconductor packaging process using through silicon vias, Invensas, Corp, May 27, 2014

5: Richard Crisp, Manufacturing Drivers in Semiconductor Roadmaps, Proceedings from 2013 MEPTEC, Semiconductor Roadmaps

KEYWORDS: Solid State Drive, Miniaturization, Electronics, Memory And Capacity 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a low cost and low complexity RF detection mechanism coupled with low visual signature interference indicator to provide binary awareness (i.e. interference is either present or absent) of tactically relevant activity on the assigned frequency channel. The RF Interference Monitor will provide situational awareness of friendly or hostile activities in its local electromagnetic domain, and enable implementation of effective reactionary Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs). This SBIR aims to demonstrate such a device in a barrel connectorized form factor. 

DESCRIPTION: The prototype of the RF Interference Monitor connectorized barrel solution will connect between the Rifleman radio antenna port and the antenna, and will be deployable in on the order of seconds. The device will operate on any possible assigned SRW frequency channel (threshold) or over the entire SRW operating range of 225 MHz “ 2500 MHz (objective). A low visual signature interference indicator will be integrated on the device to enable detection of challenging RF interference conditions. The RF Interference Monitor will not degrade radio sensitivity nor the radio transmit power levels by more than 1 dB (objective) to 3 dB (threshold). The device will operate on miniaturized batteries (threshold) or couple off any required operating energy from the radio RF port (objective). 

PHASE I: The Phase I deliverable will be a comprehensive white paper describing: Concept of Operations (CONOPS), RF link budgets, expected in-field interference levels, derivation of reporting thresholds and the required RF Interference Monitor operating specifications; A review of system components with relevant operating specifications (RF power detectors, DC voltage readout indicators, low visual signature indicators); Circuit- to systems-level diagrams of the proposed innovative RF Interference Monitor together with simulation runs employing operationally relevant parameters to calibrate and validate the design.  

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype solution for the RF Interference Monitor that will: Demonstrate readiness to meet Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 6 designation requirements; Test and progress reports; Baseline schedule for Phase III. 

PHASE III: Develop and demonstrate a TRL 7 prototype. Phase III deliverables to include: Prototype RF Interference Monitor solution that demonstrates readiness to meet TRL 6-7. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Army Equipment Program in support of Presidents Budget 2016, p. 20, 22, March 2015. http://www.g8.army.mil/pdf/Army_Equipment_Program2016.pdf

2: Tac Radios: Multi-Service Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Tactical Radios, by Air Land Sea Application Center, p. 2, November 2013.

3: ATP6-02.53 Techniques for Tactical Radio Operations, p. 12-1 “ 12-22, January 2016. http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp6_02x53.pdf

4: Selection of RF Detectors, http://www.everythingrf.com/search/microwave-rf-detectors, June 2016.

KEYWORDS: "Electronic Support, Interference Detection, Channel Monitoring, Electronic Warfare, Tactical Radios, Communications" 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop material solution that will facilitate moving Brigade and Battalion command post RF emitters/antennas elements a sufficient distance away from the supported command post in order to increase survivability against indirect fire without significant degradation of communication systems performance. 

DESCRIPTION: The desired solution at completion with provide the commander the ability to selectively or fully remote terrestrial radio emitting elements 300 (threshold) - 500m (objective) away from the supported command post platforms. Solution should be deployable in no more than 30 minutes. Command posts typically have 4-8 SINCGARS (e.g. VRC-92, VHF 30-80 MHz) emitters; 4-6 HMS MANPACK and 2-4 MNVR radio emitters UHF 225-450 MHz and L-band 1350-1390, 1755-1850 MHz); 1 HNR C- band radios (4400-4900 MHz) and 1-2 VRC- 104v3 HF radios (1.6-60 MHz). Waveform supported include SINCGARS, HF/ALE, Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW), Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), and Highband Networking Waveform (HNW). Radios may be mounted within vehicles or dismounted within the command post. Physical and non-physical methods of interconnection are acceptable. Modularity and serviceability are key factors. It is expected that solutions will require electrical power at the remote location, however this footprint should be minimized, and solutions that can provide or reduce power consumption are desired. The resultant product of this effort would be transitioned to PM Warfighter Information network or PM Tactical Radios, or both, or the Armys future Command Post Modernization program that is in the requirements definition phase. Commercial application of this technology could include use for commercial trunk wireless systems where combining multiple RF bands is desired, such as those radio systems supporting public emergency, fire and police personnel, in both fixed and transportable environments. 

PHASE I: The Phase One deliverable will be a comprehensive white paper describing: Trade study focusing on methods of accomplishing remote radio/antenna placement for military HF, VHF, UHF, L-band, and C-band radio systems Analysis of approaches and opportunities for signal aggregation based on command post radio and platform distribution o Include an analysis of potential antenna aggregation for multiple transmitters and several receivers sharing the same antenna e.g. several devices sharing a single antenna o Include an evaluation of the potential for aggregating transceivers by band with transceivers as a service capability e.g. VHF sharing, UHF sharing, L band sharing Analysis of packaging and power approaches of the remote systems to include the size weight and power factors for installing a remote systems in a single vehicle. 

PHASE II:  Develop and demonstrate a prototype solution for command post for PM Tactical Radios fielded VHF, UHF, and L band transceivers Phase Two deliverables will include: o Prototype solution suitable for supporting a battalion operation center which has reached TRL 5 o Demonstration of the prototype with Army radio systems o Test report detailing solution performance o Product documentation detailing functions and operations of the prototype Monthly Progress reports. The reports will include all technical challenges, technical risk, and progress against the schedule. o A baseline schedule for phase III. 

PHASE III:  Develop and demonstrate a prototype solution that builds on and matures the Phase II infrastructure development, and adds support for PM Tactical Radios HF and PM WIN-Ts C-band terrestrial radio emitters at the command post. Phase Three deliverables will include: o Prototype solution suitable for supporting a battalion operation center which has reached TRL 6 o Demonstration of the prototype with Army command post radio systems o Test report detailing solution performance o Product documentation detailing functions and operations of the prototype o Productization readiness report which presents any remaining design or implementation issues with respect to suitability to deploy within the command post o Monthly Progress reports. The reports will include all technical challenges, technical risk, and progress against the schedule. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 6-02.53 TECHNIQUES FOR TACTICAL RADIO OPERATIONS JAN 2016 http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp6_02x53.pdf

2: ATP 6-02.603 TECHNIQUES FOR WARFIGHTER INFORMATION NETWORK-TACTICAL, FEB 2016 http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp6_02x60.pdf

3: ATP 3-21.21 SBCT INFANTRY BATTALION, FEB 2016 http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp3_21x21.pdf

4: ATP 3-90.5 COMBINED ARMS BATTALION, FEB 2016 http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp3_90x5.pdf

KEYWORDS: VHF Radio, UHF Radio, HF Radio, L-Band Radio, Antenna Combining, Signal Combining, Free Space Optics, Fiber Optic Cable, Digital RF, Signal Processing, WIN-T, JTRS, WNW, SRW, HNW 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The TIDAR product shall be a host based software which monitors performance behavior, calculates integrity confidence of peer actors, adjusts access/interaction permissions, restores baselines, and reports status. 

DESCRIPTION: : The tactical network shall provide a highly effective security barrier to cyber-attack and apply adaptive remedies for regaining health. It must be capable of providing protection from attacks which have never been encountered before (e.g., zero-day attacks.) The network protection should inform the user and network administrators of its potentially compromised cyber state. It should begin to avoid behavior which would increase risk to the host and to other potential victims. A host should be able to continue to operate, albeit at a reduced capability level, even in the presence of an attack. To the maximum extent possible, the system should diagnose the attack vector which compromised it, identify points of intrusion and origin, and assist in combatting the incoming attack (e.g., honeypots) through passive and active methods. The system should reduce the number of false alarms. It should protect both the control data and control processes, in addition to Mission Command application traffic. While optimized for the lightweight, tactical network, the system should be compatible with interfaces to the fixed infrastructure, enterprise networking environments. Initial applications of the system will be fielded for operations in tactical systems, for example, not limited to, Army's Warfighter Information Network “ Tactical (WIN-T), Tactical Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), Common Operating Environment (COE), Network Operation Center (NOC), Command & Control (C2) Applications, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), Emails, and Instant Messaging (IM). 

PHASE I: (a) Research and develop, as a proof of concept, a prototype TIDAR that meets the generic technical requirements outlined here making TIDAR applicable for tactical networking environments for intrusion prevention, intrusion diagnosis, and automated response; (b) Articulate how the generic TIDAR can be specifically be applicable, not limited to, Armys WIN-T, tactical Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), COE, NOC, C2 Applications, VoIP, Emails, and IM, and (c) Produce a detailed research report outlining the design and architecture of the prototype TIDAR. 

PHASE II: (a) Enhance the design and architecture of the prototype TIDAR developed in Phase I to be used for operation in Armys WIN-T, Tactical MANETs, COE, NOC, C2 Applications, VoIP, email, and IM; (b) Provide test and evaluation results demonstrating the value of the TIDAR to the target tactical platforms for detection and prevention of malware attacks, and (c) Develop a final test and evaluation report demonstrating how the TIDAR meets all technical requirements described here after being operational on the actual Army systems: WIN-T, Tactical MANETs, COE, NOC, C2 Applications, VoIP, Emails, and IM. 

PHASE III: (a) Develop the production-quality mature robust TIDAR with necessary documentation and test results to be rolled over into actual Army systems, not limited to, WIN-T, Tactical MANETs, COE, NOC, C2 Applications, VoIP, Emails, and IM, (b) Socialize the production-quality mature robust TIDAR with necessary documentation and test results to different Army Program Execution Offices (PEOs) of different Program of Records (PORs) such as Nett Warrior and others in addition to WIN-T as well as to other US defense PORs, and (c) Target the huge commercial market where the TIDAR-like tools are yet to be deployed for detection of both known and unknown malware attacks. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chun-Jen Chung, Pankaj Khatkar, Tianyi Xing, Jeongkeun Lee, Dijiang Huang, NICE: Network Intrusion Detection and Countermeasure Selection in Virtual Network Systems, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (Volume: 10, Issue: 4).

2: Sathish Kumar P. Alampalayam1, S. Srinivasan, Intrusion Recovery Framework for Tactical Mobile Ad hoc Networks, IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.9 No.9, September 2009.

3: S. Chen, J. Xu, E. C. Sezer, P. Gauriar, and R. K. Iyer. Non-Control-Data Attacks Are Realistic Threats. In Proceedings of the 14th USENIX Security Symposium. USENIX, August 2005.

4: X. Wang and X. Juan, Artificial Malware Immunization based on Dynamically Assigned Sense of Self, ISC 2010.

KEYWORDS: Zero-day, Automated Recovery, Confidence Value, Intrusion Detection, Warfighter Information Network “ Tactical (WIN-T), Tactical Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), Common Operating Environment (COE), Network Operation Center (NOC), Command & Control (C2) Applications, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), Email 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Optimize Army water management by developing a smart control algorithm system that uses water quality measurements to classify wastewater. 

DESCRIPTION: This SBIR topic will deliver technology that the Army can integrate into its future base camp concept of operations. The Army is developing mobile wastewater treatment and gray water recycling systems to provide tactical base commanders more organic logistics support. The most efficient small base would recycle or repurpose as much waste water as possible to reduce the need for potable water and reduce the need for convoys to haul water out. The proposals should identify cutting edge research that allows for effective classification of wastewater on a single control platform such as a small circuit board. The smart control algorithm would make decisions such as: 1) water is already safe for non-potable purposes per Joint Regulations (see reference), 2) water is safe for discharge per EPA guidelines (see reference), 3) water is suitable for a microbial process, 3) water can be treated by a non-reverse osmosis filtration process 3) water requires reverse osmosis filtration 4) water would damage reverse osmosis filters. The smart control system concept would be a form factor that autonomous and modular to install on already fielded military equipment without modifying the equipment at depot. This topic can be solved by innovative mathematical combination of existing equipment (such as a standard pH electrode), resolving techniques previously rejected (i.e. Raman spectroscopy), innovative exploitation of sensors from other applications (i.e. blood analysis) or innovating new sensor measurements (i.e. magnetic resonance). These examples are not suggestions. The optimal solution would require none of the following three items: 1) reagents because the system must be supportable in all environmental extremes 2) specialty consumables because must be maintainable in remote locations 3) delicate optics or electronics because the system must survive worldwide transport over rough terrain. The waste water would come from individual plumbing exiting latrine units (toilets and hand washing), laundry (clothes washing machines), shower facilities and kitchen facilities. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of algorithm using basic laboratory data and a data set comprising either 1) collected wastewater from laundry, shower, kitchen, latrine or 2) a statistically robust number of samples from wastewater treatment facility. Verify measurement accuracy by comparing the results to analysis conducted using the appropriate reference method from the current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (i.e. send samples out for individual analyses by commercial water test lab). The software does not need to be complete, but modeling indicates that an algorithm can perform process control based on sensor measurements. 

PHASE II: Design and build a prototype software algorithm on integrated circuit board with required sensors. Delivered prototype must be suitable for testing at an Army facility by technical personnel. Clear operational manuals required but not in military format. 

PHASE III: Final solution is a quick-connect autonomous inline system. The platform should be self calibrating with duration of at least one month before recalibration is needed. The most supportable design would utilize commonly available supplies and common communication protocols. The Army can integrate the technology developed under this SBIR into the mobile wastewater treatment, gray water recycling and water reuse systems being developed to answer Acquisition requirements. Additionally Army and Navy large ships can use this algorithm to optimize discharge within regulatory compliance. Industry could insert the technology developed under this SBIR in facilities to reduce water consumption and waste water discharge costs. Broader application may be for monitoring in accordance with discharge permits for industrial and municipal facilities. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Environmental Protection Agencys National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Writers Manual, available on their website HTTP://.EPA.gov/NPDES/writermanual.cfm

2: U.S. Army Public Health Commands TB MEDD 577 SANITARY CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE OF FIELD WATER SUPPLIES HTTP://phc.amedd.army.mil

3: Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, a joint publication of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). http://www.standardmethods.org/

KEYWORDS: Wastewater, Water Recycling, Water Reuse, Sensor, Control System, Gray Water, Black Water 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Under this topic, the Government invites proposals for the development and demonstration of an advanced pretreatment for greywater (shower & laundry), prior to reverse osmosis, in an expeditionary greywater reuse system. 

DESCRIPTION: The Army needs improved capability to enable sustainment independence / self-sufficiency and reduce sustainment demands at expeditionary bases. The current and future demands of highly mobile, resource-limited, Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) require advancements in technologies for wastewater treatment. The Army must continue to improve and optimize its water management to meet mission requirements. Potable water and greywater (wastewater that does not contain body or food wastes, i.e. from showers and laundries) account for a substantial percentage of the logistics support convoys in current (FOBs). Therefore, reducing water demand, by treating greywater and reclaiming potable water, is needed to reduce the number of convoys necessary to deliver potable water and remove greywater from the field. The Army would like to develop a tricon based greywater reuse system (GWRS) to meet this need. The flowrate of the system will be ~5000 GPD utilizing reverse osmosis. The system will have a recover rate of at least 80%. Proposals should identify cutting edge, simple and robust advanced pretreatment methods that can be utilized in the system described above. The pretreatment shall produce water with a 15-minute silt density index value (ASTM D4189-07) of less than 3.0 and a turbidity value less than 1.0 NTU. The proposed pretreatment shall be able to operate continuously with in process cleanings (e.g. backwashing) totaling less than 1 hour in a 24 hour operation. The pretreatment shall be able to operate for at least 1000 hours before an in depth cleaning (e.g. chemical cleaning) is required. The water produced by the GWRS (with reverse osmosis) shall meet Tri-Service Field Water Quality Standards for recycled greywater. Tri-Service Field Water Quality Standards are developed for the military by the Army, Navy (Marines) and the Air Force. These standards are included in Technical Bulletin - Medical (TB-MED) 577, Section 9.4. The water produced by the GWRS shall also meet the standards for recycling shower and laundry greywater to shower facilities in Army Force Provider transportable base camp systems. These standards are described and implemented in USACHPPM IP 31-027, Criteria for Recycle of Greywater for Shower Use. They represent guidance for any field laundry and shower recycle operations. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of the proposed technology in a laboratory setting. Verify the technology can meet the requirements while showing a pathway to meet the full scale integration into a tricon sized GWRS while producing treated water that has a 15 minute silt density index value (ASTM D4189-07) of less than 3.0 and a turbidity value of less than 1.0 NTU. Complete a conceptual design for a full scale pretreatment system prototype that, when combined with an appropriately sized RO system meets the production rate, operating times, and size. 

PHASE II: Based on the design parameters elucidated in Phase I, design, fabricate and demonstrate a full scale prototype high pressure pump/energy recovery system which can be used by various military and other defense and support organizations for military, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief operations when integrated with a RO skid. The delivered prototype should be suitable for laboratory and field demonstration but the design does not need to be ready for manufacture, nor is military standard durability required. The prototype shall, in conjunction with an appropriate sized RO system, operate at a reverse osmosis product flow rate of 30 GPH while meeting the weight, and energy metrics of a combined system. The delivered pretreatment prototype should be suitable for laboratory and field demonstration but the design does not need to be ready for manufacturing, nor is military standard durability required. The pretreatment prototype, before requiring chemical cleaning, shall be able to operate for 1000 hours at a flowrate around 4.3 GPM (5000 GPD @ 80 recovery for reverse osmosis) on a combined greywater source (1:1 ratio of shower to laundry water) to 15-minute silt density index values (ASTM D4189-07) of less than 3.0 and turbidity values less than 1.0 NTU while meeting the production rate, operating times and size metrics of a system based on the phase I conceptual design.  

PHASE III: Commercialization “ Technology developed under this SBIR could have an impact on military water purification with the intended transition path being into the planned Greywater Reuse System (GWRS) development effort. The development of this technology may also find application in the commercial water treatment industry and possibly in municipal water treatment applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

2: http://www.astm.org/Standards/D4189.htm

3: http://www.foresight.org/challenges/water001.html

KEYWORDS: Grey Water Reuse, Greywater Recycling, Gray Water Reuse, Advanced Pretreatment, Water Treatment, Reverse Osmosis, Sustainability 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Under this topic, the Government invites proposals for the development and demonstration of a light weight low flow rate energy recovery module for enabling technology for the development of a small, man portable, sea water reverse osmosis water purification system. 

DESCRIPTION: The Army currently lacks the capability to purify water at the small scale of contingency bases (<200 Soldiers), small units level (Company level and below), but still greater than individual Solider level. The smallest current Army water purification system consists of multiple pieces which weigh over 1500 pounds and requires a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) sized vehicle to transport. Current commercial off the shelf (COTS) systems which treat sea water do not produce enough water, require high power demands, and due to their high complexity require too much skilled maintenance. The Army would like to develop a small, man portable, energy efficient reverse osmosis (RO) system, but high energy requirements and low energy efficiencies are a current technological gap. In order to accomplish this goal, an energy recovery device which capture the energy lost due to the high pressure and high flow rate waste brine stream is required. Commercially available energy recovery devices do not exist in the flow ranges and low weights required. Hence, new technology is needed to develop or adapt a system to recover energy from the waste brine stream generated from high pressure RO membranes. Such devices recovery energy via mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic means for example. Proposals should identify cutting edge energy recovery technologies that can be used to recover lost energy in the brine waste stream generated from reverse osmosis elements. Proposals should address energy recovery systems or devices that are able to operate using concentrated seawater (up to 55,000 ppm salt (Sodium Chloride)), if the device has contact with the RO product water be made from NSF-61 compatible materials, can operate using feed pressures up to 1200 psig, variable feed flow rates in the range of 75 GPH to 125 GPH, with a recovery of at least 70% of the energy from the waste brine stream. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of the core energy recovery technology in a laboratory setting. Verify the high pressure energy recovery technology can be integrated in a system with a high-pressure RO pump to reduce the system energy requirement while showing a pathway to meet the full scale integrated system weight (< 80 lbs) and energy metrics (15-20 watt-hr/gallon or less). Objectives also include completion of a conceptual design for a full scale energy recovery prototype that when combined with appropriately sized RO equipment, meets the production rate, weight (RO elements + pump+ energy recovery device =<80lbs), and energy requirements listed in the description above and is suitable for use by military units across the range of small unit operations. 

PHASE II: Based on the design parameters elucidated in Phase I, design, fabricate and demonstrate a full scale prototype high pressure energy recovery system which can be used by various military and other defense and support organizations for military, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief operations when integrated with a RO skid. The delivered prototype should be suitable for laboratory and field demonstration but the design does not need to be ready for manufacture, nor is military standard durability required. The prototype shall, in conjunction with an appropriately sized RO system, operate at the minimum energy recovery rate of 70%, at or below the 15-20 watt-hr/gallon energy metric and the reverse osmosis product flow rate of 10-15 GPH. 

PHASE III: Commercialization “ Technology developed under this SBIR could have an impact on military water purification with the intended transition path being into the planned Man Portable Water Purification System development effort. The development of this technology may also find application in the commercial water treatment industry, municipal water treatment applications and potentially in the residential arena. 

REFERENCES: 

1: von Gotberg, A. Pang, and J.L. Talavera. Optimizing Water Recovery and Energy Consumption for Seawater RO Systems, GE Power and Water, Water & Process Technologies, TP1021EN, 2012.

2: Liberman, The Future of Desalination in Texas, Vol 2, Report 363, Chapter 2, The importance of energy recovery devices in reserve osmosis desalination, 2004.

3: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

4: Membrane Desalination Power Usage Put in Perspective, American Membrane Technology Association, FS-7, April, 2016

5: Seawater Desalination Power Consumption, Watereuse Association, November 2011.

KEYWORDS: Water Treatment, Energy Recovery, Reverse Osmosis (RO), Light Weight 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: To develop and demonstrate an innovative in-field repair and joining method for non-weldable aluminum alloys. 

DESCRIPTION: Army vehicles have become increasingly heavier as additional survivability measures have been added to combat the ever increasing threats being used by our adversaries. At the same time, there are increasing priorities being placed on fuel efficiency of Army vehicles. Additionally, next generation vehicles are being asked to reduce weight by as much as 40%, while improving other attributes such as payload capacity and survivability. To meet these new goals, the Army is looking to utilize aluminum alloys to deliver improved ballistic protection performance without sacrificing additional weight. Materials of interest include several 2000 & 7000 Series aluminum alloys that belong to a small group of alloys that are generally considered as being unweldable by fusion based welding processes. This processes include, but not limited to; GTAW, GMAW, laser welding and electron beam welding. These desirable aluminum alloys are susceptible to stress corrosion cracking and premature failure if joined using fusion based welding processes. Development of new welding filler / wire for GMAW may overcome these shortcomings, but it will only be suitable for that precise aluminum alloy composition. Due to this limitation, Program Offices have not adopted these materials because no joining / repair technology exists that can easily repair them in the field. The ultimately goal of this effort is to demonstrate a portable / fieldable Solid State process that is expected to join and repair a wide range of Aluminum alloys. Currently, only Friction Stir Welding (FSW), a Solid State joining process, is capable to joining non-wieldable aluminums. However, the major difficulty with FSW technology is that the stationary equipment must be large in size and tonnage to join thick gauge (1+) plates. The USN demonstrated that a portable FSW system is possible, but it was only able to join plates no thicker than (1/4) and was very cumbersome to use. This technology is expected to join and repair an aluminum plate with a minimum thickness of 1. Therefore, the Army is not interested in a portable FSW system for this effort. The Army has an urgent need to develop an in-field process and procedure to repair and join non-weldable aluminum alloy components. The new welding technology / method should permit repair of cracks, holes and fractures in these aluminum alloy components. Material prep, such as grinding or cleaning of the area is allowed, if the processes requires it. These must be done either by hand or as part of the joining / repair process. It is essential that the alloy be maintained in and around the repaired region of the part. The method must also result in material bonding between the filler and base metals with material properties equivalent to the original alloy. The new technology / method are also required for joining two non-weldable aluminum alloy components to each other. The new technology / method for welding the non-weldable aluminum alloys will ultimately have to be qualified. While qualification of the process is beyond the scope if this SBIR project, the project should be structured to identify a strategy for qualification, and should provide demonstrations that show that processing parameters can be controlled to achieve qualification. The main deliverable of this effort is a prototype manufacturing process capable of repairing and joining non-weldable aluminum alloys. 

PHASE I: In this phase, the small business assess the viability of the proposed technical approach. These studies should include discussions with TARDEC to identify specific requirements for the joining / repair process, such as the type of aluminum alloy, joints, and damages requiring repair. TARDEC shall provide example of damaged plates. Work should begin with a detailed requirements analysis and system design specification relevant to a chosen application. The design should clearly demonstrate portability, as the system is expected to be used at Forward Operating Bases (FOB). Demonstrate feasibility of the developed approach by performing limited testing and characterization of the repair and joint interface at the coupon level. Material thickness no thicker than (1/2). Deliverables shall be process development documentation in conjunction with materials property data on as repaired / joined material. 

PHASE II: In Phase II, the small business will build a robust prototype of the new joining / repair technology and explore the method for the chosen alloy(s) and intended applications. Work should begin with a detailed requirements analysis and system design specification relevant to a chosen application. The project should then proceed to acquire or build the necessary components and build the prototype new system in line with the design. Method development and weld quality should be verified through materials analysis of test coupons that confirm and improve the theoretical basis for the method. Materials tests that are appropriate for the target application should be developed and used to validate the technology. TARDEC to identify specific requirements for the joining / repair process, such as the type of aluminum alloy, joints, and damages requiring repair. Test examples will include the following: - A minimum of three Aluminum alloys will be demonstrated - Test samples showing joining a minimum of two joint configures of (1) thick aluminum plates. Three examples of each joint configuration, per each aluminum alloy. - Example repair of three damage scenarios; crack, hole and gauge. Three examples of each damage, per each aluminum alloy. Deliverables shall be process development documentation, test samples showing joining and repairing of minimum of (1) thick aluminum plates, material tests results and the prototype system developed under this effort. 

PHASE III: In the final Phase of the project, the contractor shall determine the capabilities for process control and the development of a strategy for qualification. Additionally, the contractor shall integrate and test the solution on several vehicle platform and demonstrate a path to commercialization and certification. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Cheng Liu, D.O., Northwood, S.D., (2004) Tensile fracture behavior in CO2 laser beam welds of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. Journal: Materials and Design, 25 p. 573-577.

2: Pao, P.S., Gill, S.J., Feng, C.R., & Sankaran, K.K. (2001), Corrosion“fatigue crack growth in friction stir welded Al 7050, Journal: Scripta Materialia 2001, Vol. 45, Issue 5, Pages 605-612.

3: Dickerson, P., & Irving B., (1992) Welding aluminum: Its not as difficult as it sounds, Welding Journal 1992; (April):45.

4: Li, B., & Shen, Y. (2011). The investigation of abnormal particle-coarsening phenomena in friction stir repair weld of 2219-T6 aluminum alloy, Materials & Design, 32(7), 3796-3802.

5: Fox, S. L. (2010). Refill friction stir spot weld repair of a fatigue crack (Doctoral dissertation, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology).

6: Liu, Q. C., Baburamani, P., Zhuang, W., Gerrard, D., Hinton, B., Janardhana, M., & Sharp, K. (2010). Surface modification and repair for aircraft life enhancement and structural restoration, In Materials Science Forum (Vol. 654, pp. 763-766). Trans Tech Publications.

7: Palanivel, S., Nelaturu, P., Glass, B., & Mishra, R. S. (2015). Friction stir additive manufacturing for high structural performance through microstructural control in an Mg based WE43 alloy, Materials & Design, 65, 934-952.

8: Isanaka, S. P., Karnati, S., & Liou, F. (2016). Blown powder deposition of 4047 aluminum on 2024 aluminum substrates. Manufacturing Letters, 7, 11-14.

KEYWORDS: Welding, Aluminum, Non-Weldable Aluminum, 7035, 7075, Friction Stir Welding, Additive Manufacturing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a seat cushion that will mitigate vibration transferred to the Soldier during dynamic vehicle missions and provide even pressure distribution to aid in blood flow circulation of the legs while in the seated position. Soldiers must be mission ready at all times and in good health after long hours in Military vehicles. 

DESCRIPTION: Ground vehicles transfer vibrations to the Soldiers through the seats. The extent of the vibrations depend upon the vehicle dynamics and the mounting of the seat. Current and future seating need to improve isolation of the vibration input from the seat structure to the Soldier while maintaining an even pressure distribution along the seat cushion to reduce health issues and keep the Soldier mission ready. The cushion shall be able to form to the seat pan and work with any additional padding required for maintaining even pressure distribution. The seat cushion padding shall additionally accommodate the central 90th percentile Soldier population while fully encumbered. 

PHASE I: Define and determine the technical feasibility of developing a seat cushion pad that is lightweight (Threshold: 0.5kg, Objective: 0.25kg) and can replace a current existing seat cushion or be included during a new seat design. The cushion pad or pad assembly shall be able to form to seat pan structures. The seat cushion pad assembly shall not change the H-Point of a seat. The seat cushion pad shall accommodate the central 90th percentile Soldier population while fully encumbered and shall be durable enough to handle the rugged conditions encountered by ground vehicles. Part Cost per part/assembly to the government Threshold: $100, Objective $50. 

PHASE II: Develop and test 5 prototype seat cushions using a surrogate seat to show improvement of reduced vibration transmission to the Soldier, improved even pressure distribution of the seat cushion, and improved blast mitigation when compared to the existing seat pan cushion. Based on the findings in Phase I, refine the concept, develop a detailed design, and fabricate a simple prototype system for proof of concept. Identify steps necessary for fully developing a commercially viable seat cushion pad. 

PHASE III: The Phase III product will be easily applied in an existing vehicle or as part of a new seat development. Commercialization to the M88A2 HERCULES as a potential. Potential additional military applications include, but are not limited to other up-armored Tactical Wheeled Vehicles, Light Armored Vehicles, and Combat Vehicles. The resulting product could also be used in motorcycle, farm equipment, and medical scooters. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupants (2014); Desjardins, Wilhelm, Kennedy, Williams https://www.dtic.mil/DTICOnline/home.search?tabId=allresultTab&q=ADB402909

2: Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupant (2015); Deiters https://www.dtic.mil/DTICOnline/home.search?tabId=allresultTab&q=ADB412224

3: Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupants (2010); Shulhise https://www.dtic.mil/DTICOnline/home.search?tabId=allresultTab&q=ADB364224

4: Transmission Characteristics of Suspension Seats in Multi-Axis Vibration Environments (2008); Smith, S. Smith, J. Bowden, D. https://www.dtic.mil/DTICOnline/home.search?tabId=allresultTab&q=ADA514705

KEYWORDS: Vibration, Padding, Seat, Cushion, Pressure Distribution 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Design and develop a material solution for wide-band lasers that has at least 80% transmissivity across the electromagnetic spectrum between 300nm “ 8500nm when the incident angle of light is perpendicular to the material plane. Optical coatings can be used to meet this bandwidth requirement. This material must be manufacturable enough to be grown/machined into a hemispherical dome and must be durable enough to endure dripping water as described in MIL-STD-810, Method 506.5, endure icing conditions/freezing rain as described in MIL-STD-810G, endure immersion in salt water at a depth of 1 meter for a period not greater than five (5) seconds as described in MIL-STD-810G Method 512.5, and operate in a temperature range between -54°C to +71°C. The Phase II shall conclude in a test that measures the listed specifications, and a hardware deliverable is required along with the report. 

DESCRIPTION: Transmissivity is an optical property of a material, which describes how much light is transmitted through material in relation to an amount of light incident on the material. The light that is not transmitted is either reflected or absorbed. Transmissivity depends on the wavelength of light, direction of the incident and transmitted light, polarization, type of the material (metal, plastic, etc.), chemical composition and structure of the material, and state of the material and its surface (temperature, degree of oxidation and contamination). Optical requirements for Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM) systems is now driving larger bandwidth lasers. Because there are limited material solutions that can accept this growing bandwidth, and those that can have durability issues with either temperature or water, an innovative concept along with the limited testing of materials is required to advance transmissivity. The purpose of this SBIR is to design and develop a material solution for wide-band lasers that has at least 80% transmissivity at both ends of the aforementioned desired wavelength. A material solution shall be designed, an iterative growing and fabrication process will be undertaken, and a concluding test will ultimately be conducted. 

PHASE I: Identify and conduct a trade space of existing materials and composites that can be fabricated and tested for determining a material structure best suited for high transmission across the desired wavelength range. Research and document current material designs used in optical components similar to an IRCM dome. Work with the Government for identification of parameters that are important to track and compare in a trade study (transmission, hardness, brittleness, etc.), and to determine acceptable thresholds and weighting criteria of all parameters. Conclude which existing approach has the best potential for high transmission across the desired wavelength range, and then compare that solution with industry materials currently in design and theoretical materials. This phase will determine which material design offers the highest transmission and best durability while also being practically attainable. 

PHASE II: Using the results from Phase I, perform an iterative process of growing and fabricating materials. This will include providing a detailed plan for measuring imperfections and transmission across the desired wavelength bandwidth, and performing design optimization based off of measured results. Quarterly material deliverables shall be required, and the contractor shall perform the following two quantifications on said material before delivering to the government. 1) These quarterly deliverables shall include multiple examples of the working material so that tracking can be done on the stability of the process used to make them, the homogeneity of the material supply, and performance with some statistical assurance. 2) These quarterly deliverable should include the working material as currently designed, and additional variants of composition, processing, and post-processing so that individual variables can be isolated to quantify what impacts they provide to the overall design. A test will be conducted at the end of this program, in either a laboratory environment and/or field environment, to measure the parameters called out in the Objective section of this document. This phase shall result in a detailed report of all testing results and a cost analysis that projects cost per unit of the expected product, which the government shall provide details on what the expected product is at the time of report generation. The final material deliverable will be prototype equipment used to synthesis or process the wideband material as well as five (5) domes, between 6.0-6.5 inches in diameter, made of the subject material solution that can be used to demonstrate initial integration feasibility with an IRCM Pointer-Tracker unit. 

PHASE III: The identified material solution should attain the appropriate Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) to qualify and transition to an Army Manufacturing Technology (MANTECH) program or other appropriate Research and Development (R&D) activity. MILITARY APPLICATION: This technology has applications in infrared missile countermeasures (IRCM), free-space optical communications, and light detection and ranging (LIDAR). COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Improvements in commercial optics manufacturing processes and materials would benefit both medical and environmental products. 

REFERENCES: 

1: MIL-STD-810G “ Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerations Laboratory Tests (31 Oct 2008). Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIl-STD-0800-0899/MIl-STD-810G_12306/

2: H. Mendlowitz, "Optical Transmissivity and Characteristic Energy Losses*," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50, 739-740 (1960)

3: Bayram, C., Pau, J.L., McClintock, R., & Razeghi, M. (2008)., Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics

KEYWORDS: Transmissivity, Optics, Infrared Countermeasure, IRCM 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The Army has interest in finding innovative ways to manipulate and control as much of the electromagnetic spectrum as possible. The objective of this effort is directed primarily at finding a material that absorbs radio-frequency (RF) waves while remaining transparent in the visible and at near- and mid-IR frequencies. 

DESCRIPTION: An innovative approach is sought to realize a microwave absorber fully transparent in the optical, near- and mid-IR ranges. Recent decades have seen the development of novel composite materials, including photonic band gap structures, deeply subwavelength metal gratings, metal-based nanostructures, and metasurfaces. These types of composite materials may more generally be classified as metamaterials. The properties of metamaterial range vastly, depending on specific designs. For example, at their inception, it was clear that photonic band gap structures could be used to engineer properties that ranged from complete transmission in certain wavelength band, to complete reflection in other wavelength ranges [1]. As another example, the insertion of metals in photonic band gap structures [2] made it possible to open up a single transmission window in the visible or near-IR range, while rejecting or reflecting the remaining portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (from near-IR down to static fields.) By the same token, deeply subwavelength metal gratings are able to channel the incident radiation in multiple, relatively narrow frequency ranges over a wide field of view [3], that have stimulated applications to beam steering [4]. Under certain circumstance it is desirable to engineer the metamaterial in a way that it remains transparent to visible and/or across the IR range, and that it absorb incident RF radiation thus minimizing backscattering/reflection by three orders of magnitude or more. More generally, the goal of this effort should be directed at understanding electromagnetic wave-matter interactions more broadly, in the presence of either simple or complex metal components; epsilon-near-zero materials; graphene; or other pure materials chemically doped, or hybrid composite structure that may support surface plasmon propagation, the enhancement of the local field, and ultimately influence the optical basic properties like transmission, reflection, and absorption across the electromagnetic spectrum. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study of either a pure material appropriately doped or a composite structure that is able to absorb microwaves and yet remain transparent to visible and possibly near- and mid-IR incident light. The approach may include metals, pure or doped semiconductors, dielectrics, as well as novel materials like graphene. The primary product of this phase of the solicitation is a of proof-of-principle device that is transparent in the visible, near- and mid-IR, and absorbs incident microwave radiation. Total microwave transmittance should be at most 1%. Reflections are undesirable but may be tolerated. Visible transparency is expected to be above 80%, while it may be somewhat reduced compared to that in the IR range. Reduced microwave transmission over a narrow range may be desirable under certain conditions, while more bandwidth may be required depending on the application. A proof-of-principle demonstration calls for no particular requirement for material properties, for instance, hardness. However, during an eventual phase II stage it may be beneficial to demonstrate that a sample may be environmentally stable in terms of strength and temperature variations, or other harsh settings, for example. 

PHASE II: Finalize the device and material parameters from the Phase I. Conduct basic experimental observation of the expected performance of the transparent microwave absorber; optimize against environmental conditions, such as chemical and mechanical stresses and temperature. Design and fabricate a prototype consisting of several small and large area unit cells. 

PHASE III: The ability to fabricate optically transparent microwave absorber that could lead to a significant shift in the management of both optical and RF radiation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: E. Yablonovitch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2059 (1987); S. John, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2486 (1987).

2: M. Scalora, M.J. Bloemer, A. Manka, J. Dowling, S.D. Pethel, and C.M. Bowden, J. of Appl. Phys. 83, 1 (1998); M.J. Bloemer and M. Scalora, Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 1676 (1998).

3: A. Alu, G. DAguanno, N. Mattiucci, M.J. Bloemer, Physical Review Letters 106 (12), 123902

4: D. de Ceglia, M.A. Vincenti, M. Scalora, Optic. Lett. 37, 271 (2012).

KEYWORDS: Metal Optics, Metasurfaces, Metamaterials, Absorption 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Missile seeker dome design is generally a trade-off between minimizing drag for aerodynamics and maximizing seeker sensor performance. Designing for minimal drag creates challenges for visible and infrared imaging seekers due to the optical distortion created by the shape of the dome. The objective of this effort is to develop an optical device to correct for the distortions created by a non-hemispherical dome throughout the full field of regard of the sensor. 

DESCRIPTION: Some missile seeker domes are optimized for aerodynamic effects and not for optimal optical performance. Existing commercial optics cannot meet the adaptive requirements needed to correct the optical distortions created by the aerodynamic dome shapes and materials. This effort seeks to develop a component that can be integrated into the missile seeker and provide full imaging performance over the entire Field-Of-View (FOV) regardless of the angle relative to the dome surface, allowing improved kinematic performance of the missile without sacrificing performance of the sensors. The goal is to develop an adaptive optical corrector that fits into a volume of 2 cubic inches or less. The device should operate in wavelengths from the visible through long wave infrared. Fixed correctors cannot correct over the full field of view and suffer from chromatic limitations. The device should provide full aperture diffraction limit performance. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study for an optical correction device for a seeker that can be integrated with existing seeker designs. The study should provide seeker design configuration along with performance predictions for air-to-ground munition environments. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options and recommend the option that best achieves the objective. The Phase I effort should use scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes are not required to be developed during Phase I feasibility studies. 

PHASE II: Using the technology approach developed in Phase I, fabricate and demonstrate a prototype to prove the concept of an adaptive optical corrector. Fully address integration and performance in a tactical vibration environment for current and future air-to-ground munitions. Given a viable technical approach and performance, sufficient information to refine estimated development, test and production costs should be included with technical concept data. 

PHASE III: Based on results from Phase II, transition the Phase II product into a prototype seeker for an air-to-ground munition for detailed environmental testing, hardware-in-the-loop integration and testing, and captive flight testing. Prepare sufficient data products to support integration into air-to-ground missiles and munitions such as Joint Air-Ground Missile (JAGM). Other applications include airborne imaging sensors such as those carried by unmanned airborne systems or small form factor munitions. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Research strategy for the electro-optics sensors domain of the Materials and Components for Missile Innovative Technology Partnership, Mark Bray; Isabella Panella Proc. SPIE. 7668, Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems and Applications VII, 76680W. (April 23, 2010) doi: 10.1117/12.849525

2: Nanhu Chen, Benjamin Potsaid, John T. Wen, Scott Barry, Alex Cable Modeling and Control of a Fast Steering Mirror in Imaging Applications, 6th annual IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, August 21-24, 2010

KEYWORDS: Adaptive Optics, Optical Modulation, Optical Image Correctors 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a cluster payload which can be launched and deployed from a GMLRS or ATACMS platform. The payload shall consist of multiple deployable smart quad-copters capable of delivering small explosively formed penetrators (EFP) to designated targets. 

DESCRIPTION: The US Army has a desire for a missile launched payload consisting of multiple quad-copters. The missile will release the quad-copter payload during flight, after which the quad-copters must decelerate to a velocity suitable for deployment (unfolding), identify potential targets, maneuver to and land on the target, and detonate onboard EFP munition(s). Potential targets include tank and large caliber gun barrels, fuel storage barrels, vehicle roofs, and ammunition storage sites. The ultimate goal is to produce a missile deployable, long range UAS swarm that can deliver small EFPs to a variety of targets. This will serve as a smart augmentation to the standard missile warhead. What is solicited is a GMLRS or ATACMS launched payload consisting of multiple quad-copters carrying EFP munitions. Quad-copters should carry onboard power sufficient to conduct mission. Quad-copters should be able to withstand missile launch environments (acceleration, shock and vibration spectra) and thermal loads at deployment. 

PHASE I: Conduct design trade study of quad-copter concepts capable of meeting performance metrics stated in the above description. Perform concept down-selection to a design for Phase II prototype demonstration. Results from the design study will be documented for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Expand on Phase I results by maturing selected design to an adequate level for build, testing, and proof-of-concept demonstration. Perform necessary performance characterization and testing (i.e. shock and vibration, electrical power supply sizing, etc.). Acceptable Phase II demonstration should include quad-copter deployment (unfolding), powered flight, acquisition of a representative target, and automated navigation to and landing on target. Additionally, demonstrate quad-copter detonation of the EFP munition (this can be independent of powered flight demonstration for ease of testing and any regulatory restrictions). 

PHASE III: There are many military uses for the desired system. While the baseline use is inherently military in nature, other payloads could be used for remote sensing into dangerous/hazardous areas. Portions of this SBIR developed technology should be considered for commercial applications where appropriate. If successful, the most immediate transition path is transition to PEO M&S for use in a variety of missile systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1: http://www.astronautix.com/a/atacms.html

2: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/mfc/pc/guided-unitary-mlrs-rocket/mfc-gu-mlrs-rocket-pc.pdf

3: http://www.teledynerisi.com/products/0products_3sc_index.asp

KEYWORDS: Drone, Unmanned, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), Quad-copter, Swarm, Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate for the first time a low power, low latency, and high bandwidth WiGig (60 Ghz band) wireless data link to support intra-Soldier transmission of high definition sensor imagery. 

DESCRIPTION: The objective of this SBIR is to adapt a commercial based 60 GHz wireless technology to a Soldier Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) capability, providing reliable and robust communications between Soldier-borne electro optic (EO) devices and sensors within a hostile military electro-magnetic environment. Future soldier borne sensors and devices will be limited by the use of current Army intra-Soldier wireless technologies, such as Ultra Wide Band (UWB) communications are limited in being able to support transmission of full frame rate, high definition sensor imagery without significant image compression which can introduce image artifacts and latency. In the commercial/consumer market WiGig-based radios have demonstrated suitable bandwidth, power consumption, and latency for dismounted Soldier applications, however they are not optimized for Soldier-borne equipment deployed in a tactical environment. This SBIR effort will be the first effort to leverage this important nascent technology and is seeking innovative solutions to implement the WiGig technology towards addressing and solving critical battlefield spectrum deficiencies associated with Soldier mounted sensors and devices. Among the applications that he 60 GHz wireless technology will benefit are communications between weapon-mounted and helmet-mounted electro-optical (EO) sensors, communications between electro-optic sensors and the Soldiers End User Device (EUD), and communications between among multiple medical sensors associated with the Integrated Soldier Sensor Systems (ISSS). Efforts under this SBIR will focus on novel solutions to adapt commercial 60 GHz transceiver chipsets and their Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) lower level layers to be used in communicating between and among soldier borne sensors and devices. These efforts ultimately will result with the delivery of very small-foot-print transceiver modules appropriate for use with existing Government provided Soldier borne sensors (TBD) with an objective of supporting multiple type of high speed serial and/or parallel interfaces. 

PHASE I: The Phase I effort will consist of trade studies and a breadboard transceiver pair suitable for use in a laboratory environment. The studies will investigate feasibility of modifications and adaptation of commercial WiGig chipsets, antennas, and associated antenna beam forming techniques to support dismounted Soldier sensor applications. The studies will produce updates and required military modifications to the commercial WiGig standard, chipsets and antennas. This Phase 1 effort will support integration with dismounted Soldier sensor systems and EUDs to enable low power, low latency, and high bandwidth wireless data transmission in a tactical environment. The Phase I effort will also address the following key enablers: 1) Identify hardware and software modifications necessary to achieve spectrum supportability in accordance with Army Regulation 5-12 (AR 5-12); 2) Radio immunity to blue force and adversaries communication systems; 3) Implementation of intra-soldier network formation techniques for non-line-of-sight wireless links to support a host of emerging soldier-borne electronic devices such as Family of Weapon Sight-Individual (FWS-I), Family of Weapon Sight-Crew Serve (FWS-CS), Family of Weapon Sight-Sniper (FWS-S), NETT Warrior EUD, Laser Range Finders, Joint Effects Targeting System (JETS), and ISSS; 4) Secured WiGig wireless communications to support transmission of secret and below data. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will demonstrate, for the first time, a 60GHz wireless link and interface between a high definition weapon-mounted sensor and head mounted remote display or NETT Warrior EUD. The demonstration hardware will include all modifications and adaptations identified in Phase I to implement a low power consumption (<400mw), low latency (<5ms), and high bandwidth wireless data transmission capability (>1Gbps) that is optimized for use in a tactical military environment. The hardware will be configured to optimize performance over the full range of weapon and head orientations. Prototype hardware will be designed to support a foot print of 15mm X 15mm transceiver module and a production cost goals of <$50 per chipset. 

PHASE III: This technology supports a high bandwidth, low latency wireless data link between a weapon-mounted thermal sight and helmet mounted display. The Phase III effort will transition this technology to soldier systems employing Rapid Target Acquisition (RTA) such as those used in the Family of Weapon Sights Individual (FWS-I) and Crew Served (FWS-CS) variants. This capability will also support intra-Soldier networking of multiple Soldier-borne devices such as the End User Device (EUD), Laser Range Finders (LRFs), health monitoring sensors and displays such as ISSS sensors. The most likely transition path to operational capability is through the FWS-I and FWS-CS programs of record (PORs). This capability also has the potential for insertion into the Program Executive Office, Soldier (PEO Soldier) Intra Soldier Wireless (ISW) program which currently is addressing wireless communications standards and architectures for use with a host of current and emerging soldier-borne sensors. WiGig is commercial technology that could potentially be inserted into defense systems as a result of this SBIR project. Commercial applications of the WiGig technology include personal area wireless networks for first responders, low interference wireless communications for medical applications in hospital and triage environments, and high speed file transfer for data server back-up. 

REFERENCES: 

1: WiGig and the future of seamless connectivity Wifi Alliance. September 2013. Web. 14 March 2016 http://www.wifi.org/download.php?file=/sites/default/files/private/WiGig_White_Paper_20130909.pdf

2: Vergun, David. New Night Vision Gear Allows Soldiers to Accurately Shoot from Hip The Official Homepage of The United States Army. 22 July 2015. Web. 14 March 2016. http://www.army.mil/article/152691/New_night_vision_gear_allows_Soldiers_to_accurately_shoot_from_hip/

3: Moorhead, Patrick. Intel and Qualcomm Partner (Yes, Really) to Move WiGig 60 GHz 802.11AD Wi-Fi Forward Forbes. 03 February 2016. Web. 14 March 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2016/02/03/intel-and-qualcomm-partner-yes-really-to-move-wigig-60-ghz-802-11ad-wi-fi-forward/#f960bbb13c4e

KEYWORDS: WiGig, Wireless, Sensor, Thermal, Display, 60 GHz, Radios, Antennas 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The Offeror shall define, develop, and demonstrate a system/device that provides wireless commercial throughput rates, resistance to system and/or artificial interference, and a low probability of interception and detection in an operational environment. 

DESCRIPTION: Problem Statement: Tactical Radios are the main digital communication devices used on the battlefield today, however operational and generating forces have adopted the use of commercial end-user devices known as smartphones. These smartphones are high processing computational platforms capable of supporting highly complex applications and support high bandwidth networks. These smartphones use tactical radio networks which limit the ability to realize much higher throughput rates and usage, hence limiting expanded capabilities and functionality for Soldiers. In order to address this capability gap, a system/device is required to be developed that incorporates the following Key Performance Parameters with commercial standards such as Wi-Fi or LTE: a) Demonstrate LPI/LPD (Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection) b) Demonstrate Jam-Resistance c) Implements Frequency Agility d) Provide Multipath Resistance e) Operate in a Degraded Mode (For Use if the Offeror chooses to use Wi-Fi or LTE for design implementation) f) Maximize Spectral Efficiency g) Demonstrate Physical Layer Security h) Implements Wireless Routing Protocol(s) System Description: The system/device shall support transmission and reception of control and monitoring command data for Soldiers aerial and terrestrial assets such as UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), Ground-based Robotics, and Sensor Devices through network communications. The system/devices shall support transmission and reception of voice and C2 (Command and Control) data through network communications. The system/device shall support transmission and reception of BAN (Body-Area Network) devices worn by a Soldier, such as physiological or health monitors worn by Soldiers. The system/device size shall not be larger than 6 in x 3.2 in. The system/device shall use USB 2.0 or greater for physical connectivity and communication with smartphone. The system/device weight shall not exceed 0.5 lbs. The system/device shall have a software interface to control and provision wireless device communications. The system/device shall be capable of supporting throughput network speeds up to 6 Mbps at distances up to 1KM using commercial communications standards, such as Wi-Fi or LTE. The system/device shall not exceed $500. 

PHASE I: The Offeror shall prepare and deliver a feasibility study that contains a proposed design concept and implementation of a cognitive heterogeneous adaptive operational system based on system description and key performance parameters discussed and outlined in section 7. The proposed design concept and implementation shall be substantiated through modeling/simulation and/or other analytic means. When presenting modeling/simulation and/or analytic outcomes in the feasibility study, the offer shall include assumptions, caveats, and test data used substantiate the feasibility studys conclusion(s). 

PHASE II: The Offeror shall provide operational prototypes and demonstrate in a series of network tests. The network tests shall consist of the following: a) 8-10 node network communications voice and data test. Voice quality and data throughput rates will be scrutinized. b) Verification and Validation of Key Performance Parameters listed in section 7 c) Demonstrate control and operation of remote network devices (off-the-shelf remote devices can be used as surrogates for Army remotely-controlled devices) 

PHASE III: The Offeror shall demonstrate the Cognitive Heterogeneous Adaptive Operational System with a limited number of nodes to process voice calls with an acceptable voice quality level and C2 data traffic, support a network of wireless devices in a BAN scenario, and control Robotic and UAV assets. In order to demonstrate the Cognitive Heterogeneous Adaptive Operational System, the Government shall provide GFE such as Robotics and UAV assets. In order to demonstrate voice/data and BAN capability, the Offeror must integrate COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) software/hardware for verification and validation of proof-of-concept. In terms of commercialization, the communications technology developed through this SBIR can be readily used in the IoT (Internet of Things) commercial marketspace. Several areas of the IoT include sensor networking and management, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) data off-loading for LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks, Development of Smart Home and Businesses, Smart Grid Communication Implementation, etc. 

REFERENCES: 

1: G. Kolumba´n, T. Kre´besz, and F. C. M. Lau. Theory and application of software defined electronics: Design concepts for the next generation of telecommunications and measurement systems. IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine, 12(2):8“34, Second Quarter 2012

2: M.K. Simon, Spread Spectrum Communication Handbook, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994

3: Elizabeth M. Royer, Chai-Keong Toh, A Review of Current Routing Protocols for Ad Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks", IEEE Personal Communications, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 46-55, April 1999

4: R. van Nee and R. Prasad. OFDM for Wireless Multimedia Communications. Artech House Publishers, Boston, 2000

KEYWORDS: LPI/LPD, Physical Layer Security, Spread Spectrum, Frequency Agility, Multipath Resistance, Jam Resistance, Low Signal Interference 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To provide each squad with the technology required to detect and disrupt/destroy UAS threats, attacks, and maneuvers. This SBIR will investigate and validate novel concepts, methods, and technology to establish overmatch against this emerging threat before the gap is realized. This effort has not been explored before at the squad and platoon level threat. 

DESCRIPTION: The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) threat is becoming increasingly prolific and threatens current tactical operations at the squad and platoon levels. Protecting the tactical force by disruptive technologies to detect and counter the UAS threat is the topic of this new SBIR endeavor. Current Army tactics are ineffective against individual and swarms of UASs, while other programs target vehicle-based solutions where size, weight, and power are less of a concern. This SBIR will be the first effort to leverage this technology to address this critical capability gap in a man-portable form factor at the squad and platoon level. New paradigms in technologies will need to be direct and efficient in their neutralization capabilities while at the same time optimizing SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost). Currently, small UASs are largely used for surveillance and reconnaissance, but as technology evolves, their capability in terms of stealth, payload capacity, and stand-off range will become a game changer on the battlefield. However, as the UAS threat becomes more prolific, this technology may be available at the individual soldier level. By initiating this SBIR now, technology can be matured to an acceptable level where cost will be drastically reduced and therefore be available before the capability gap is realized. 

PHASE I: The Phase I effort will consist of concepts for both detection and countering the threat. It will include four trade studies that ascertain the lowest risk, near term solution for current fights, as well as transitional technologies to augment future capabilities/programs that are currently in development. The first trade study will develop an acceptability metric based on technical merit, human factors, and program risk at a man-portable level. When all three are demeaned acceptable, projected SWaP-C will be utilized to begin the next trade study. The second trade study will cross-reference all baseline PEO SSL (Program Executive Office “ Soldier Sensors and Lasers) programs for insertion as well as NVESD (Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate) appropriate technology areas for future insertions/modifications. Once a host program/technology is identified, a third trade study will be conducted to deduce the degree of intrusion and modification to the host for productionization. Lastly, a fourth trade study will be conducted to propose specific courses of action in support of Phase II efforts, along with an updated SWaP-C projection. The product(s) that will be selected to enter phase II will have established a cost, schedule, and performance baseline at the conclusion of phase I. The overall results of the trade studies will create a foundation for which to define the next generation of revolutionary counter-UAS devices at a man-portable level. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will be a breadboard demonstrator. The demonstration hardware will include all modifications and augmentations identified in Phase I to implement a safe and effective capability that is optimized for use in a tactical military environment. The phase will culminate with hardware being demonstrated real-time against UAS systems along with the identified host system at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5/6. Phase II will culminate with an updated cost, schedule, and performance baseline as a subcomponent to the host system of phase III. The end product should be projected to be <100 in3, <3 lbs, <$15k, and will be able to be used with batteries. 

PHASE III: The focus of this phase is to retrofit the identified technology/program from Phase I with an updated version of the hardware from Phase II. The updates made will further optimize SWaP-C while transitioning the technology to PM SSL. The technology, coupled with threat detection and identification systems, will enable soldiers to not only acquire threat UASs, but neutralize them as well. The resultant capability has the potential for insertion into the Program Executive Office, Soldiers (PEO Soldier) Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR) and Joint Effects Targeting System (JETS) programs of record (PORs), which already address dismounted target identification at extended ranges. This will be the first effort to put counter-UAS capability in the hands of soldier at the squad and platoon levels. The resultant technology could potentially be utilized by police forces to neutralize/deter restricted air space defiance as well. 

REFERENCES: 

1: USAF (2013). Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Service Demand 2015-2035. http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48200/48226/UAS_Service_Demand.pdf

2: Neuenswander, Colonel D. Matthew (2012). Wargaming the Enemy Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Threat*. http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/apjinternational/apj-s/2013/2013-1/2013_1_07_neuenswander_s_eng.pdf

3: Gebre-Egziabher, D. (2011). Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Concept of Operations in its Applications. http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=2014

4: McCaney, K. (2015). Army Steps up Search for Anti-drone Technology. Defense Systems. http://defensesystems.com/articles/2014/02/26/army-counter-uav-technology.aspx

KEYWORDS: UAS, Disruptive, Neutralize, Counter, Detection, Squad, Platoon 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to develop innovative methods and software tools to provide a services based approach for an intelligent tutoring capability as a capability in a service oriented architecture. This functionality must provide tutoring as a reusable service that can be used by a variety of capabilities and devices. 

DESCRIPTION: There is an emerging trend to develop modeling and simulation enterprises that use a service oriented architecture (SOA) as its basis. The promise is that an enterprise can use SOA concepts to provide reusable services that can be composed as they are needed. Research is being conducted to provide common components in SOA environments that can be easily used. Concurrently, there is a focus on the development of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) to augment training and provide adaptive learning possibilities. ITS is forecasted to be a significant capability for future systems in order to provide tailored training and to provide professional training level experiences at the point of need. What is needed is an approach that provides an adaptable ITS service in a SOA environment that can be reused by modeling and simulation capabilities rendered in a SOA enterprise. This topic seeks to provide a novel concept for the development of a tutoring system as a service in a SOA system. This effort must conduct an analysis to define approaches to provide a services based approach for intelligent tutoring and training. This effort must define an approach that supports an adaptive approach to assist/replace professional trainers. Potential use cases range from individual tutoring to a capability to provide assessment of performance for team training. The system should incorporate adaptive learning concepts to tailor training support based on the proficiency level of individuals or teams. 

PHASE I: Conduct an analysis to define an approach for implementation of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) as a service in a SOA environment. Define an approach for the analysis of training data for the ITS as well as an approach for the representation of the training strategy. Provide a proof of concept analysis on the application of this approach for both individual and team training assessment and feedback. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype services oriented ITS capability that targets either an individual or team training environment. The prototype should demonstrate mechanisms for interaction with ITS as an enterprise framework provided service. The prototype should also provide an approach for providing assessment engines and specifying data to measure /provide. The prototype should provide an approach for the representation of domain knowledge and a training strategy. The services based ITS prototype should assess the target systems proficiency while using the training capability without tight coupling. 

PHASE III: In addition to potential Army and DoD customers the use of ITS by other governmental agencies is a rich market area. Law enforcement, disaster preparedness and response are just two such areas. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Dumanoir, P et. al. The Live-Synthetic Training, Test and Evaluation Enterprise Architecture 2015 I/ITSEC

2: rippin, B. et. al. Live Synthetic Training and Test & Evaluation Infrastructure Architecture (LSTTE IA) Prototype, 2015 I/ITSEC

3: Sottilare, R. et. al., Antecedents of Adaptive Collaborative Learning Environments, 2015 IITSEC

4: Sottilare, R., Roessingh, J., Chapter 6 “ The Application Of Intelligent Agents In Embedded Virtual Simulations (EVS), STO-TR-HFM-165, NATO Science and Technology Organization, 2014

KEYWORDS: ITS, SOA, Adaptive Learning, Intelligent Tutoring 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a Human Type Target (HTT) that increases realism (realistic portrayal of threat, threat escalation, and threat reduction), durability and usability in the Urban Operations (UO) Training environment. An HTT is a stationary, physical, three dimensional, full body target designed to realistically portray a human being. 

DESCRIPTION: The HTT would be used in an urban training environment (Shoot Houses, Combined Arms Tactical Training Facilities (CACTFs), etc.). Currently, when current human-type targets need to be reset, a person has to go to the target and physically stand it up. Also, most human-type targets are currently one piece and unrealistically fall straight down when they are killed. The target must be capable the following movements: head, arm, hand (grasping) and hip (to allow the target to turn to face the action) articulation raise from a sitting position to a standing position replicate a couched position with full or partial exposure actuation collapsing (bend at waist, knees, etc.) in a realistic manner stand up (reset) automatically The target must incorporate programmable hits to kill, hit detection capabilities, and hit zone definition. The HTT should utilize common off the shelf elements in order to reduce cost and increase availability. The HTT must be capable of integrating into an existing UO training network or operate in stand-alone mode. The HTT will be used in a live fire environment and must detect and be durable enough to sustain hits from 5.56mm Ball, Special Effects Small Arms Marking System (SESAM), and Short Range Training Ammunition (SRTA). The HTT must be capable of surviving live fire environments and be constructed from non-ricocheting, non-fragmenting and repairable materials. The HTT may utilize a product line ideology, where multiple configurations would be available, depending on the use-case. In addition, the HTT should be capable of the following: Ability to be scenario driven Provide two-way audio communication Ability to add (as a separate device) and implement Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) hit sensing Ability to add (as a separate device) and implement MILES shoot back MILES shoot back should be able to be aim-able towards the action (head or hand) Realistic threat awareness (capable of portraying different genders, races, nationalities, ages, friend or foe etc.) Different reactions based on the actions of the soldiers Different reactions based on the actions of nearby HTTs Incorporate the Non-Contact Hit Sensor (NCHS) technology Compliant in accordance with the Future Army System of Integrated Targets (FASIT) Performance Specification Support evacuation of mannequin from area (O) Support basic Combat Life Saver (CLS) actions (O) Provide a nasal passageway in the mannequin for the purpose of medical treatment (O) 

PHASE I: Study, research, and develop an architectural framework solution. Synchronization of work being completed by RDECOM, PM ITTS, TACOM, PEO STRI and academia will be required. Determine feasibility of and conduct trade-off study (realism versus durability versus survivability) for material of target mannequin as well as falling and stand-up solutions. 

PHASE II: At the conclusion of Phase II, the system shall demonstrate: 1. realism/reset - be able to collapse in a realistic manner and able to be reset (stood back up) automatically 2. accuracy - capable of making shot detection accurate within one centimeter 3. hit detection capable of dividing mannequin into lethal and non-lethal zones 4. durability - capable of withstanding live-fire environment. At a minimum, the demonstration will be at a TRL 6. 

PHASE III: Military application: Transition technology to the Army Program called Future Army System of Integrated Targets (FASIT). Commercial applications include game play applications and law enforcement applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Adapting Immersive Training Environments to Develop Squad Resilience Skills; Johnston, Joan; Napier, Samantha; Ross, William

2: CEHNC 1110-1-23 - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Design Guide for the Sustainable Range Program

3: Field Manual (FM) 3-06, Urban Operations

4: PRF-PT-00468 Performance Specification for the Future Army System of Integrated Targets (FASIT)

5: Training Circular (TC) 25-8, Training Ranges

KEYWORDS: Human Type Target; Non-contact Hit Sensor; FASIT 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Provide network-enabled casualty treatment device simulators for first-aid / buddy-aid during live training exercises. 

DESCRIPTION: The Armys goal has always been to train as they fight. An unfortunate but unavoidable part of battle is injury “ the military must prepare for wounds and afflictions of all sizes and severities. The Armys Live Training Engagement Composition (LTEC) provides a common software core for future tactical engagement simulation systems (TESS) for simulating force-on-force engagement in a live training exercise. LTECs open architecture allows TESSs to connect to the training network via a standardized interface and communicate with other devices. Realistic network-enabled casualty treatment training devices would benefit the Army in two respects: first, theyd better prepare soldiers by providing a more authentic experience while treating injured peers in a stressful battlefield environment “ soldiers who are better-adjusted during these situations stand a much better chance of saving lives. Second, the sophistication of these devices could provide leadership with metrics to determine the effectiveness of medical training methods. 

PHASE I: The expected goal of a Phase I SBIR conducted under this effort is to: Identify suitable soldier-level treatment tools to emulate Design an LTEC-enabled training device physically similar in weight & dimensions to the treatment tool Develop standard operating procedures for the device based on medical training doctrine 

PHASE II: After the scientific & technical merit of such a device is measured and approved, efforts during Phase II should include the development of prototypes of the devices designed in Phase I. Connectivity of such devices to an LTEC-enabled training network should be successful, as should the completion of simulated medical tasks according to Army medical training doctrine. 

PHASE III: In addition to potential Army and DoD customers the use of ITS by other governmental agencies is a rich market area. Law enforcement, disaster preparedness and response are just two such areas. Phase III (commercialization) efforts will be focused on driving down unit costs and implementing features useful for training first responders. 

REFERENCES: 

http://www.ems1.com/careers/articles/1178735-The-difference-between-medic-and-army-medic-training/

http://www.businessinsider.com/military-medic-gear-2014-6

KEYWORDS: Casualty, Training, Network-Enabled, Injury, Simulation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop advanced image processing algorithms for the detection and tracking of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Mortars in low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and cluttered environments. 

DESCRIPTION: Many military weapon systems rely on passive thermal infrared sensors (MWIR/LWIR) for target detection and tracking. In many cases, the maximum detection range of these sensors are limited by the ability of the image processing algorithms to detect and extract a target of interest. Dim targets such as small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and mortars are extremely difficult to detect and track due to the low contrast in the thermal imagery, or low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). High clutter environments such as cloud or tree backgrounds also increase the difficulty in target detection and tracking. The challenge is to develop advanced image processing algorithms that can increase the maximum detection and tracking range against UAVs and mortars. The specific challenges to be addressed include: Target Detection/Tracking at SNRs less than 3dB Target Detection/Tracking in Cloud and Tree Backgrounds Unresolved Target Detection/Tracking (target size less than 1 pixel) Targets to be used in the analysis include the DJI Phantom and a 60mm mortar. The proposed algorithms must be able to process imagery in near real-time to be applied to military applications (Threshold: 300Hz bandwidth, Objective: 1kHz bandwidth). The algorithms must be written so that multiple targets (Threshold: 1 target, Objective: 10 targets) can be detected and tracked at a time. If successful, advanced algorithms for target detection and tracking will benefit many military applications. The specific platform of interest for this topic is a ground-based High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system. Typical HEL acquisition sensors employ a passive MWIR camera with a wide-field of view (3 degrees). The objective camera and lens for this topic is not specified. The offeror must include a demonstration system (camera, lens, etc.) for algorithm performance demonstration during Phase II. The proposed algorithm must address at least one or more of the three challenges of interest. 

PHASE I: The phase I effort will result in analysis and design of the proposed algorithm. The phase I effort shall include a final report with modeling and simulation results supporting performance claims. The method for determining SNR will be documented. 

PHASE II: The Phase I designs will be utilized to fabricate, test and evaluate a breadboard system. The designs will then be modified as necessary to produce a final prototype. The final prototype will be demonstrated to highlight the increased detection and tracking capabilities in challenging environments. A complete demonstration system (camera, lens, etc.) must also be provided by the offeror. Phase II will include field testing against a target of interest (ex: small UAV) to validate performance claims. 

PHASE III: Civil, commercial and military applications include short-range counter-RAM and UAV target tracking, remote sensing, and small-satellite tracking. High energy DoD laser weapons offer benefits of graduated lethality, rapid deployment to counter time-sensitive targets, and the ability to deliver significant force either at great distance or to nearby threats with high accuracy for minimal collateral damage. Future laser weapon applications will range from very high power devices used for air defense (to detect, track, and destroy incoming rockets, artillery, and mortars) to modest power devices used for counter-ISR. The Phase III effort would be to design and build a target detection/tracking processor that could be integrated into the Armys High Energy Laser Mobile Tactical Truck (HEL-MTT) vehicle. Military funding for this Phase III effort would be executed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center as part of its Directed Energy research. 

REFERENCES: 

1: C. Gao, D. Meng, Y. Yang, Y. Wang Infrared Patch-Image Model for Small Target Detection in a Single Image, IEEE Trans. On Image Processing, Vol. 22, Issue 12, Sep 2013, Pages 4996-5009

2: K. Wang, Y. Liu, X. Sun Small Moving Infrared Target Detection Algorithm under Low SNR Background, Information Assurance and Security, 2009, IAS 09, Vol 2, Aug 2009

3: S. Kim Min-local-LoG filter for detecting small targets in cluttered background, Electronics Letters, Vol 47, Issue 2, Pages 105-106 (2011)

4: X. Luo, X. Wu A Novel Fusion Detection Algorithm for Infrared Small Targets, Intelligent Information Technology Application, 2009. IITA 2009, Vol 3 (2009)

KEYWORDS: Infrared Search And Track, IRST, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Mortar, Detection, Signal-to-noise Ratio, Signal-to-clutter Ratio, Cloud Background, Unresolved Target, Image Processing, Algorithm 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To develop low-cost man-portable RF sensors with reduced Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) for short-range target tracking in degraded visual environments in support of mobile Army tactical platforms. 

DESCRIPTION: Many military weapon systems rely on passive mid-wave infrared (MWIR) technology for wide-field of view acquisition and precision tracking of targets. These MWIR sensors were selected for operation in clear visibility conditions and provide performance margin down to hazy and light fog conditions, but are severely degraded under heavy fog, rain, snow, sand and dust storm conditions. Recent studies have shown that radio frequency (RF) sensors can perform the same functions as the MWIR sensors, but do not suffer the same performance losses in these degraded visual environments (DVEs). However, current RF technology is too expensive, too large and requires too much power to use as a replacement for these MWIR sensors. The challenge is to develop a truly low cost RF acquisition and tracking sensor with reduced Size, Weight and Power (SWaP). Performance examples are acquisition and tracking of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and rockets, artillery and mortars (RAM) on the order of 5km or less in clear weather and DVEs. The proposed system must have a field of view and angular accuracy that would enabled replacement of a passive wide-FOV MWIR sensor (>3° FOV; <300 urad accuracy). Interferometers are preferred (in order to achieve the angular resolution needed), but other RF concepts will be considered. Because these RF sensors will be used to replace infrared cameras, which require very little SWaP, reducing the total system footprint is extremely important. Man-portability would be ideal. The proposed sensor must be capable of integration onto a mobile platform with other military capabilities such as a Stryker, and require minimal power that can be supplied through the vehicles on-board power system. For example, multiple small flat panel RF arrays can be integrated into the side of a tactical vehicle. If successful, low-cost reduced SWaP RF sensors would significantly benefit many military and commercial applications such as High Energy Laser weapon platforms, small-satellite tracking applications, and the commercial aviation industry. Requirements: - Detection Range (RAM & UAV) “ T: 5km; O: 10km - FOV (Search Volume) - T: 3°; O: 90° - Angular Accuracy “ T: 300urad; O: 30urad - Size & Weight “ T: Mountable on Mobile Vehicle; O: Mountable on a Beam Director - Power Consumption “ T: 1kW; O: 500W - Low-Cost 

PHASE I: The phase I effort will result in the analysis and design of new SWaP and cost reducing technologies for RF sensors. The selected RF sensor architecture, measures of expected performance and laboratory testing results will be documented in a final report. The phase I effort shall include modeling and simulation results supporting performance claims. 

PHASE II: The Phase I designs will be utilized to fabricate, test and evaluate a breadboard system. The designs will then be modified as necessary to produce a final prototype. The final prototype will be demonstrated to highlight the SWaP and cost reductions as well as acquisition and tracking performance parameters. 

PHASE III: Civil, commercial and military applications include short-range counter-RAM and UAV target tracking, remote sensing, small-satellite tracking, satellite communication, and other communication efforts. High energy DoD laser weapons offer benefits of graduated lethality, rapid deployment to counter time-sensitive targets, and the ability to deliver significant force either at great distance or to nearby threats with high accuracy for minimal collateral damage. Future laser weapon applications will range from very high power devices used for air defense (to detect, track, and destroy incoming rockets, artillery, and mortars) to modest power devices used for counter-ISR. The Phase III effort would be to design and build a low-cost reduced SWaP RF acquisition and tracking sensor that could be integrated into the Armys High Energy Laser Mobile Tactical Truck (HEL-MTT) vehicle. Military funding for this Phase III effort would be executed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center as part of its Directed Energy research. 

REFERENCES: 

1: P. A. Isaksen, E. Lovli Multi Pulse Sweep System A New Generation Radar System, Radar 97, 14 - 16 October 1997, Publication No. 449, lEE 1997

2: D. M. Vavriv, V. A. Volkov, S. V. Sosnytskiy, A. V. Shevchenko, R. V. Kozhyn, A. A. Kravtsov, M. P. Vasilevskiy, D. I. Zaikin, Development and Surveillance and Tracking Radar, IEEE, Ultrawideband and Ultrashort Impulse Signals, 18-22 September, 2006, Sevastopol, Ukraine pp. 26-31

3: Yi-cheng Jiang, Chun-xi Yu, A Novel Approach for Angle Measuring Improvement in Monopulse Tracking, IEEE, Sixth International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery, 2009

4: Y. Zhang, W. Zhai, X Zhang, X. Shi, X Gu, J. Jiang, Moving target imaging by both Ka-band and Ku-band high-resolution Radars, SAR Image Analysis, Modeling, and Techniques XI, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8179, 81790R, 2011

5: H. Zhou, F. Aryanfar, A Planar Ka-Band Phased Array with Configurable Polarizations, IEEE, 978-1-4673-5317-5/13, Pg 1638-1639, AP-S 2013

6: Ann Marie Raynal*, Douglas L. Bickel, Michael M. Denton, Wallace J. Bow, Armin W. Doerryl, Radar Cross Section Statistics of Ground Vehicles at Ku-band, Radar Sensor Technology XV, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8021, 80210E, 2010

7: D. W. Kang, J. G. Kim, B. W. Min, G. M. Rebeiz, Single and Four-Element Ka-Band Transmit/Receive Phased-Array Silicon RFICs With 5-bit Amplitude and Phase Control, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 57, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2009

8: A. J. Abumunshar, W. Yeo, N. K. Nahar, D. J. Hyman, and K. Sertel, Tightly Coupled Ka-Band Phased Array Antenna with Integrated MEMS Phase Shifters, IEEE, URSI 2014

9: B. W. Min, G. M. Rebeiz , Single-Ended and Differential Ka-Band BiCMOS Phased Array Front-Ends, IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, VOL. 43, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2008

10: A. Vosoogh, K. Keyghobad, A. Khaleghi, S. Mansouri , A High-Efficiency Ku-Band Reflectarray Antenna Using Single-Layer Multiresonance Elements, IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 13, 2014

KEYWORDS: Phased Array; Interferometer; Flat Panel; Low Cost; Man Portable; Reduced SWaP; Acquisition; Fine Tracking 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To design and build a prototype pulsed laser in the 1550 nm wavelength region with variable pulse parameters of 500 Hz to 5 kHz and 50 mJ to 300 mJ. The pulse parameters shall be met such that the average power ranges between 150 and 250 Watts, or the 300 mJ pulse at 500 Hz and 50 mJ pulse at 5 kHz. The prototype laser must prove design capability. 

DESCRIPTION: Current state of the art tracking Illuminator lasers (TILs) are insufficient for a wide variety of expected high energy laser weapon system engagements. Success has been made in TIL technology in recent efforts, however, additional efforts are necessary to support a versatile tracking system capable of tracking a wide dynamic range of engagements. Targets at close range require a faster pulse duration and less energy per pulse than long range targets. A TIL with variable pulse parameters is desired to achieve constant radiometric conditions in the return scattered light from a target to a tracking sensor. Pulsed Tracking Illuminator Lasers (TILs) are an integral element of a directed energy targeting and tracking system (TTS). The versatility of the TIL for target detection, target identification, pose estimation 3D LIDAR and aim point tracking requires a pulsed laser with variable performance parameters that at present are not available in any pulsed laser architecture, especially in the spectral region between 1.48-1.62 microns. TIL wavelengths must be capable of transmitting through the atmosphere with minimum absorption. The TIL must operate over a broad pulse repetition rate range (500Hz-5kHz). The TIL shall also have variable energy per pulse that coincide with the repetition rate such tracking sensors with limited adaptive gain detect close to the same light scattered from near and far targets. The laser must be capable of generating high pulse energies of 300mJ at the lower rep rates and maintain a reasonable pulse energy output of 50mJ at the higher rep rates. Versatility in pulse width is desired to maintain the ability of this laser to use in a LIDAR system where the pulse width needs to be between 1 ns and 10 ns, while the higher pulse energies required may need 50nsec pulse widths to achieve 300mJ pulse energies. A critical performance requirement for the TIL is a short coherence length in order to minimize speckle at the target.  

PHASE I: The phase I effort shall produce a design for a pulsed laser demonstrations over the performance range detailed above at spectral region between 1.48-1.62 microns. The variable pulse parameters desired from this solicitation are repetition rates of 500 Hz “ 5 kHz, pulse energies of 300 mJ “ 50 mJ, and pulse duration of 1 ns “ 10 ns. The quality of the output beam must support uniform illumination for overfilling the target and minimize speckle. 

PHASE II: The Phase I designs will be utilized to fabricate, test, and evaluate a breadboard system. The designs will then be modified as necessary to produce a final prototype. The final prototype shall demonstrate operational capability specified in the solicitation and be packaged in a portable platform for ease of testing in beam control systems. 

PHASE III: Civil, commercial and military applications include short-range counter-RAM and UAV time gated target illumination for LIDAR tracking in tactical platforms. The Phase III effort shall modify the design for ruggedization and integration into a testbed or HEL platform such as the Armys High Energy Laser Mobile Tactical Truck (HEL-MTT) vehicle. Additional phase III efforts shall include field testing with a fine tracking system in a HEL testbed. Military funding for this Phase III effort would be executed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center as part of its Directed Energy research. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Recent Results for the Raytheon RELI Program, David Filgas, Todd Clatterbuck, Matt Cashen, Andrew Daniele, Steve Hughes, David Mordaunt, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, 2000 E. El Segundo Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8381 83810W-1

2: Nanosecond-pulsed erbium-doped fiber lasers with graphene saturable absorber, Xiaoying Lü, Qun Han, Tiegen Liu, Yaofei Chen and Kun Ren, Laser Phys. 24 (2014) 115102 (6pp)

3: 2.4 mJ, 33 W Q-switched Tm-doped fiber laser with near diffraction-limited beam quality, Fabian Stutzki, Florian Jansen, Cesar Jauregui, Jens Limpert, and Andreas Tünnermann, January 15, 2013 / Vol. 38, No. 2 / OPTICS LETTERS

4: Compact gain-switching linearly polarized high-power Yb pulse fiber laser, K H Wei, S S Cai, P P Jiang, D C Hua, Y X Yan, B Wu and Y H Shen, Laser Phys. 24 (2014) 085105 (4pp)

5: Millijoule pulse energy 100-nanosecond Er-doped fiber laser, Leonid Kotov, Mikhail Likhachev, Mikhail Bubnov, Oleg Medvedkov, Denis Lipatov, Aleksei Guryanov, Kirill Zaytsev,Mathieu Jossent, and Sébastien Février, April 1, 2015 / Vol. 40, No. 7 / OPTICS LETTERS

6: Nanosecond Q-Switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser With Wide Pulse-Repetition-Rate Range Based on Topological Insulator, Man Wu, Yu Chen, Han Zhang, and Shuangchun Wen, IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 50, NO. 6, JUNE 2014

7: Toward Millijoule-Level High-Power Ultrafast Thin-Disk Oscillators, Clara J. Saraceno, Florian Emaury, Cinia Schriber, Andreas Diebold, Martin Hoffmann, Matthias Golling, Thomas Sudmeyer, and Ursula Keller, IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 21, NO. 1, JANUARY / FEBRUARY

8: Power-Scalable, Sub-Nanosecond Mode-Locked Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on a Frequency-Shifted-Feedback Ring Cavity Incorporating a Narrow Bandpass Filter, Luis Alonso Vazquez-Zuniga and Yoonchan Jeong, Journal of the Optical Society of Korea, Vol. 17, No. 2, April 2013, pp. 177-181

9: Actively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber ring laser with a nanosecond ceramic optical switch, Xiaoying Lü, Qun Han, Tiegen Liu, Yaofei Chen and Kun Ren, Laser Phys. 24 (2014) 115102 (6pp)

KEYWORDS: Pulsed Laser, LIDAR, LADAR, Eye-safe Laser, Laser Illuminator, Erbium Laser 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: To develop bridge launch technology which can be adapted to ultra-lightweight combat vehicle platforms to enable them to defeat gaps which may be encountered during their missions. 

DESCRIPTION: Current Army Bridging technology, such as that described in [1] and [2], has been designed to primarily support heavy vehicles such as equipment transporters and main battle tanks. Few technologies currently exist which directly support the gap crossing needs of lightweight and ultra-lightweight vehicles such as that described in [3]. These types of vehicles currently would need to rely on these heavy vehicle bridging systems to provide gap-crossing capability. These bridging systems are unlikely to be able to keep up with the mobility and speed of the lighter vehicles, resulting in delays in completing their mission, as well as increasing their vulnerability to potential attacks. Therefore, there is a need for technology that will enable lightweight and ultra-lightweight vehicles to launch bridges to support their missions. Ideally, the bridge launch technology should be capable of launching bridges of up to 13 feet in length and 5 feet wide. The launch technology should also be able to launch and retrieve a bridge in a short amount of time, within 5 minutes during daytime operations and within 10 minutes for nighttime operations, with a crew of no more than 3 Soldiers. The launch mechanism should be capable of operating in various environments, where characteristics such as temperature, altitude, and wind speed may vary. The technology should also be able to launch the bridge in varying bank conditions, to include the bank conditions and transverse slopes specified for Assault bridges in [4]. The bridge launch technology should not weigh more than 2000 lbs. The goal of this project is to develop technology which will enable bridges to be launched and retrieved from lightweight and ultra-lightweight vehicles, thus providing them with enhanced mobility and the means to cross over gaps encountered during their missions. 

PHASE I: In the Phase I effort, studies will be performed to assess the viability of the proposed technical approach. These studies should include discussions with TARDEC to identify specific requirements for the launcher, such as bridge weight that it needs to carry. The Phase I effort should include a preliminary analysis of the materials required for the launch mechanism, launch mechanism geometry, connections, potential effects on host vehicle mobility, and bridge length that it can safely launch. Small scale component testing, fit-up testing and material characterization may be performed along with modeling and simulation to obtain properties required for further analysis of the design, as well as obtain an initial assessment of the launcher. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will further develop, test and demonstrate the bridge launch technology developed in Phase I. Phase II will build upon the results of the Phase I effort to investigate the viability of the technology at a larger scale and optimize it. Larger scale manufacturing and testing should be performed in addition to modeling and simulation to evaluate the bridge launch technology in various conditions. The bridge launch technology should be evaluated in terms of time to launch and retrieve a bridge, size of bridge which can be launched, and ability of the launch technology to launch and retrieve a bridge under various bank conditions and slopes. Phase II shall result in a prototype bridge launch mechanism that will be delivered to the Government for User evaluation. 

PHASE III: Phase III work will further demonstrate the capability of the bridge launcher to be utilized in a variety of environmental conditions, to include various temperatures and altitudes. Durability of the bridge launch technology should also be assessed through the performance of multiple bridge launch and retrievals. Technology will directly transition to Defense Ultra-Lightweight vehicle programs to help to fulfill its gap crossing needs. Potential commercial applications for the technology include disaster relief, to enable first responders to rapidly get to areas that may not be easily accessible by heavier equipment. Department of transportation may also be able to adapt this technology to increase the speed at which highway bridge are installed over gaps. 

REFERENCES: 

1: M60 AVLB, http://www.military-today.com/engineering/m60_avlb.htm

2: REBS “ The Bridge for the Future Army, https://www.gdels.com/products/bridge_1.asp?id=3

3: Atherton, Kelsey D. (2014, April 10) This Badger Fits Inside An Osprey. http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/badger-fits-inside-osprey

4: Trilateral Design and Test Code for Military Bridging and Gap-Crossing Equipment, Mr. Brian Hornbeck, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command, 586-282-5608.

KEYWORDS: Bridging, Bridge Launch, Ultra-Lightweight Vehicles 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a design methodology and a system performance evaluation tool, that considers the credibility of the variable fidelities of the models used, in order to assess its holistic performance of various, often disparate system attributes. 

DESCRIPTION: Program Managers, Army Evaluators in AEC and senior leaders need to make informed technical decisions that are based on data from models of different fidelity (Detailed vs Reduced Order), operators (expert vs novice), sources (model vs SME opinion), assumptions (empirical vs. physics-based), etc. A methodology and tool is required to take into account all of these factors and develop a holistic, system assessment that is data-based. 

PHASE I: During the Phase I effort the contractor will develop the basic mathematical formulation which will enable to capture expert opinion within an automated multidisciplinary design optimization process. The new mathematical formulation will be implemented into a code that can be used to demonstrate the feasibility and value of the new capability. A case study that involves simplified survivability and mobility simulations for a generic component of a vehicle will be used for demonstration. 

PHASE II: During the Phase II effort new capabilities will be developed that will make the fusion of modeling and simulation credibility in multidisciplinary design powerful and easy to use. Linguistic input will be provided by the users for defining the credibility of the models and for capturing the expert opinion when making decisions. The mathematical algorithm which will integrate this information in the design optimization process will be further expanded from Phase I. A vehicle case study that involves survivability and mobility simulations of variable fidelity will be used for demonstration. 

PHASE III: The new product will be integrated in one of the vehicle demonstration programs of TARDEC (Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center). A tool developed using this methodology would be useful not only within the DoD and defense OEMs, but also in commercial automotive industry where models are used for different performance areas like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Safety, Durability etc., with differing levels of fidelity, and an integrated assessment is necessary.The uniqueness of the product and its applicability to all engineering areas where M&S are used for digital product design will contribute to its commercial success. In fact, the methodology is applicable to even non-engineering areas such as finance and accounting. 

REFERENCES: 

1: TARDEC 30-Year Strategy, V.2.0, January 2016.

2: Guide for Verification and Validation in Computational Solid Mechanics, Transmitted by L.E. Schwer, Chair PTC 60 /V&V 10, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

3: NASA/SP-2010-576, Version 1.0, NASA Risk-Informed Decision Making Handbook, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA Headquarters.

4: N. Vlahopoulos, M. Castanier, E. Maes, N. Stowe, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Ground Vehicle Track for Durability and Survivability, 2012 SAE Congress, Detroit MI, April 24-26, 2012.

5: T. Krueger, T. Page, K. Hubacek, L. Smith, and K. Hiscock, "The role of expert opinion in environmental modeling," Environmental Modelling and Software, 2012, pp. 1-15. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Fuzzy Set-Theory and Its Applications, 4th Ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, 2001.

6: Thomas Saaty, How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. European Journal of Operational Research 48 (1990) 9-26. North Holland.

7: Hersch, H.M., Caramazza, A., 1976. A fuzzy set approach to modifiers and vagueness in natural language. J. Exp. Psychol. 105 (3), 254-276.

KEYWORDS: Design Optimization, Design Methodology, System Performance, Model Credibility, High Performance Vehicle, Light Weight 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: An automated systematic tradeoff tool for balancing several alternative considerations of survivability with mobility for advanced vehicle design 

DESCRIPTION: Program Managers, system integrators and senior leaders need to make informed technical decisions based on trade-offs between two critical vehicle attributes, namely, Survivability and Mobility. A rigorous data-based tool that can perform this tradeoff over a wide range of performance criteria has been sought after for a long time. 

PHASE I: During the Phase I effort the contractor shall develop the basic mathematical formulation which will enable set based design within an automated multidisciplinary design optimization process. The new mathematical formulation will be implemented into a code that can be used to demonstrate the feasibility and value of the new capability. A case study that involves simplified survivability and mobility simulations for a generic vehicle will be used for demonstration. 

PHASE II: During the Phase II effort new capabilities will be developed that will make the set based design approach in multidisciplinary design powerful and easy to use. The mathematical algorithm will be further expanded from Phase I and new capabilities will be developed for making the process easy to use. New developments will be pursued for reducing the large number of function evaluations required by the typical set based design approach. A more comprehensive vehicle case study that involves survivability and mobility simulations shall be used for demonstration. 

PHASE III: The new product will be integrated in to one of the vehicle demonstration programs of Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). A tool developed with this methodology would be useful not only within the DoD but also in all defense OEMs and Tier suppliers involved in Mobility-Survivability tradeoffs in any manner. This tool can also be used in commercial auto industry where developers and engineers often have to balance conflicting demands of increased safety simultaneously with reduced Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH). 

REFERENCES: 

1: TARDEC 30-Year Strategy, V.2.0, January 2016.

2: S. Hannapel, N. Vlahopoulos, Implementation of set-based design in multidisciplinary design optimization, Struct Multidisc Optim., DOI 10.1007/s00158-013-1034-2.

3: B. Kempinski, C. Murphy, Technical Challenges of the U.S. Armys Ground Combat Vehicle Program, Working Paper 2012-15, Congressional Budget Office Washington, D.C.

4: Application of Lightweighting Technology to Military Vehicles, Vessels, and Aircraft, Committee on Benchmarking the Technology and Application of Lightweighting; National Research Council, ISBN 978-0-309-22166-5.

KEYWORDS: Lightweight Structures, Mobility, Survivability, Set Based Design 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a lightweight durable bridge decking solution which is rapidly deployable and withstands the loading of a medium unmanned ground vehicle and one Soldier operator. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a need for gap-crossing equipment to support crossings of medium unmanned ground vehicles and the Soldiers operating them. Inflatable bridges, or air beam structures, are one potential solution for these vehicles. However, few technologies currently exist which provide the durability required of the roadway surface to carry many crossings, while being lightweight, strong and rapidly deployable. These bridges are forced to rely on bridge decking made out of traditional materials to provide the roadway surface. While strong, these bridge decks are heavy, reducing the load carrying capacity of the inflatable structure and limiting the types of vehicles that can cross over the bridge. The deck weight also degrades the deployability of the bridge, increasing the amount of time required to deploy the bridge and slowing down the ability of the unit to move from one place to the next. There is a need for lightweight, rapidly deployable bridge decking technology that is also durable and capable of carrying heavy loads. Ideally, the bridge decking technology should weigh no more than 600 pounds, with a desired weight target of 400 pounds, and be capable of carrying up to 3500 lbs of load. The decking technology should be rapidly deployable, with deployment taking no longer than 20 minutes for a 28 foot span, and should be able to interface with an inflatable bridge structure, made out of air-beams similar to that used in inflatable shelters such as that shown in [1], over a minimum 28 foot span. The bridge decking technology should also be durable, withstanding many crossings and inflation/ deflation cycles of the bridge without damage. The bridge decking should also be capable of bridging short gaps up to 5 feet without the need for the larger inflatable bridge structure. In this application, the decking should be able to accommodate varying bank conditions, to include the bank conditions and transverse slopes specified for Assault Bridges in [2]. The bridge decking should also be affordable, with a cost no more than 25% greater than decking made using traditional structural materials. The goal of this project is to develop a lightweight modular bridge decking solution which interconnects and is rapidly deployable to interface with an inflatable bridge structure over a minimum 28 foot span, thus providing unmanned ground vehicles with a rapidly deployable and durable gap crossing solution. Ideally, the bridge decking technology should weigh less than 700 pounds and be capable of carrying up to 3500 lbs of load. The decking technology should be rapidly deployable, taking no longer than 20 minutes for a 28 foot span, and should be able to interface with an inflatable bridge structure over a minimum 28 foot span. The bridge decking technology should also be durable, withstanding many crossings and inflation/ deflation cycles of the bridge without damage. The bridge decking should also be capable of bridging short gaps up to 5 feet without the need for the larger inflatable bridge structure. In this application, the decking should be able to accommodate varying bank conditions, to include the bank conditions and transverse slopes specified for Assault Bridges in [1]. The goal of this project is to develop a lightweight modular bridge decking solution which interconnects and is rapidly deployable to interface with an inflatable bridge structure over a minimum 28 foot span, thus providing unmanned ground vehicles with a rapidly deployable and durable gap crossing solution. 

PHASE I: In the Phase I effort, studies will be performed to assess the viability of the proposed technical approach. These studies should include discussions with TARDEC to identify specific requirements for the bridge deck. The Phase I effort should include a preliminary analysis of the materials required for the deck, bridge deck geometry, connections, load carrying capability and span lengths that it can safely bridge without the larger inflatable structure, as well as an initial assessment on the affordability of the bridge deck. Small scale component testing, fit-up testing and material characterization may be performed along with modeling and simulation to obtain properties required for further analysis of the design, as well as obtain an initial assessment of the bridge. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will further develop, test and demonstrate the bridge decking technology developed in Phase I. Phase II will build upon the results of the Phase I effort to investigate the viability of the technology at a larger scale and optimize it. Larger scale manufacturing and testing should be performed in addition to modeling and simulation to evaluate the bridge decking technology in various conditions. The bridge decking technology should be evaluated in terms of time to deploy, span at which it can be deployed with and without the larger inflatable structure, and amount of load it can carry. Phase II shall result in a prototype bridge deck that will be delivered to the Government for User evaluation. 

PHASE III: Phase III work will further demonstrate the capability of the bridge deck to be utilized in a variety of environmental conditions, to include various temperatures and altitudes. Durability of the bridge deck technology should also be assessed through the performance of multiple crossings/ load applications over the deck. Potential commercial applications for the technology include disaster relief, to enable first responders to rapidly get to areas that may not be easily accessible by heavier equipment. Departments of transportation may also be able to adapt this technology for rapid repair of highway bridges. 

REFERENCES: 

1: 40 Series Airbeam Shelters, http://www.hdtglobal.com/product/40-series-airbeam-shelters/

2: Trilateral Design and Test Code for Military Bridging and Gap-Crossing Equipment, Mr. Brian Hornbeck, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command, 586-282-5608.

3: Cavallaro, Paul V., and Ali M. Sadegh. Air-inflated fabric structures. No. NUWC-NPT-RR-11774. NAVAL UNDERSEA WARFARE CENTER DIV NEWPORT RI, 2006.

KEYWORDS: Bridging, Deck, Lightweight, Durable 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a new technology solution to increase occupant survivability and decrease risk of ejection for occupants standing in an ingress/egress hatch opening as part of operational duty in a ground vehicle while experiencing an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) underbody blast event. 

DESCRIPTION: This SBIR initiative serves to further improve occupant survivability outcomes against present and future Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threats. A new technology solution is sought to mitigate occupant ejection for a vehicle occupant experiencing an underbody blast while standing at nametag defilade through a round hatch opening as part of their operational duty. The new technology solution shall be passive and shall be demonstrated using an unencumbered and unrestrained 50th percentile standing male Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD). The new technology solution shall have no effect on occupant ingress/egress through the round hatch opening and it shall be effective for occupants experiencing a vehicle vertical lift-off velocity of up to 8.0 meters/second in a g-force acceleration environment as a result of the underbody blast. Effectiveness of the new technology solution shall be assessed by comparing ATD kinematics between baseline configuration and new technology solution configuration with maximum ATD head target excursion provided in the contract. The new technology solution shall be represented as either a component or system-based solution and shall be supplied as a kit with hardware, attaching components and installation instructions for integrating the solution into a ground vehicle. The new technology solution kit shall not exceed a maximum weight threshold as provided in the contract. 

PHASE I: Phase I shall reflect a generic Proof-of-Concept effort supported by computer modeling and simulation to demonstrate the new technology solution concept. The new technology solution shall yield the following proof-of-concept capabilities and benefits as provided by the contractor and as demonstrated by the contractor through computer modeling and simulation: The new technology solution shall be passive, requiring no action on part of the protected occupant to receive the increased safety benefits. The new technology solution shall be demonstrated using an analytical model of an unencumbered and unrestrained Hybrid III 50th percentile standing male Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD). The ATD shall have standing capability via an available conversion kit (HIII 50th percentile male Pedestrian ATD) to replace the seated ATD pelvis. The new technology solution shall have no effect on occupant ingress/egress through the 61 centimeter(cm) diameter round hatch opening. The new technology solution shall be effective for occupants experiencing a vehicle vertical lift-off velocity of up to 8.0 meters/second (m/s) in a g-force acceleration environment. Effectiveness of the new technology solution shall be assessed by comparing ATD kinematics between baseline configuration and new technology solution configuration with maximum ATD head target excursion relative to the center of the hatch opening not to exceed 100 millimeters (mm) from baseline configuration. Phase I concept demonstration and concept effectiveness of the new technology solution shall be delivered through an Interim and Final Report presentation of computer modeling and simulation results. 

PHASE II: Phase II shall reflect the design and construction of physical prototypes of the new technology solution, design and construction of a generic test fixture with 61cm diameter round hatch opening to support the vertical accelerative tests, and new test procedures written to evaluate the Phase I concept new technology solution. Contractor Phase II requirements: Ten (10) or more physical new technology solutions shall be constructed for dynamic evaluation to demonstrate occupant ejection mitigation meeting requirements as outlined in Phase I. A generic test fixture shall be designed and constructed to test the unrestrained, unencumbered Hybrid III 50th percentile male pedestrian ATD standing in the 61 cm diameter round hatch opening at nametag defilade position. A new test method and procedure shall be written to use the developed test fixture with standing encumbered ATD to evaluate the new technology solution and to support the test plan. The new test method referenced in the test plan shall include use of a dynamic upward vertical accelerative test device to simulate underbody blast conditions for a vehicle vertical lift-off velocity from 3.0 m/s up to 8.0 m/s (maximum) in a g-force acceleration environment. The new test method shall be used to evaluate the new technology solution. Results from physical tests of the new technology solution in Phase II shall be compared to computer modeling and simulation results from Phase I through the use of statistical correlation of data. The new technology solution shall be represented as either a virtual component or system-based solution and shall be supplied as a kit with hardware, attaching components and installation instructions for integrating the solution into a ground vehicle. The new technology solution kit shall not exceed 25 kg. Phase II test results of the operation, use, and effectiveness of the new technology solution shall be delivered through an Interim and Final Report. 

PHASE III: Phase III shall reflect a commercialization effort to integrate the new technology solution to applicable military ground vehicles (e.g., Light Armored Vehicle (LAV), Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Abrams Main Battle Tank, Stryker). 

REFERENCES: 

1: Military Standard 810 (MIL-STD-810), Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests

2: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 207, Seating Systems

3: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)208, Occupant Crash Protection

4: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 209, Seat Belt Assemblies

5: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 210, Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages

6: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 226), Ejection Mitigation

7: Scherer, R., "Vehicle and dummy response to an underbelly blast event", online report

KEYWORDS: Passive, Technology, Ejection, Mitigation, Hatch, Survivability 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a road wheel concept with the focus of the road wheel rubber acting as a bushing to reduce high frequency vibration transfer to the road arm. The potential improvement could affect external acoustic signature reduction, interior noise level reduction, and improve rubber heat dissipation. These are all byproducts of the road wheel loading occurred at the track-road wheel interaction. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently, the only mechanisms on a tracked vehicle to damp the load between the ground to the road arm are backer pads on track, track tension and bushings, and solid rubber on the road wheels. The solid rubber on the road wheels offer little opportunity for tuning as they have to be designed for high loads and durability against wear and abrasion. Inherently, the solid rubber offers poor thermal conductivity which could lead to hysteresis blowout at higher vehicle speeds. This project calls for an approach similar to what is done in automotive systems in which the tires, suspension, and body mounts are designed as a system. A similar approach for a tracked vehicle suspension system would address road wheel tire improvements that would isolate high frequency vibration generated at the track from reaching the spindle in the road arm. This project looks to change the way a road wheel is fundamentally designed by utilizing rubber as a way to tune the damping characteristics of the wheel that could lead to improved external acoustic signature, reduced interior noise levels, and improved rubber heat dissipation. The isolation provided by the improved road wheels is intended to protect the ever increasing hydro pneumatic suspension road arms from high frequency vibrations that may result in premature failure of internal suspension components such as high-pressure seals, bearings, and check valves. The proposed system will be compatible with all current and developing track types, and while being optimized for hydro pneumatic suspensions, could easily be applied to current torsion bar systems. These options make it an ideal candidate to be incorporated into the Combat Vehicle Prototype with the possibility to deploy later on the M1 Abrams, Bradley, AMPV and other vehicles with very little modification. 

PHASE I: Design a proof of concept prototype and conduct trade study to analyze loading, acoustic, thermal, and damping capabilities and performance. Trade study shall baseline current fielded Bradley 24 inch road wheels to the prototype design. The preliminary design will also include a packaging analysis with currently fielded track systems to ensure technology transfer capability. 

PHASE II: The concept prototype will be designed, developed, and built for component level testing. Demonstration and technology evaluation will take place in a relevant laboratory environment or on a military ground vehicle system. Drum testing and compression testing are recommended to validate the structural integrity of the design and conduct frequency sweeps on a shaker table measure acoustic and vibration. Phase II will reach at least TRL 5 and commercial viability will be quantified. Track and Suspensions Combat Vehicle Prototype Advanced Running Gear Demonstrator would be a great test bed to collect data and validate design. 

PHASE III: Mechanical packaging and integration of the solution into a vehicle will be achieved (TRL6) and technology transition will occur so the road wheel can be used on military ground vehicle applications. Track and Suspensions Combat Vehicle Prototype Advanced Running Gear Demonstrator would be a great test bed to collect data and validate design. Additionally, this product has potential for commercial applications such as tracked construction or agriculture equipment as many vehicles utilize little to no suspension to damp out vibrations going into the hull. 

REFERENCES: 

1: MIL-DTL-11891 TRACK SHOE SETS, TRACK SHOE ASSEMBLIES, TRACK SHOE PADS AND TRACK SHOE BUSHINGS, VEHICULAR: ELASTOMERIZED

2: MIL-DTL-3100 WHEEL ASSEMBLIES, SOLID ELASTOMER TIRED;FOR TRACK LAYING VEHICLES

3: AMCP 706-356 ENGINEERING DESIGN HANDBOOK AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS

KEYWORDS: Track, Vibration Reduction, Durability, T158LL, T161, Abrams, Bradley, Combat Vehicle Prototype 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The Army is looking to develop technologies that would provide lightweighting opportunities for current and future vehicles. Adhesive materials present two potential opportunities for lightweighting; use of an adhesive may reduce the number of bolts needed for a mechanically joined component, and adhesives may open the possibility for multi-material joints allowing for the incorporation of lighter-weight materials. To meet these opportunities, prospective adhesive materials would need to perform satisfactorily in very high strain rate loading situations like a blast event or under ballistic impact. 

DESCRIPTION: Weight reduction is a major issue for ground combat systems with the keystone of weight reduction being joining technologies. Adhesive materials provide a light weighting opportunity for the Army's ground vehicles. The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is pursuing many innovative ways to reduce military ground combat vehicle weight, including materials. The benefits of new, lightweight materials are often, however, reduced or negated by the limited options for joining them. Adhesives could present a simple and effective method for joining and reinforcing joints, thereby facilitating lightweighting and avoiding weight penalties associated with traditional joining approaches. Current high strain rate adhesives are designed to the upper end of strain rates seen in automotive events. These events are approximately 10-100 times slower than those encountered in blast and ballistic impacts. The objective of this project is to develop and benchmark adhesives capable of withstanding the strain rates seen in ballistic and blast events to use in lightweight joining on ground combat vehicles as well as (potentially) civilian and military aircraft. Adhesive systems are often utilized together with mechanical fasteners, such as bolts to improve overall joint strength. The adhesives also have the ability to act as corrosion inhibitors. In theory the addition of the adhesive should result in fewer bolts being necessary to join parts, thereby reducing weight. Currently there are no adhesives designed specifically with high strain rate blast and ballistic events in mind, resulting in a technology gap that restricts the light weighting applications of adhesives. 

PHASE I: During Phase I, the small business shall demonstrate the concept feasibility of the new joining technology by: 1. Understanding current joining methods, their limitations (to include costs), and developing mathematical models of adhesive joint strength during typical military ground combat vehicle events. (A brief study of joint design will be considered. (note 1 below)) 2. Developing a new adhesive(s) tailored for use in high strain rate applications in ground combat vehicles. 3. Create suitable samples that can be empirically evaluated under conditions that approximate blast and ballistic loading. The particular adhesive to be developed will be up to the small business. The tradeoffs and best value combination of the chemistries (epoxies, polyurethanes, etc.), form (paste, film, etc.), and type (contact, thermosetting, etc.) of adhesive will be determined by the small business. The primary screening metrics will be environmental performance (high and low temperature; humidity). Adhesives will be characterized for tensile and shear behavior over strain rates ranging from 10^3 - 10^4/s. Other metrics (which will be collaboratively assigned varying scoring ˜weights) will be shear strength, hardness, elongation, and tensile/peel characteristics (crack propagation). Since the majority of Army vehicles are steel or aluminum, adhesives will evaluated in their performance of joining these metals to themselves as well as to each other. Additionally, performance in the joining of additional materials (composite material joints, particularly Kevlar, s-glass, carbon fiber) to these two metals will be of interest. Also, it is expected that the adhesive, due to the limitations of anticipated stringent surface preparation requirements, will initially only be used in a manufacturing environment. If an acceptable (or nearly so), expedient adhesive with limited surface preparation requirements can be demonstrated, it will be considered. The Phase I effort shall be structured to make a determination as to whether the adhesive should progress to Phase II. This determination will be made through testing - the best performers will be carried forward into subsequent development and characterization. A weighted Pugh analysis will be used to rank all developed and studied adhesives, incorporating multiple mechanical/dynamic tests, environmental durability considerations, and other factors such as sensitivity to the quality of surface preparation, as well as the duration and temperature requirements of the cure (see note 2 below). A successful Phase I effort will lead to a high performance adhesive for high strain rate applications, capable of joining dissimilar materials with a significantly lower integration burden than current joining systems. Note 1 - The opportunities to incorporate adhesives into a new Army program-of-record vehicle are distant and limited. While providing an additional joining option to those programs will be valuable, the role we are hoping to position adhesives to be able to play is as a lightweighting option in engineering change proposal (ECP) upgrades/modifications to existing vehicles. As such, there will be a few insertion points and limited scope for joint redesign, since the ECPs are typically focused on subsystems, components, or replacements. Note 2 “ With regard to curing: thermal curing considered, room temperature curing is preferred. Additionally, the pot life of the adhesive may be a variable to consider in Phase II, as the manufacturing process(es) involved in the particular subsystem is impacted. Means / methods to manipulate the pot life / cure time could enhance consideration and adoption of adhesives in a defense manufacturing setting. 

PHASE II: In Phase II, the small business will need to (Army will facilitate): 1. Work with a PM and / or a Prime to identify and develop a suitable application and a coupon / subsystem level application demonstration. 2. Investigate feasibility of developing variants of the adhesive composition that can be tuned for particular performance needs, curing requirements, or surface preparation constraints (see note 1 below). Refine / finalize and deliver the leading adhesive formulation and any variants. 3. Verify performance of the final design on the coupon / subsystem demonstrator (see note 1 below). This includes fatigue, durability, and environmental performance as well as general joining performance during high strain rate events. 4. Develop a plan and business case to ensure successful phase III execution. Note 1 “ The small business will provide samples and the Army will independently validate the adhesive constituents, the application procedures, and performance of the coupon / subsystem demonstrator. 

PHASE III: In Phase III, the small business will need to 1. Develop the manufacturing plan and processes to mass produce the adhesive in the quantities required by a military program. 2. Work with the Prime and PM to ensure meeting cost and schedule requirements. 3. Conduct a thorough manufacturing cost analysis to determine high cost elements and develop a plan to reduce the cost as appropriate. 4. Develop the appropriate design aids to ensure future designers can correctly utilize the system. Throughout all three phases, but particularly in Phase III the small business will be encouraged (and the Army will facilitate) to investigate the applicability of the developed adhesive to other applications/uses. Some options include helmets for Soldiers, football players, and racecar drivers. There could also be opportunities for use in the construction of earthquake resistant buildings and structures. Tire manufacturing could be another industry to consider. 

REFERENCES: 

1: High-strain-rate adhesives will support the development of lighter weight vehicles, which is necessary for ¦a joint force that will be smaller and leaner, but will be agile, flexible, ready, and technologically advanced (Army Capstone Concept TRADOC Pam 525-3-0 www.tradoc.army.mil/tpubs/pams/tp525-3-0.pdf

2: Light weight vehicles also support the Army Warfighting Challenge (AWFC) #12: http://www.arcic.army.mil/Initiatives/ArmyWarfightingChallenges

3: Conduct Joint Expeditionary Maneuver and Entry Operations: How to project forces, conduct forcible and early entry, and transition rapidly to offensive operations to ensure access and seize the initiative. Similarly, lighter combat vehicles are the sole focus of the Lightweight Combat Vehicle Science and Technology Campaign https://www.lbcg.com/media/downloads/events/411/day-1-1-of-2-dr-richard-j-gerth-ground-systems-survivability-tank-automotive-research-development-an.6713.pdf

KEYWORDS: High Strain Rate, Joining, Adhesives, Integration Burden, Multi-Material Joining, Dissimilar Material Joining, Armor Integration, Lightweighting, Weight Reduction, Design Optimization, Manufacturing Process, Manufacturing Processes, Process, Manufacturing Materials, Manufacturing Processes, Manufacturing Equipment, Manufacturing Efficiency, Assembly, Manufacturing Test, Fabrication, Production Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Development of a technology capable of torque multiplication through conservation-of-energy and speed reduction operation. This capability is sought to address the energy inefficiency of existing torque converter transmissions in ground vehicle transmissions. 

DESCRIPTION: Existing ground combat vehicles utilize low-efficiency torque converters to provide and extend the torque ratio coverage of geared transmissions. These types of devices are necessary to increase the engine torque to a level necessary to propel a vehicle, and to do so in a small volume. Identifying and developing technology within a new device to replace or supplement existing tramsmissions or inefficient transmission components would extend the sustainability of existing transmissions and increase vehicle performance. Minimizing the level of modification while maximizing the increase in performance would provide the optimum payoff of the technology proposed. Torque multiplication is traditionally done through hydrostatic and hydrokinetic means. While effective at multiplying engine torque, each of these devices are fairly inefficient at transmitting the engine power. This inefficiency produces excess heat in both the engine and transmission systems, wasting energy and burdening the propulsion cooling system. The Army is looking to increase energy efficiency in ground vehicles, which would improve mobility performance and mission capability. The goal of this topic is to develop a highly efficient variable-speed torque-multiplication technology, designed to meet the requirements of a ground vehicle. This military application of a transmission technology would have direct application to commercial vehicles. Heavy duty off-highway commercial vehicles often have similar torque-multiplication requirements of a transmission, which is where this new technology would apply commercially. Existing torque-converters are very inefficient under certain operation, which negatively impact vehicle performance (acceleration under high load, gradeability, and continuous operation without overheating). The technology should operate with continuously variable speed ratio and be practical to increase torque by 1 to 4 orders of magnitude with a power efficiency of 85-90%. 

PHASE I: The objective is to identify the speed and torque requirements of a relevant military ground vehicle transmission or torque converter and to design and evaluate a torque-multiplication technology meeting those requirements, to a scaled size of at least 50%. The device should be capable of generating 500-1000 pound-feet of torque at the output, with a speed ratio of 0.30 and mechanical efficiency above 85%. A preliminary design of the system shall be proposed that includes all necessary software (controller, signal processing etc.) and hardware. The design should demonstrate high mechanical efficiency and include analysis identifying any sources of inefficiency in the design. The design should be constructed in a physics-based software model to simulate the proof of concept and validate key design features, specifications, and quantify the design efficiency. 

PHASE II: The objective is to develop and build a functional device, designed to a scaled size of at least 50% of the torque and speed requirements of a target military ground vehicle. The device will be developed from both the completed results of Phase I and from component technology development within this phase. The complete system will be operationally tested and evaluated in a laboratory dynamometer facility through the specified speed and torque ranges to assess the design performance. 

PHASE III: The objective is to transfer a full-scale prototype of the technology, designed to meet the torque and speed range requirements of a military ground vehicle, and to develop a commercialization pathway and Army insertion pathway for the technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1: "Research Needed for More Compact Intermittent Combustion Propulsion Systems for Army Combat Vehicles, "TARDEC Report No. TR13669, Nov. 1995

2: "Combat Vehicle Engine Selection Methodology Based On Vehicle Integration Considerations", Charles Raffa, Ernest Schwarz and John Tasdemir, US Army RDECOM/TARDEC, SAE No. 2005-01-1545, April 2005

3: "Super-Efficient Powershift and High Ratio Spread Automatic Transmission for the Future Military Vehicles", SAPA Transmissions, Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), August 2014

KEYWORDS: Transmission, Torque Multiplication, CVT, Continuously Variable Transmission, Infinitely Variable Transmission, High Efficiency, Advanced Propulsion 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: To provide a compact, affordable, and reliable high resolution Lidar system which is invisible to night vision goggles and provides real-time beam configuration for improved autonomous capabilities. 

DESCRIPTION: High resolution Lidar systems are the primary sensors used for vehicle automation, providing excellent object definition and scene mapping. However, these sensors typically use high precision mirrors and optics that are mechanically rotated to produce the required scan patterns. This approach results in a high cost sensor with relatively poor reliability. One of the most common Lidar systems used today is the Velodyne 32, a rotating system that operates in a -10°C to 60°C temperature range, uses the 905nm wavelength, has a maximum range of 100m, and costs around $30,000. There are other companies that provide cheaper models or models with better range but there are currently no models used on current systems that utilize the 1550nm wavelength and have real-time user configurable beams, two functions that are very desirable for military use. The envisioned system is a compact and affordable high resolution solid state Lidar sensor that contains no moving parts for the highest level of reliability and longevity. The target life would be greater than 20,000 hours. These sensors would have a range of at least 100 meters with a 10% reflective target, a 2 cm or better range accuracy, a 0.1 degree or better angular resolution with a horizontal field of view (azimuth) greater that 120 degrees (180 degrees preferred) vertical field of view greater than 10 degrees, and a scan rate higher that 25 Hz. These sensors should be able to operate at the 1550nm wavelength to be invisible to current night vision goggles and at least at temperatures within the range of -25°C to 70°C. The sensors should weigh no more than 1kg, should be no large than 150mm in any dimension, and should have a power consumption of 15W or less. The price for the sensors should also be $10,000 per unit at most. 

PHASE I: Design a proof of concept prototype for an affordable, compact solid-state Lidar sensor that meets the specifications outlined in the description. Beyond the desired specs, the Lidar should also have the ability to redirect its lasers in real-time to specific points of interest designated by a user or autonomous software system. This will provide greater functionality for autonomous system developers and designers. Delivered at the end of this phase will be a white paper outlining the proof of concept design and its feasibility. 

PHASE II: The concept prototype will have its design refined and then be developed and built for component level testing. Demonstration and technology evaluation will take place in a relevant laboratory environment or on a military ground vehicle system. Delivered at the end of the phase will be at least 3 units for government feasibility and integration testing. 

PHASE III: Mechanical packaging and integration of the solution into a vehicle will be achieved (TRL6) and technology transition will occur so the Solid-State Lidar can be used on military autonomous ground vehicle applications. The Autonomous Ground Resupply Science and Technology Objective (AGR STO) would be a potential entry point for this sensors application. The real-time configurable beams will also be an attractive feature for the automotive industry as it will provide new avenues towards how they approach autonomous behavior and the solid-state will provide more reliability. 

REFERENCES: 

1: http://www.spectrolab.com/pv/support/Low-cost_compact_MEMS_scanning_LADAR_system_for_robotic.pdf

2: http://articles.sae.org/13899/

3: http://velodynelidar.com/docs/datasheet/97-0038_Rev%20G_%20HDL-32E_Datasheet_Web.pdf

4: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a561293.pdf

KEYWORDS: LIDAR, LADAR, Solid-State, Laser, Imaging, Detection, Ranging 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an apparatus to characterize transparent armor through nondestructive mechanisms. 

DESCRIPTION: Transparent armor can be made from various transparent materials, e.g. glasses, plastics, transparent ceramics, and polymer interlayers. The layers of material can range from 0.01 inch thick to over 1 inch thick resulting in a transparent armor design that can be 6 inches thick overall with over 15 layers of differing materials. When the materials are manufactured into an end component it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to visually see how many layers of material make up the transparent armor, what material each layer consists of, and the thickness of each layer. The goal of this topic is to develop a system that will characterize each layer of a transparent armor from the strike face through the interior surface. The output of the characterization will include the material properties of each layer in order to distinguish between closely related materials (e.g. soda lime silica glass versus borosilicate glass, polycarbonate versus polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), etc.), the thickness of each layer of material, and will combine the information about each layer to produce and overall transparent armor design. The instrumentation may be for use in the laboratory or in the field and shall not interfere with the function of the transparent armors end use. 

PHASE I: Develop a set of tools for nondestructively characterizing the constitutive materials of the transparent armor. The tool set can use one or more material properties, such as density, sound speed, refractive index, etc., to distinguish between various materials of the same and/or different material classes. The tool set shall demonstrate the ability to characterize a simple material layup, for example soda lime glass, interlayer, and borosilicate glass layup or a polycarbonate, interlayer, and PMMA layup, which has been fabricated in a similar fashion to transparent armor. The samples at this level may be simple layups but should replicate the proper thicknesses of real world transparent armor. The output of the system can be raw data that consists of material information for each individual layer. 

PHASE II: Continue development of the tool set to now include the combination of materials that replicate a simple transparent armor design, e.g. borosilicate glass, interlayer, soda lime glass, interlayer, PMMA, interlayer, and polycarbonate or any combination thereof. The output of the system should now select the material that the dataset characterized. The manipulation of the system should now be at the graphical user interface level if it is not already. 

PHASE III: The overall system shall be refined to the point of being able to test various thickness and material solutions of transparent armor designs that are on fielded systems regardless of the number of layers and different materials in the design. The system shall operate with no known knowledge of the transparent armor design, such as overall thickness. The transparent armor is generally encased in a steel frame around its periphery that prevents accurate measurement total weight or density. The interface shall be with software a common user can manipulate to perform the characterization and produce precise and accurate results. The overall system shall consist of production ready components. 

REFERENCES: 

1: C.K. Jen, A. Safaai-Jazi, G.W. Farnell, and E.L. Adler, FIBER ACOUSTIC WAVEGUIDE A SENSOR CANDIDATE, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation Vol 5A, Jan. 1986

2: A. Hammoutene, F.Enguehard and L.Bertrand, LASER-ULTRASONIC OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NONMETALS, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 17

3: Edited by D.O. Thompson andD.E. Chimenti" PlenwnPress, New York, 1998

4: Fioralba Cakoni, Michele Di Cristo, and Jiguang Sun, A Multistep Reciprocity Gap Functional Method for the Inverse Problem in a Multi-layered Medium, Complex Variables and Elliptic Equations Complex Variables and Elliptic Equations Vol. 00, No. 00, January 2008

KEYWORDS: Nondestructive Evaluation, Armor, Transparent, Glass 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a model for a mechanism capable of moving an armor panel of at least 1 square foot with an areal density of 100 pounds per square foot (PSF) 10 horizontally in less than 5 seconds. The movement is intended to be repeatable and controlled from the interior of the vehicle and shall not pose harm to dismounted personnel. 

DESCRIPTION: Conventional armor solutions currently being integrated are not adaptable in providing increased threat capability and protection from a greatly expanded set of threats. A solution is needed for threats that are not feasibly addressed with conventional armor systems. Conventional armor systems are essentially static and unable to respond to unanticipated changes in threats deployed against the system; essentially the army has limited potential to increase the capabilities of current static armor recipes in order to balance size, weight, and performance requirements. Increased threat defeat using conventional armor is prohibitive due to the significant weight burdens associated with increased protection. Any increase in weight has secondary effects such as limited off-road mobility and increased logistics burden. This SBIR topic solicits new, innovative approaches to incorporate mechanisms into an armor system to provide protection against increased threats. For the purpose of this effort the system shall be designed to interface with a 1 plate of Rolled Homogenous Armor (RHA) Plate that represents a surrogate vehicle structure. The mechanism needs to be capable of moving a 100 PSF armor panel 10 inches horizontally in less 5 seconds. The mechanism needs to be able to withstand automotive loading as well as environmental conditions typical of a combat vehicle. The proposal should discuss in detail how the system could be incorporated onto a vehicle platform and what the projected Space, Weight, Power, and cooling (SWAP-C) at the vehicle level. The proposal shall not include a system that could be describe as an Active Protection System (APS). A system is considered an APS system if any of the two statements apply: 1. A light-weight hit avoidance vehicle defense system which, when integrated on a ground combat vehicle, can detect, track; and then interdict by diversion, disruption, neutralization, or destruction of incoming line-of-sight threat munitions. 2. A system that deploys a counter-measure that does not providing any inherent protection to the vehicle system when the counter-measure does not perform as designed. 

PHASE I: Develop a mechanism capable of moving an armor coupon to meet the requirements stated. Identify critical technologies for realizing this concept. Conduct theoretical analysis, simulations, fatigue analysis, and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to prove feasibility of the concept. Phase I deliverables shall be analysis and simulation data, monthly progress reports, a final technical report, a final review meeting including presentation materials and sample materials of devices. 

PHASE II: Design, Fabrication, and demonstration of the adaptive armor actuator mechanism proposed in Phase I. This prototype shall be tested to withstand cycling, automotive loads, and proposed an approach to address environmental conditions. Phase II deliverables shall include a prototype adaptive armor actuator mechanism, test data, monthly progress reports, semi-annual progress reviews, a final review, and final report, and a Phase II project summary. 

PHASE III: The most likely Phase III transition path is integration of this technology into ground combat vehicles via vehicle system prime contractors. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Test, MIL-STD-810G, 15 April 2014

2: Human Engineering, MIL-STD-1472G, 11 Jan 2012

3: Standard Electronic and Electrical Component Parts, MIL-STD-202, 18 April 2015

KEYWORDS: Adaptive, Actuator, Linear, Translation, Control System, Automation, Pneumatic, Hydraulic 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a portable instrument to rapidly detect, measure, quantify, and characterize solid particulate and free water contamination in aviation fuel. 

DESCRIPTION: Legacy test methods for monitoring fuel contamination have not changed in 40-50 years. These methods are cumbersome, time consuming, and imprecise. Additionally they do not meet new diesel engine hardware manufacturers recommendations to limit particles based on size and distribution. Work performed by U.S. Army TARDEC has developed limits for particulate and free water contamination in fuel utilizing light obscuration particle counter technology [1]. These limits have been published in the JP-8 fuel specification (MIL-STD-83133) [2], and MIL-STD-3004D change 1, DOD standard practice for quality assurance/surveillance [3]. The shortcoming of the light obscuration particle counter approach is that it is unable to differentiate between solid particulates, free water droplets, and air bubbles entrained within the fuel stream during refueling operations [4]. The Army desires to develop instrumentation that will detect and measure fuel contaminants, characterize each contaminant detected as being a solid particulate or free water droplet, ignoring air bubbles. The instrumentation shall report the size distribution of contaminants present and quantify the level of contaminants present in the fuel. 

PHASE I: Develop a concept and approach for the development of a ruggedized portable inline or online analytical instrument capable of analyzing fuels to determine the concentration of fuel contaminates. Conduct proof of principle experiments supporting the concept and providing evidence of the feasibility of the approach. 

PHASE II: Develop, build, and demonstrate two (2) identical prototype portable analytical instruments capable of reporting solid particulate and free water contamination of fuel flowing through a two inch hoseline at 100 gallons per minute. The prototypes shall be delivered to the government. 

PHASE III: Technology developed under this SBIR will have a significant impact on military fuel distribution and quality surveillance, the intended transition path is into the Armys Petroleum Expeditionary Analysis Kit or other PM PAWS managed fuel distribution systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Schmitigal, J. Laboratory Evaluation of Light Obscuration Particle Counters used to Establish use Limits for Aviation Fuel TARDEC Technical Report 27480, 01 December 2015

2: Military Specification MIL-DTL-83133J, Turbine Fuels, Aviation, Kerosene Types, NATO F-34 (JP-8), NATO F-35, and JP-8+100 16 December 2015

3: Military Standard MIL-STD-3004D w/CHANGE 1, Department of Defense Standard Practice Quality Assurance/Surveillance for Fuels, Lubricants and Related Products 28 March 2016

4: Schmitigal, J., Bramer, J. Field Evaluation of Particle Counter Technology for Aviation Fuel Contamination Detection “ Fort Rucker TARDEC Technical Report 23966, 10 June 2013

KEYWORDS: JP-8, F-24, Diesel, Jet Fuel, Contamination, Free Water, Aviation Fuel, Particulate 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a hose-end nozzle system capable of allowing the operator to hand select discharges of Ultrahigh-Pressure (UHP; 1100 to 1500 PSI @ 15 to 20 GPM) and low-pressure (LP; 100 PSI @ 15 to 20 GPM) water streams at variable flow rates through a single hose line and application nozzle. 

DESCRIPTION: UHP and LP nozzle technologies already exist and are commercially available, although no one nozzle is capable of providing both UHP and LP water streams. A variable-pressure/flow-control nozzle will allow the first responder the option to utilize, as applicable, either technology to respond to fire incidents. The nozzle shall be designed to be compatible with the existing 4-stage centrifugal pump and 200 ft of 1-in high-pressure hose line mounted on the Air Force P-34 Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV). The variable flow nozzle should be easily handled with similar design to existing firefighting nozzles i.e. with pistol grips and bails as needed to operate the nozzle. The ability to control the nozzle discharge in either UHP or LP shall be by a simple means of a nozzle bail or trigger and or combination of each for the discharge of water thorough the nozzle at variable flow rates. The application nozzle shall also be capable of straight and or fog patterns as selected by the operator. Candidate technologies should balance commercial considerations with DoD requirements. 

PHASE I: R&D goals of phase I are to identify the possibility of using a single pump, hose and nozzle system to provide both UHP and low-pressure waster flows between 15 and 20 GPM at variable pressures from 100 to 1500 PSI Phase I deliverable is design specifications. Offerors are encouraged to work with AFCEC's Fire Research Group during the design stage. 

PHASE II: Produce a full-scale prototype nozzle. Provide detailed specifications of max and min pressure, GPM and capabilities of the nozzle. Conduct a full-scale demonstration of the nozzle at AFCEC's Fire Research Facilities 

PHASE III: Deliver a marketable product with detailed installation/operator guidance manual. 

REFERENCES: 

1. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards

2.http://www.dodfirenews.com/p-34.html

3.http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-165/issue-11/features/ultra-high-pressure-firefighting-technology.html

4.http://www.afcec.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123361014

KEYWORDS: Fire, Firefighting, Mist, Nozzle, Pressure, Stream, Water 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: A handheld system that fits lighttight over reflective beads marking runway surfaces and measures light intensity reflected at angles from 0“45° from a beam incident at 0“45 degrees and displaced 0“30 degrees from the reflected beam. 

DESCRIPTION: Retroreflective glass beads are widely employed as a technology for improving the visibility of highway road markings to drivers in unlighted areas at night. In the context of that application, two limiting geometries are regularly important: as the vehicle approaches a road sign or other horizontal marker, light arrives perpendicular to the reflective surface and returns along a nearly antiparallel optical path to the observer; at centerline striping and edge markings, light from the vehicle arrives nearly parallel to the road surface and reflects back to the driver at an angle that is only slightly larger. Technology for highprecision measurement of perpendicular reflectance that operates in a range of ~0.5 degree from the normal is available and widely used to evaluate the condition (inferred from 90degree reflectance of light incident at ~90 degrees) of both categories of highway markings. Until the adoption of centerline runway illumination, reflective glass beads were also the tool of choice to provide observability to allow pilots to land aircraft at night and taxiing. Their utility in for this purpose was effectively eliminated when runway lighting came into use, but use of the beads has been continued as a backup in the event of a lighting failure, and because they afford some measure of visibility on the ground, reflecting landing and taxiing lights. As for the second highway case, measurement with current technology is marginally representative at best because illumination and reflection for aircraft on runway and taxiway surfaces occur at geometries vastly different from that measured by conventional retroreflectometers, for which measured reflectances typically vary widely in field measurements. The instrument sought will perform measurements of reflectance at geometries representative of aircraft operations, from which criteria indicating need for and that restriping treatments must pass for acceptance will be developed to replace the FAA recommendations based on perpendicular reflectance. The instrument sought will exclude external light and allow independent adjustment to the nearest degree of the incident angle, reflected angle, and radial displacement of the latter from the vertical plane of the former. It will operate on rechargeable batteries, preferably solar, for at least 4 hours, and onboard software will calculate means and standard deviations for sets of nine adjacent measurements defining a square array at each sampling point. 

PHASE I: Develop a breadboard prototype. Demonstrate proof of concept in a darkened laboratory: reproducibly (+/- 20% for six sampling points in each angular dimension) map reflectance of a 1-inch square each of a commercial reflective tape and a runway coating to which highway beads have been applied to the supplier's specifications. Deliverables include a constructible design for a field-testable prototype. 

PHASE II: Produce a full-scale prototype and mar, as in phase I, five randomly selected sites each on new and old coatings on asphalt and concrete highway surfaces and new and old coatings on asphalt and concrete runway surfaces. For each, agreement between averages of the prototype's and conventional instrument's measurements in perpendicular orientation must agree within 20%. Deliverables include a 50% design for a manufacturable prototype 

PHASE III: Deliver a marketable product that minimally trained personnel deployed in an austere environment can operate. Unit will survive being dropped 4 feet onto a concrete surface and rolled down a 20-foot, 15% incline, and will function in rain or salt spray and at temperatures from -30 to 140 degrees F. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Airfield Marking Handbook, Innovative Pavement Research Foundation Project 05-01 Report, available fromhttp://www.iprf.org/products/main.html

2. "Retroreflection from spherical glass beads in highway pavement markings. 2. Diffuse reflection (a first approximation from calculation)." Vedam, K., and Stout, M.D., Applied Optics, (1978) 17(12):1859-1869.

3, Pavement Markings and Safety, Smadi, O.; Hawkins, N.; Nlenanya, I.; and Aldemir-Bektas, B., Iowa Highway Research Board Project TR 580, Nov 2010; available fromhttp://www.intrans.iastate.edu/reports/pvmt_markings_safety_report.pdf

KEYWORDS: Beads, Markings, Observability, Reflectance, Reflection, Runway, Taxiway, Visibility 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a surface activation technology for electroplating landing gear parts that shall reduce the amount of material removed from the parts, improve plating adhesion, reduce waste, and lower risks to both personnel & landing gear parts. 

DESCRIPTION: In the preparation of landing gear parts to be electroplated, the parts are usually prepared using a blasting technique. The blasting technique utilizes either aluminum oxide or garnet and this process is an aggressive technique which activates the surface. The activation is obtained by abrading off the surface layer by one ten-thousandth to one thousandth of an inch per second. As material is abraded from the base material, some particulates of the base metal become part of the blast media. This cross contamination of the blast material creates possible problems such as corrosion of landing parts by dissimilar metals. In order to minimize the problems associated with cross contamination, independent blasting systems are used for each metal type. Additionally, the blast media is a non-renewable material and after cycling through the filtration system, the particles that are too small are discarded. These attributes increase the operational cost for preparing landing gear parts for electroplating. The Air Force is interested in other methods for preparing the surface for electroplating. Because of the high dynamic stresses that landing gear undergoes, compatibility of the process must be such that the surface activation process does not over-heat the base metal (not to exceed 425 deg. F.), cause embrittlement of the base metal, or other danger to the landing gear. In addition, the removal of the base material while activating the surface should be minimal. It is preferred that only the first few atoms of the surface will be removed instead of up to a ten-thousandth of an inch. The new technology needs to be able to function on multiple landing gear parts that consists of different high strength steel (heat treat = 180ksi) alloys in a variety of sizes and shapes. Conduct feasibility verification and validation testing of the alternative technology to include, but not limited to, adhesion of electroplated materials to base metal, temperature testing, fatigue testing, corrosion testing and hydrogen embrittlement testing. Along with the safety of the landing gear parts; personnel safety must be taken into consideration. 

PHASE I: Develop a solution that meets above requirements and conduct preliminary business case analysis (BCA) to determine implementation costs, including a return-on-investment (ROI) calculation that compares anticipated savings to expected costs. Mishap avoidance shall not be included in cost calculations. Proof-of-concept prototype(s) shall be developed to demonstrate conformance to the requirements. 

PHASE II: Optimize the developed solution. Perform testing on large diameter surface areas as well as small surface areas, both outer diameters and inner diameters. Prepare specification so the technology can be demonstrated verified and validated. Continue to refine the BCA to determine costs for implementation; BCA should include an ROI calculation that compares the anticipated savings to the expected costs. 

PHASE III: Continue to verify the technologys activation of high strength steels for electroplating. Perform cost benefit analysis. Implement the new technology. Expand workload across all electroplating platforms which may include other Air Force bases. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Surface treatment of metals using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet and their surface characteristics, M.C. Kima, b, S.H. Yanga, J.-H. Boob, J.G. Hanb; Nano Surface Technology Team, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Cheonan 330-825, South Korea.

2. Plasma jet treatment of five polymers at atmospheric pressure: surface modifications and the relevance for adhesion; International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Volume 24, Issue 2, April 2004, Pages 171-177 Michael Noeske, Jost Degenhardt, Silke Strudthoff, Uwe Lommatzsch.

3. MIL-STD-1504.

4. A-A-1722.

KEYWORDS: Electroplating, Surface Activation, Landing Gear 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Research and develop an appropriate process to include specifications, equipment requirements, optimal applications and cost/benefit for metal plating 3D Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Stereo Lithography (SLA) printed parts. 

DESCRIPTION: Metal plating FDM parts with chromium, nickel or copper can greatly enhance strength, durability, surface hardness, and heat resistance. Industry has claimed that the metal plating thickness of a FDM or SLA part can be between 0.001 - 0.020 inches and can improve strength by a factor of 20. Open source web searches and inquiries to FDM and SLA equipment vendors indicate that the 3D part plating process is poorly defined and there is very little information available to specify or replicate the process. Additionally, the processes for plating complex 3D printed FDM and SLA parts is not well understood from a design perspective and internal areas may not be plated consistently or predictably. The Air Force is interested in employing a metal plating technology of FDM and SLA printed parts in Depot maintenance processes. Examples of FDM and SLA material that may be metal plated are ABS, Nylon, Polycarbonate, Polypropylene, or ULTEM 9085. The new technology shall demonstrate the ability to metal plate on complex FDM and SLA parts. The prospective parts may include: casting molds, large metal press molds, parts with conductive surface requirements, tooling, fixtures, and increased size parts (larger than 3x2x3) that are then plated and bonded together. This effort shall provide opportunities for the Air Force to employ metal plating of FDM and SLA printed parts to enhance attributes of strength, durability, surface hardness, and heat resistance. Additionally, the efforts shall quantify material properties, structural integrity, process predictability and reproducibility. Furthermore, this effort shall develop process specifications and design guidelines. The efforts shall identify limitations, level of effort, space & utility requirements, equipment, and time requirements. Provide a business case analysis quantifying the expected cost for plating along with several alternative materials including part complexity and thickness of metal. Verify plating can be applied uniformly at any desired thickness range between 0.001 “ 0.020 inches. Validate and verify plated prototype parts and evaluate the enhancements at varying plating thicknesses. The printed parts shall have bond lines where printed parts have been joined together. Validate finite element analysis for structure optimization. 

PHASE I: Develop a solution that meets above requirements and conduct preliminary business case analysis (BCA) to determine implementation costs, including a return-on-investment (ROI) calculation that compares anticipated savings to expected costs. Proof-of-concept prototype(s) shall be developed to demonstrate conformance to the requirements. 

PHASE II: Proof-of-concept prototype(s) shall be refined to installation-ready article and shall undergo testing to verify and validate all requirements. This process may require multiple iterations before a final design is selected. Refine BCA/ROI based on the final design. 

PHASE III: If cost effective, implement developed technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Stratasys Finishing Processes Bond, seal and beautify 3D printed parts http://www.stratasys.com/solutions/finishing-processes/electroplating#sthash.Ngpp8nYf.dpuf.

2. CREATING COMPLEX HOLLOWMETAL GEOMETRIES USING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND METAL PLATING, David Lee McCarthy; http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/Manuscripts/2012/2012-08-McCarthy.pdf

KEYWORDS: 3D Printing, Electroplating, Strength 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this task is to provide engineering services to develop tooling, procedures, training materials, and drawings to repair all landing gear attachment housing holes. 

DESCRIPTION: The F-16 main landing gear (MLG) and nose landing gear (NLG) connection points have wearable bushings to transfer landing loads to the aircraft structure. For the MLG, these bushings are in the 341 bulkhead and drag support fittings. For the NLG, the bushings are in two trunnion mounts and a drag brace fitting. Over time these bushings wear and migrate out of the housings/bulkhead bores. If this causes the bushing bore to exceed tight out of round limits, a repair will be needed to oversize the bore so a new bushing can be installed. Although there are instructions on how to replace the bushings in the repair manual, there are no instructions on how to oversize the bore, nor adequate tooling for the process. Tooling and procedures are needed to be researched and developed such that a repeatable operation can be executed to restore the housings and return the aircraft back to service in a timely manner. The developed tooling and procedures must be designed to repair the housing holes with the aircraft on jacks with the landing gear removed. Repair must be adaptable to both lightweight and heavyweight configurations, which corresponds to slight differences in lug thickness and bushing lengths. Refer to drawings for specific differences (Drawings to be distributed once contractor has been verified in Joint Certification Program [JCP]). 1: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 lightweight 341 bulkhead drawing 2: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 heavyweight 341 bulkhead drawing 3: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 lightweight MLG drag support fitting drawing 4: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 heavyweight MLG drag support fitting drawing 5: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 NLG trunnion mount drawing 6: To be released upon verification in JCP: F-16 NLG drag brace fitting drawing Any pneumatic solution must operate on shop air at less than 150 PSI, and any electrically operated solution shall be explosion proof IAW MIL-STD-810. Tooling must be designed to be operated by a general machinist using standard machinist practices and common facility equipment. Typical repair time for any of the housing holes shall be less than 40 man hours. Alignment of bores must remain within drawing limits after repair. Alignment must allow for contingencies of existing bushings which have already been oversized. For example, if alignment depends on the adjacent housing holes/bushings, the tooling must be able to be adaptable to various sizes, from the minimum bushing inner diameter (ID) to the maximum housing hole diameter for each bore. Tooling must remain serviceable for at least 200 repairs. Exception would be wear items such as reamers, or other cutting tips. Tooling must be designed to be checked as airline luggage for all tools necessary to repair each of the bores individually. To clarify, if a team will travel to repair the aft MLG drag support fitting lug, all of the tools needed for that must qualify for airline checked baggage, (weight, size, etc.). Upon approval, the contractor shall fabricate prototype tooling to be used during a demonstration on an unserviceable F-16. Final prototype must be delivered in storage cases (pelican or similar) with labeled foam cutouts for each piece of tooling. 

PHASE I: Develop concept to include: drawings of draft tooling (3D and 2D), draft procedures, and outline of the recommended tooling design solution. Repair feasibility will also be demonstrated with single draft tool, showing drive mechanism method. 

PHASE II: Optimize design to incorporate all specifications and tolerances per the drawings. Adapt tooling to ensure all configurations and hole sizes will be accounted for. Determine cycle wear tolerance and fabricate production level tooling. Finalize procedures, training, tooling, and packaging to present a final demonstration on an aircraft at Hill AFB. PHASE III: Implementation of selected design(s). Tooling and design may be used operationally to sustain F-16 fleet, as well as multiple sets purchased and distributed worldwide. 

PHASE III: Implementation of selected design(s). Tooling and design may be used operationally to sustain F-16 fleet, as well as multiple sets purchased and distributed worldwide. 

REFERENCES: 

1. USAF Structural Repair TO 1F-16*-3-1, Pg. 8-1 “ 8-40, Airframe Bushing Data

2. See references of drawings in Description

KEYWORDS: Landing Gear, Wearable Bushing, Repair 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Research and develop Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies for landing gear components to enable testing and production of landing gear components using AM techniques. 

DESCRIPTION: Due to the extreme operational loading and harsh environments, landing gear designs have led to manufacturing and fabrication processes that are lengthy (i.e. forgings) and expensive. Landing gear primary structural components include pistons, cylinders, truck beams, drag braces, side braces. Secondary components include actuators, links, gear boxes, brackets, bushings and bearings. Many components require forgings to ensure proper grain flow in order to prevent premature fatigue failures. The need for forgings adds significant costs, delays, and complexity to the manufacturing process. Additionally, current machining methods limit component designs to produce the most efficient geometry for strength and weight reduction. Many components are currently made from lower cost materials (low alloy steel and aluminum). Other alloys, such as titanium, could greatly improve the part performance, strength to weight ratio, weight, and corrosion resistance. In addition to the cost of materials for these high performance alloys, expense of manufacturing often offsets the feasibility of their use. In conjunction with material and fabrication challenges, USAF forecasting, planning, and procurement methods require purchasing of low quantity buys that eliminate economies of scale. This purchasing practice can inherently drive higher part costs, which is the case with costly forging and machining of landing gear components. With current landing gear manufacturing and fabrication processes, the cost to sustain the aging USAF fleet will continue to grow. A game changing fabrication process is needed to replace current forging and machining processes to produce landing gear components of equal or improved strength, weight, and corrosion resistance. Metal additive manufacturing (AM, or 3D printing), technology has grown exponentially in the last several years and it appears now feasible to manufacture landing gear components using this technology. To achieve this, AM materials must be identified and tested to provide the required data that will satisfy USAF airworthiness requirements that will in turn, allow these materials to be used on current and future landing gear designs. Additionally, the required design processes, metal powder combinations, manufacturing techniques, post processing techniques, and qualification testing requirement must be developed for landing gear components. Benefits to the use of AM technology for landing gear components include: cost savings, significant improvement in on-time deliveries of landing gear components, significant reduction in outside processing time, improved design alternatives, possibility for weight reduction, optimizing stress concentration areas, corrosion mitigation and improved production lead-time. The purpose of this task is identification and development of AM material and process development for landing gear components. The task will investigate the following: 1. If a standard AM process is achievable for landing gear component materials and if the selected standard process will produce consistent repeatable mechanical properties as defined by industry standards 2. Design techniques/changes requisite for AM of landing gear components 3. Powder compositions for candidate materials including aluminum, titanium, steel and stainless steel alloys 4. AM techniques to ensure completed printed parts have the required material properties equivalent to existing material 5. Post processing requirements (Heat treatment, shot peening, High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF), plating (anodize, Low Hydrogen Embrittlement Zinc Nickel (LHE Zn-Ni), etc) 6. Non-destructive Inspection/Test (NDI/NDT) and general testing methods to ascertain these techniques are robust to ensure part integrity 7. Qualification requirements 8. Equipment and facility requirements are identified and documented to ensure component integrity. 

PHASE I: Research, develop & perform coupon level testing of candidate landing gear material. Phase I final report will provide results of how AM developed coupons compared with the traditional manufactured coupons & ability of the material to be viable for airworthiness certification of a candidate landing gear part. 

PHASE II: Based on the Phase I research, work with the 417 SCMS government team to identify a candidate landing gear part for selection & AM fabrication, NDI/NDT evaluation, and Qualification Testing. The contractor shall complete a full-scale component fabrication & first article inspection. Following inspection the part shall be submitted to the required NDI/NDT processes for ver/val. After NDI/NDT the part shall be submitted to full qualification testing to ensure airworthiness compliance. 

PHASE III: Based on the Phase I research, work with the 417 SCMS government team to identify a candidate landing gear part for selection & AM fabrication, NDI/NDT evaluation, and Qualification Testing. The contractor shall complete a full-scale component fabrication & first article inspection. Following inspection the part shall be submitted to the required NDI/NDT processes for ver/val. After NDI/NDT the part shall be submitted to full qualification testing to ensure airworthiness compliance. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Additive manufacturing technologies rapid prototyping to direct digital manufacturing, By: Gibson, I., and D. W. Rosen.

2. http://www.ncms.org/wp-content/NCMS_files/AdditiveManufacturing/AddManMorning.pdf

3. http://www.asminternational.org/documents/17679604/17683439/White+paper.pdf/fba0eade-d6db-4921-b42f-668965d7c70a

KEYWORDS: Additive Manufacturing, Landing Gear, Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Sustainment, High Strength Steel, Materials Science, High Strength Aluminum, Titanium, Aerospace Structures 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an accurate, real-time, 3-D capability for the quantitative measurements of position, attitude, and surface deformation of test models in large scale wind tunnels. 

DESCRIPTION: Dynamic loading and deformation of wind tunnel models during testing contribute to the overall measurement uncertainty of aerodynamic parameters. Unlike flow-field uncertainties, which are quantified by wind tunnel calibration studies, the uncertainty associated with model attitudes and deformities has to be determined during the test. In the absence of a separate and calibrated diagnostic process, the effects produced by these irregularities of the model cannot be distinguished from the random error of the measured aerodynamic data. An innovative technology solution to accurately measure test article position, attitude, surface deformation and the quantification of fluctuations of these parameters is needed to meet test customer requirements. Application of a measurement system of this nature is difficult due to test facility structure. To achieve air flow quality requirements, the AEDC 16T wind tunnel has porous walls in the test section that houses the test article and the overall porosity must not be significantly diminished. The optical and lighting components of this technology must be implemented without significant modifications to the porous wall design of AEDCs 16T wind tunnel. The walls are ¾ inch thick and have many ¾ inch diameter holes drilled through them at a 60 degree angle with respect to the wall normal direction. The holes are spaced approximately 2.7 inches apart in a hexagonal pattern, described in reference 6. This pattern allows up to a 1.5 inch diameter hole to be drilled straight through the wall between any two canted perforation holes, and that straight hole can be used for optical access if necessary. This area of the tunnel sees pressures ranging from 47 to 4000 psf and temperatures from 60 to 140 degF. Any installed equipment would need to be able to withstand these conditions. Innovative techniques to combine multiple images to produce highly accurate, real-time, 3-D test model position, attitude and surface deformation measurements during static and dynamic test events are needed. The ultimate goal is to develop a prototype system that can be transitioned to a wind tunnel test facility at AEDC, such as the 16T transonic wind tunnel. The prototype system should include optical components, data acquisition system, and software required to satisfy the topic. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of the technique to measure position, attitude and surface deformations of a representative 3-D model in a laboratory environment. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system that can make real-time, 3-D measurements of position, attitude, surface deformations and can quantify fluctuations of these parameters in a relevant operational wind tunnel environment. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: Applicable to subsonic, supersonic & hypersonic wind tunnels where position, attitude and/or surface deformation measurements are needed. Commercial Applications: Applicable to ground based testing of commercial flight vehicles to include aircraft & missiles. 

REFERENCES: 

1. E. T. Schairer, et al., Model Deformation Measurements of Sonic boom Models in the NASA Ames 9- by 7-Ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel, AIAA Paper 2015-1913, 53rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 5-9, 2015, Orlando FL.

2. Y. Le Sant, A. Durand, and M-C. Merienne, Image Processing Tools Used for PSP and Model Deformation Measurements, AIAA Paper 2005-5007, 35th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit, June 6-9, 2005, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

3. J. S. Masters and K. E. Tatum, Unstructured Mesh manipulation in Response to Surface Deformation, AIAA Journal, Vol. 54, pp 331-342 (2016).

4. T. W. Fahringer and B. S. Thurow, 3D Particle Position Reconstruction Accuracy in Plenoptic PIV, AIAA Paper 2014-0398, 52nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 13-17, 2014, National Harbor, MD.

5. B.C. Winkelmann, et al., Application of Stereoscopic Imaging in Aerospace Ground Testing, AIAA Paper 2014-2519, 30th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, June 16-20, 2014, Atlanta, GA.

KEYWORDS: Three-dimensional Imaging, High-speed Imaging, Wind Tunnel Testing, Transonic Wind Tunnels, Test Article Attitude, Surface Deformation, 3-D Test Model Position, Dynamic Loads, Wind Tunnel Model Position Measurement, Stereoscopic Imaging 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a technology for effective damping or elimination of large oscillations in wind tunnel model balance support systems. 

DESCRIPTION: Modern wind tunnel test articles involve models and balance support systems for force and moment measurements. Models are typically installed onto a compact internally mounted balance and supported by the sting at the other end. Models sizes can range between a small weapon such as a 5% scale 250 pound bomb to a 10% scale model aircraft ranging between 200 and 800 pounds. Loads on the larger models are limited to the balance capacity which can average around 3,000 lb of force, 10,000 in-lb of moment. Conditions in the wind tunnel are below 4,000 psf total pressure and less than 140 degrees F. Unsteady flow generated on models can result in vibration and oscillation of the model support system. Such motions, whether generated by the aerodynamics alone and/or in coupled with support system structure, result in contaminated data due to the unexpected motion of the model support system. Certain small to moderate unsteady data can be post processed to improve accuracy of such data. Under certain conditions a model may experience unexpected unsteady loads which exceed safe operational limits of the model support systems components. Such conditions, often due to the presence of oscillatory dynamics, may result in significant and expensive damage or loss of components and waste of valuable test time. An example includes rolling moment snaps from abrupt wing stall. Current vibration reduction and isolation techniques involve tuned vibration dampers, viscoelastic material, and active damping with piezoceramic material. While these techniques can provide favorable results in certain situations, their use is typically limited to specific models, configurations and test conditions. The overall goal of this topic is to develop innovative and practical technology solutions to reduce/limit the amplitudes of oscillations experienced by a balance, using adaptive and or active control techniques. The proposed technology must be feasible for various model and balance support systems and effectively eliminate the potential for serious damage to the systems. It also must be easily adaptable to different model sizes, configurations and test conditions without extensive preparation and build up. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of an instrumented model support system for damping or eliminating large oscillations in a relevant laboratory environment. 

PHASE II: Develop an interactive (adaptive and/or automated) prototype, including mechanical and control software and demonstrate the system in an AEDC large scale wind tunnel or other representative operational environment. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: This technology is applicable to wind tunnel testing of legacy and next generation air platforms. Commercial Applications: This technology is applicable to a large array of Commercial/University wind tunnel facilities across the U.S. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Reduction of Wind Tunnel Model Vibration by Means of a Tuned Damped Vibration Absorber Installed in a Model; Igoe, W.B. and Capone, F.T.; NASA-TMX-1606, July 1968.

2. Passive and Active Damping Augmentation Systems in the Fields of Structural Dynamics and Acoustics; Freymann, R; AIAA-1989-1196.

3. The Use of Friction Springs for Damping Model Vibrations; Fuykschot, P.H.; STA Proceedings, April 1999.

4. Active Damping of Sting Vibrations in Transonic Wind Tunnel Testing; S. Balakrishna, D. H. Butler, R. White, and W. A. Kilgore; AIAA- 2008-0840.

5. Design and Performance of an Active Damper for NASA Common Research Model; S. Balakrishna, D. H. Butler, Michael J. Acheson, & E. Richard White; AIAA-2011-953.

KEYWORDS: Model Active Dampening, Passive Dampening, Force Balance Protection, Sting Dampening, Model Dynamics, Unsteady Loads, Wind Tunnel Testing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Development of a miniature video camera technology with the appropriate form factor and optical performance for embedding into small water-cooled probes for evaluating and monitoring turbine engine augmentor performance. 

DESCRIPTION: AEDC develops and implements multi-purpose probes that are inserted into the hot, high speed, exhaust streams of turbine engines in order to measure pressure, temperature, velocity, species concentrations, and other performance characteristics. In particular, development of viewing probes have allowed unprecedented optical access to the turbine engine augmentors, but current needs far exceed the capability of available camera technologies. Camera technologies are unavailable that meet the requirements for size, form factor, optical quality and frame rates for embedding into probes used for augmentor performance evaluation, health monitoring and diagnosis. Spectral ranges have been limited to the visible, but short and long wavelength infrared images are needed, but not with a single camera technology.Camera technologies are required that meet the specifications in the table below: Design Characteristics: Threshold(T), Objective(O), Stretch Goals(S) Number of pixels: 640 X 480(T), 1280 X 960(O), 2048 X 2048(S) Frame Rate: 30 fps interlaced(T), 100 fps non-interlaced(O), 1000 fps non-interlaced(S) Form factor: Cylindrical(T), Cylindrical(O), Cylindrical(S) Outer Diameter: 0.25 inches(T), 0.125 inches(O), 0.10 inches(S) Length: 1.65 inches(T), 1.0 inches(O), 0.875 inches(S) Spectral Range: Visible (T), Visible & near IR(O), Visible to LWIR(S) Performance Life (at relevant conditions): 1000 hours(T), 1500 hours(O), 2000 hours(S) Innovative development techniques will be required to achieve the required form factor, size and camera performance. The innovative camera technologies will replace existing small diameter NTSC cameras. The camera technology must have automatic gain control and adjustable shutter speeds. Since the cameras will be embedded into probes inserted into the harsh environment of augmented engine exhaust flows, the camera must be rugged and robust (vibration insensitive for temperatures up to 195 ºF). Manual adjustments over shutter speeds and gains must also be available. The camera systems must have options for multiple lens with image steering capability up to 90 degrees. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof-of-principal camera technology design capable of satisfying all objective requirements. A laboratory demonstration proving feasibility that the prototype components meet the vibrational and temperature requirements for extended periods of time (2 hours) is desirable. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype camera system satisfying all objective requirements and/or stretch goals and demonstrate camera performance life of 100 hours without failure in a relevant environment. 

PHASE III: Formalize the production process and design the appropriate machinery/infrastructure to support full-scale commercial production. Military Applications: Monitoring of turbine engine augmentor operation. Gas turbine combustor monitoring. Rocket engine combustor monitoring. Video surveillance. Commercial Applications: Gas turbine combustor monitoring. Rocket engine combustor monitoring. Video surveillance. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Hiers, R. S. Jr. and Hiers, R. S. III, Development of High Temperature Image Probes for Viewing Turbine Engine Augmentors, AIAA-2002-2912, 22nd AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, 24 - 27 June 2002.

2. Hiers, R. S. III and Hiers, R. S. Jr., Development of Exit-Plane Probes for Turbine Engine Condition Monitoring, AIAA-2002-4304, 38th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Indianapolis, Indiana, 7-10 July 2002.

3. Beitel, G. R., Jalbert, P. A., Plemmons, D., Hiers, R. S., and Catalano, D. R., Development of Embedded Diagnostics for Internal Flow-Field Measurements in Gas Turbine Engines, AIAA 2004-6865, AIAA/USAF Developmental Test & Evaluation Summit, Woodla

KEYWORDS: Viewing Probes, Turbine Engines, Diagnostics, Augmentors, Miniature Camera, Visible, LWIR 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate a non-intrusive, time-resolved instrument for turbulence measurements in large hypersonic ground test facilities. 

DESCRIPTION: The non-intrusive measurement of turbulence is a critical capability missing in Hypersonic T&E facilities. Such facilities can measure forces, moments, and surface quantities to support the validation of computations, but do not provide a complete understanding of the hypersonic flow physics needed to improve modeling. Moreover, the flow characterization of any wind tunnel involves knowledge of its freestream turbulence, which is composed of vorticity (incompressible turbulence), entropy (total temperature) and acoustic (tunnel noise) fluctuations. To date, the characterization of free stream fluctuations (tunnel noise) in large scale hypersonic wind tunnels has been limited to high frequency Pitot pressure measurements. Such measurements are performed behind a normal shock which distort the spectral content and the magnitude of the fluctuations as a function of the probe tip geometry (1). Recent boundary layer stability measurements and analysis performed at AEDC Tunnel 9 (2) have shown that 2nd mode transition can be predicted using Macks amplitude method. The accuracy of this method is dependent on the accuracy of the tunnel noise measurements at high frequencies. A measurement technique that can discriminate between the disturbance modes (vorticity, entropy and acoustic) is highly desirable. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) are thwarted by the high stagnation temperature of the flow and the impracticality of seeding the core flow. Approaches such as Rayleigh scattering (3), interferometry (4), and Schlieren methods (5) show promise, but have yet to be successfully applied for turbulence measurements in large scale hypersonic T&E facilities. The goal of this effort is to develop and demonstrate an instrument suitable for non-intrusive turbulence measurements in large-scale hypersonic wind tunnels. An instrument suite would also be acceptable, considering the multimodal nature of the freestream disturbances in hypersonic wind tunnels. Typical test conditions for the USAF AEDC Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 are: Mach number 8 to 14, run time 0.25 to 5 seconds, stagnation temperature up to 1850 K, static temperature 40 to 200 K, static pressure 3.5 to 10,000 Pa, static density 0.0003 to 0.56 kg/m3 , and velocity 1370 to 2070 m/s. Test section optical access is typically gained through two thick (50 mm) BK7 glass windows located 1.5 to 2 m apart, but smaller diameter (thinner) inserts with other optical materials can be implemented. The test gas is nitrogen. Hypersonic wind tunnel facilities produce low-frequency vibrations during testing which must be tolerated by the proposed instrument. Measurements should resolve turbulent frequencies up to 1 MHz to provide useful data for boundary layer transition. While this solicitation does not require global data, multiple point measurements are required to obtain turbulence length scale (without needing Taylors hypothesis) and convection velocity magnitudes and directions. Several (~20) simultaneous point measurements are needed without traversing the instrument, in order to characterize turbulence across a boundary layer in a single run. The measurement volume for each point should be less than 1 mm in size in all directions and the distance between measurement points should be as low as 1-mm. Finally, it is very important that the instrument be able to reject the sidewall boundary-layer located over the test cell windows. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of a non-intrusive instrument for high-speed flow turbulence measurements, preferably in a small-scale supersonic or hypersonic wind tunnel or similar environment. 

PHASE II: Develop a non-intrusive, real-time turbulence prototype measurement system and demonstrate the prototype in large scale hypersonic wind tunnel. 

PHASE III: The measurement technology can be marketed for non-intrusive turbulence measurements in high-speed wind tunnels and other high-speed flow applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1. R. S. Chaudhry, G. V. Candler. Recovery of Freestream Acoustic Disturbances from Stagnation Pressure Spectrum in Hypersonic Flow, AIAA Paper 2016-2059.

2. E.C. Marineau, Prediction Methodology for 2nd Mode Dominated Boundary Layer Transition in Hypersonic Wind Tunnels, AIAA Paper 2016-0597.

3. A. F. Mielke, R. G. Seasholtz, K. A. Elam, J. Panda. Time-average measurement of velocity, density, temperature, and turbulence velocity fluctuations using Rayleigh and Mie scattering. Experiments in Fluids 39 (2): 441-454, 2005.

4. N. J. Parziale, J. E. Shepherd, H. G. Hornung. Free-stream density perturbations in a reflected-shock tunnel, Experiments in Fluids 55(2): 1-10, 2014.

S. Garg, G. S. Settles. Measurements of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer by focusing schlieren deflectometry, Experiments in Fluids 25 (3): 254-264, 1998.

KEYWORDS: Turbulence, Hypersonic, Instrumentation, Non-intrusive, Seedless, Wind-tunnel 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop advanced, cost-effective, arc-heater electrode materials and demonstrate significant reduction in erosion rates under typical operating conditions as compared to traditional electrode materials. 

DESCRIPTION: Development of advanced hypersonic systems often requires arc-heater-based ground test facilities such as those at the AEDC, which can provide mission-representative high-enthalpy test environments. Development plans for the AEDC arc heater facilities call for expansion of the test environment envelope to broaden mission support, thereby placing considerably higher demands on arc heater subsystems and components, particularly the electrodes which deliver current to and from the high pressure air flow. The very high current density in the electrode arc attachment region, driven by both high arc currents and arc constriction associated with high pressure flow, inevitably causes erosion of electrode material, contaminating the flow and creating conditions conducive to arcing across insulator surfaces. Over the 35+ year history of AEDC arc heater operations, many improvements in electrode design, material selection, cooling techniques, etc, have been implemented to control flow contamination levels and maximize heater component reliability. However, the planned expansion of the test environment envelope will require increases in arc current, flow pressure, and run time, representing a significant increase in the severity of the electrode operating environment. Individual arc heater runs, operating at thousands of amperes and up to 120 atmospheres of chamber pressure, can last up to several minutes. Because of this, the arc heater electrodes are nominally replaced after about 10 minutes of accumulated run time. Desired operating conditions include significant increases in run times, current, and pressure, which will significantly increase the severity of the thermal environment at the electrode-arc attachment region and likely reduce electrode lifetime to unacceptable levels. Forced electrode cooling and other mitigation measures have been optimized in terms of benefit to the arc attachment region, suggesting that new electrode materials, capable of handling higher current densities while retaining thermal and electrical conductivity similar to copper, be investigated as a possible remedy. Candidate materials/electrodes will be tested at typical arc heater operating conditions to evaluate ampacity, mass loss rate, and other performance parameters as compared to legacy materials/electrodes. After successful demonstration of improvement at typical operating conditions, candidate electrodes will be operated at higher currents, pressures, and run times to explore their expanded operational limits. 

PHASE I: Research candidate composites and materials which lend themselves to production for use as electrodes and/or electrode liners. Produce test samples of selected materials and demonstrate ampacity and thermal/electrical conductivity which meet or exceed that of zirconium copper. 

PHASE II: Develop prototype electrodes from candidate material(s) that meet/exceed specifications in description. Dimensions of the electrodes used in the AEDC arc heaters do not exceed 8" in diameter and 6" in length. Demonstrate reduction in mass loss rate as compared to that of zirconium copper and the ability to survive the harsh environment in the AEDC Arc Heater H1 or H3. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: Electrode Liners for AEDC's H1, H3, and MPAH (Mid Pressure Arc Heater), lighter electronics for any military device, possible EMP resistant devices. Commercial Applications: Electrical applications involving contacts/electrodes. Conductors in any small electrical device carrying relatively large currents. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Subramaniam, Chandramouli, Takeo Yamada, Kazufumi Kobashi, Atsuko Sekiguchi, Don N. Futaba, Motoo Yumura, and Kenji Hata. "One Hundred Fold Increase in Current Carrying Capacity in a Carbon Nanotube“copper Composite." Nature Communications Nat Comms 4 (2013): n. pag. Web. 7 Mar. 2016. <http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/130723/ncomms3202/full/ncomms3202.html>.

2. Chu, Ke, Hong Guo, Chengchang Jia, Fazhang Yin, Ximin Zhang, Xuebing Liang, and Hui Chen. "Thermal Properties of Carbon Nanotube“Copper Composites for Thermal Management Applications." Nanoscale Research Letters. Springer, 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

KEYWORDS: Carbon Nanotube-Copper Composite, CNT, High Current, Electrode, Arc Heater, Ampacity, Conductivity 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a ground based target system to enable measurement of sensitivity and spatial resolution of airborne target sensors with long range and full optical spectrum capability. 

DESCRIPTION: The current state of existing engineering targets on the Edwards AFB precision impact range area (PIRA) would benefit greatly from innovative technology injection. Such upgrades would fulfill a number of current and future requirements while replacing existing limited capability at the end of its life. Research must be performed on how to implement the current requirements, perform system trade-studies, locating suitable system placement on the range, in addition to manufacturing, installing, protecting, sustaining, maintaining and quantifying the limitations, constraints and characteristics of the installed system. The resolution and sensitivity measurements of interest are modulation transfer function (MTF), relative edge response (RER), signal to noise ratio (SNR), noise equivalent delta temperature and (NEDT) noise equivalent delta radiance (NEDL) and any other objective measurements possible. The analysis tools for the metrics are in development (some already mature) by the 775TS/ENVD engineers, though a deeper understanding of optical remote sensing, radiometry, optical system imaging performance and resolution/sensitivity metrics is required for test setup and data analysis. Requirements include a target system which allows measurement of sensitivity and resolution (preferable a knife edge). Capability to measure at long and short range, UV to LWIR (100nm to 12µm λ), color capability in the visible spectrum, highly uniform surfaces using the latest technology, fully instrumented for atmospherics, surface temperatures, radiance and turbulence (Cn2), built in protection from the elements, rotatable alignment for solar/lunar/flight path geometry, articulating for long range capability, maintenance schedule and procedures and system performance/limitations quantified. If successful, this research, development, manufacturing and installation will not only provide a key test and analysis capability for efficient, consistent, repeatable, objective airborne electro-optics system imaging performance for any customer with aircraft optical sensors under test. In addition, the developer shall provide a training package for both 775TS/ENVD discipline engineers as well as Test Pilot School (TPS) students. 

PHASE I: Research in this phase should focus on trade studies for realizing the requirements of the system in terms of hardware and software in addition to our 775TS/ENVD engineers gaining additional expertise in optical remote sensing, radiometry, optical system imaging performance, and more. 

PHASE II: Research in Phase II should be focused on manufacturing, installation, protection, maintenance, and quantification of system performance of a pre-production prototype. 

PHASE III: Military Application: This is an enabling target system technology with the potential to provide inputs for airborne electro-optical systems to quantify a number of sensitivity and spatial resolution metrics for test and evaluation of airborne electro-optics systems under test. It will also be useful as a training tool for engineers and test pilots. Commercial Application: Research will be equally useful for any airborne or spaceborne electro-optics system. 

REFERENCES: 

1. C. Liebmann and M. Bennett, Electro-Optic System Imaging Performance Developmental Test and Analysis Techniques Test and Evaluation (Have Light), USAFTPS-TIM-15B-01, 2016

2. G. Boreman, Modulation Transfer Function in Optical and Electro-optical Systems, ISBN-13: 978-0819441430, SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering, 2001

3. J Silny and L Zellinger, Radiometric Sensitivity Contrast Metrics for Hyperspectral Remote Sensors, SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering, 2016

KEYWORDS: Airborne, Electro-optics, Infrared, Targets, Modulation Transfer Function, Relative Edge Response, Noise Equivalent Delta Temperature, Noise Equivalent Delta Radiance 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a robust, scalable packaging and cooling solution for next generation infrared emitter arrays. 

DESCRIPTION: This SBIR topic seeks to explore alternatives for addressing technical challenges in developing a robust, scalable packaging solution for next generation infrared emitter arrays. Advanced arrays will introduce new challenges including interfacing high speed drive electronics to the array through the packaging and removing excess heat from the emitter surface of light emitting diode arrays which are orders of magnitude more sensitive to temperature variations than current resistive arrays. Also, due to their high pixel counts and relatively low efficiency, significantly more power must be provided through the package and subsequent generated heat removed. The packaging approach must be scalable to support arrays ranging from 1024 x 1024 (1K x 1K) pixels at 24 um and 48 um pixel pitch (i.e. ~1 and ~2 square arrays) up to 4K x 4K arrays at 24 um pixel pitch (~ 4 square array). The design must have physical characteristics (size, mass, robustness) to support multiple applications including mounting on dynamic flight motion simulators, cryogenic sensor testing, installed systems test facilities, and system integration labs. The ability to stimulate advanced infrared weapon and aircraft sensors and seekers with high radiance, high resolution IR imagery of targets, backgrounds, and countermeasures in dynamic hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HITL) and installed systems test facilities (ISTF) is critical in the development, test, and evaluation of those systems. Current IR scene projectors are based on resistive emitter array technology that is approaching physical limits on radiance output, size, frame rates, and pixel density and will likely not provide adequate support for future test and evaluation (T&E) requirements. The current emitter array packaging, originally developed for cryogenic operation, supports 512x512 and 1024x1024 resistive arrays and has proven to be very robust but it is not scalable or suitable to support next generation IR emitter arrays. Infrared sensor and systems are continually increasing in resolution and capabilities resulting similar increases in T&E requirements. Next generation IR emitter arrays are required to provide higher resolutions, higher radiance output (apparent temperature), and higher frame rates to test these systems. Current generation emitters provide a maximum frame size of 1024x1024 pixels, midwave infrared (MWIR) apparent temperatures of ~600K, 11 bits effective dynamic range, and ~200 Hz frame rates. Active efforts are underway to increase emitter resolution to a minimum of 2048x2048 pixels with an objective of 4096x4096, increase MWIR apparent temperature to 1300K - 3000K, improve dynamic range to 16 bits, and provide frame rates of 1000Hz. This will create challenges for the packaging solution to provide cooling, power, and data to the emitter chips. It will also not be a one-size fits all requirement - different applications will required emitter arrays of different characteristics, sizes, and possibly different technologies requiring a flexible and scalable solution. Current research and development in IR emitter arrays include both advanced resistive arrays and infrared light emitting diode (LED) arrays. Techniques being investigated to increase resolution (i.e. pixel count) include reducing pixel pitch on monolithic arrays and tiling multiple arrays. A common, flexible, scalable, and verified packaging concept is required to support continued development and use of advanced emitter arrays. The package design must have provisions for cooling the emitter array, keeping the array under vacuum, and providing power and command/control signals to the array. 

PHASE I: Identify key requirements for next gen IR emitter array packaging, develop and evaluate conceptual designs, determine technical feasibility of concepts, and design a follow on development and test program for the most promising concept. Required deliverables will include reports and briefings documenting the designs and analysis. 

PHASE II: Complete design and fabricate prototype array packages using the most promising concepts developed in Phase I. Evaluate performance of the packages in a relevant environment. Required deliverables will include reports and briefings on the results of the experiments. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: DT&E of IR guided weapons, threat warning and aircraft self-protection systems, electro-optical sensors. Commercial Applications: DT&E of IR sensors and systems including autonomous guidance, vision, and collision avoidance systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Norton, Dennis, et al., "Development of high-definition IR LED scene projector." Proc. SPIE 9820, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXVII, 98200X, 3 May 2016.

2. Norton, Dennis Thomas Jr. "Type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice LEDs: applications for infrared scene projector systems." PhD thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.

3. Lange, Corey Wyatt. "Design and Development of 512 512 Infrared Emitter Array System." Master's thesis, University of Delaware, 2011.

4. Franks, Greg, et al. "Development of an Ultra-High Temperature Infrared Scene Projector at Santa Barbara Infrared Inc." Proc. SPIE 9452, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXVI, 94520W, 12 May 2015.

5. James, Jay, et al, "OASIS: Cryogenically-Optimized Resistive Array & IRSP Subsystems for Space-Background IR Simulation." Proc. SPIE 6544, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-LoopTesting XII, 654405,24 Apr 2007.

KEYWORDS: Extraction, Efficiency, Light, Emitting, Diode, LED, Infrared, Emitter, Array, Mid-wave, MWIR, Long-wave, LWIR, Hardware-in-the-loop, HITL, Resistive, Array, Scene, Projector, IRSP, Optoelectronics, Tiling, Quilting, Scalable, Cryogenic, Electronics, Pack 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a dynamic aircraft tire measurement system capable of tire footprint property measurement; integrated with internal drum dynamometer. Support aircraft loads and speeds with continuous measurements of all types of tire footprint properties. 

DESCRIPTION: In military/commercial aircraft tires, tire tread life and stopping performance are greatly dependent on the tire dynamic contact surface profile. While the tire is rotating, portions of the tire profile will be slipping while other parts will be rolling in relation to the contact surface. Thus, the measurement of slip velocities during this process can create a large insight into tire life issues and improving antilock braking performance. Additionally, the added ability to capture and characterize contact stresses between the tire runway interface contract region, at a given angular position, may support performance/service life improvements and tire re-designs to improve tire life and improve tire responses during antilock braking. These improvements would significantly affect the large costs of poor performing tires and potentially improve stopping performance, which is always a critical safety-of-flight (SOF) concern. Current T&E tire test machine envisioned for this effort is the 96th Test Groups Landing Gear Test Facility (LGTF) 168-inch internal drum dynamometer (168i). This machine can apply a vertical force up to 150,000 lbs with camber (±10 degrees) and yaw (±20 degrees) for tests up to 350 mph. The machine is fully dynamic and can simulate all aspects of actual aircraft missions including touchdown, high-speed braking, takeoff, etc. There are currently no existing measurement methods to determine tire profile contact forces and slip velocities at high aircraft-related speeds. Therefore, a new measurement technology is required to obtain all pertinent information at the interface contact region between the tire and surface. Different surfaces have been installed and used on the 168i (including concrete runway), thus there would be space (appx 3 in thick and 2.5 feet wide) to retrofit an assembly to measure the contact forces. Additionally, there are also possibilities of developing a standalone unit for this system. This unit, however, would need to show it can hold a tire and subject the tire to controlled load, speeds, and other aspects that an internal drum dynamometer is capable of. The new measurement system should be designed to provide real-time, continuous measurement of contact stress variations (both the normal and shear forces at the tire-runway interface), slip velocity, and footprint properties for high-speed (350 mph) dynamic tire tests while at loads up to 150,000 lbs. To minimize error and improve the accuracy and fidelity of current technology, the measurement system should introduce minimal test article interference. This measurement system must be capable of accurate and precise operation. The goal is to continually measure all of this information for a variety of dynamic simulated landing missions with speeds up to 250 mph. The system should be able of testing tires up to 60 in diameter, and 30 in width. No other commercially-available system provides these capabilities. There have been systems developed for static, or quasi-static testing. However, to date there is no technology that acquires these high-speed slip, tire footprint, and shear stress measurements. The Air Force envisions four levels of success in the program. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of DATFS with minimal test article interference to determine all pertinent dynamic tire footprint properties listed above. Explore tradeoffs relating to measurement area, spatial resolution, sensitivity, and dynamic response. The dynamic response will be key, due to the inherent hysteretic properties of some materials. 

PHASE II: Develop full-scale demonstrator of DATFS that is applicable to aircraft tire loads and operating environment. Demonstrate sensor test repeatability with less than 5% error. Demonstrate automated data acquisition with data able to be imported into finite element models. Demonstrate capability to the sensor results and how the tire footprint properties are changing with different test conditions. Deliver final prototype sensor to 96 TG LGTF and demonstrate potential with 168i or similar. 

PHASE III: Military applications: Develop final sensor. Show utilization of data for tire life and antiskid. Commercial applications: A test system for airlines, automotive, truck, and heavy equipment and test facilities. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) expressed interest to assist tire life and potential antilock improvements. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Crane, D. "Aircraft Tires and Tubes," Second Edition, an Aviation Maintenance Publishers, Inc. Training Manual, EA-ATT-2, 1980.

2. Castillo, J., Blanca, A. Prez De la, Cabrera, J. A., Simm, A. An optical tire contact pressure test bench, Vehicle System Dynamics, 44 (3): pp. 207-221(15), 2006

3. Fonov, S., Jones, G., Crafton, J., Fonov, V., Goss, L. The development of optical techniques for the measurement of pressure and skin friction,Measurement Science and Technology, 16: pp. 1-8, 2005.

4. McClain, J.G., Vogel, M., Pryor D. R., Heyns, H.E. The United Air Force Landing Gear Systems Center of Excellence A Unique Capability, AIAA, 2007-1638.

5. Zakrajsek, Andrew J., Childress, Jonathan M., Bohn, Michael H., et al. "Aircraft Tire Spin-Up Wear Analysis through Experimental Testing and Computational Modeling." 57th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference.

KEYWORDS: Dynamic Slip Velocities In Tires, Tire Contact Profile, Tire Life, Tire Wear, Dynamic Testing, Aircraft Tire, Footprint Properties, Normal And Shear Contact Interface Pressure, Dynamic Interface Pressure, Flight Line, Aircraft, Maintenance Checks, Cost Re 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop technologies to improve extraction efficiency of high density infrared light emitting diode arrays to improve radiance output, self-heating, and wall-plug efficiency. 

DESCRIPTION: This SBIR topic seeks to identify and demonstrate technologies that can improve the light extraction efficiency of high density mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long wave infrared (LWIR) light emitting diode (LED) arrays designed to be used in infrared (IR) scene projectors without affecting the ability to control the radiance on a per-pixel level. The enhancements must be applicable for incorporation into projector systems suitable for use in hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation and Installed System Test Facility (ISTF) applications. The ability to stimulate advanced infrared weapon and aircraft sensors and seekers with high radiance, high resolution IR imagery of targets, backgrounds, and countermeasures in dynamic hardware-in-the-loop simulation and installed systems test facilities is critical in the development, test, and evaluation of those systems. Current IR scene projectors are based on resistive emitter array technology that has numerous limitations including output radiance, frame rates, and frame size. Infrared (IR) LED arrays have shown great potential for application to advanced IR scene projectors. LED arrays may improve radiance levels, operating speed, and frame size over other existing technologies. Developmental LED arrays range from 512x512 pixels on a 48 micron pixel pitch (~1 inch square array) to 2048x2048 arrays on a 24 micron pitch (~2 inch square array) with potential growth to larger arrays. The LED arrays are driven by a read-in integrated circuit (RIIC) which provides control of the radiance output of each pixel based on the desired IR image from a scene generation system and the ability to provide non-uniformity correction across the array. A significant issue with current generation IR LED arrays is the light extraction efficiency (LEE) which is typically less than 1%. Even slight improvements to the LEE would greatly increase maximum radiance, reduce waste heat which must be removed from the arrays, and increase wall-plug efficiency. An example is a 512x512 superlattice LED array with about 1% extraction efficiency where each pixel at full power consumes 15 milliamps at 12 volts. If all quarter million pixels were turned on, the one inch square array would be required to dissipate 47 kW. The low efficiency significantly impairs the utility of the LED arrays. Not only does the reduced radiance limit the types of imagery that can be projected, a very large amount of waste heat is generated that, even with extensive cooling, can affect operation of the array and even permanently damage the devices. 

PHASE I: Identify factors that limit extraction efficiency, define concepts that may increase the efficiency, determine the technical feasibility of the concepts, and design a follow-on test program for the most promising concepts. Required deliverables will include reports and briefings documenting the analysis and the results 

PHASE II: Complete design and fabricate small prototype IR LED arrays using the most promising concepts developed in Phase I. Perform characterization experiments quantifying the effects on extraction efficiency and on overall LED performance including output radiance, self-heating, and wall-plug efficiency. Required deliverables will include reports and briefings on the results of the experiments. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: DT&E of IR guided weapons, threat warning and aircraft self-protection systems, electro-optical sensors. Commercial Applications: DT&E of IR sensors and systems including autonomous guidance, vision, and collision avoidance systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Norton, Dennis Thomas Jr. "Type-II InAs/GaSB superlattice LEDs: applications for infrared scene projector systems." PhD thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.

2. Norton, Dennis, et al., "Development of a high-definition IR LED scene projector." Proc. SPIE 9820, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, Testing XXVII, 98200X, 3 May 2016.

3. Lange, Corey Wyatt. "Design and Development of 512 512 Infrared Emitter Array System." Master's thesis, University of Delaware, 2011.

KEYWORDS: Extraction, Efficiency, Light, Emitting, Diode, LED, Infrared, Emitter, Array, Mid-wave, MWIR, Long-wave, LWIR, Hardware-in-the-loop, HITL, Scene, Projector, IRSP, Optoelectronics 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Efficiently and economically suppress on-board aircraft fires using a non-toxic and non-corrosive agent while balancing cost/logistics burdens. 

DESCRIPTION: Halon is a highly effective fire suppression agent that remains in-use on many legacy military vehicles. In 1987, Halon production phased out with signature of the Montreal Protocol (an international treaty banning further production of such ozone-depleting substances). Since then, a search for equally effective agents has been on-going. Alternative solutions have proven less capable and often with burdens of higher cost, volume, and weight; greater toxicity and corrosiveness; and greater or unique logistics challenges. The present SBIR topic takes a renewed search for novel solutions first by concentrating on designing, producing, and demonstrating effectiveness of a fire suppression agent that is environmentally safe and has few logistics challenges. Effectiveness is judged based on the least amount of agent weight/volume to extinguish a given fire. Goal is to obtain effectiveness on par with Halon. The present SBIR then continues by marrying the proposed agent to an on-board fire suppression system. Teaming with (or consulting with) an aircraft manufacturer is encouraged to ensure aircraft suitability. The proposed agent must be non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-ozone-depleting, and highly effective at lowest possible weight/volume. The agent should be simply formulated without specialized handling requirements (pressurization, cooling, or heating) when in shipment or storage to avoid cost and logistics burdens. When integrated into a fire suppression system, the agent must remain viable for long periods of time (not less than a year) even when exposed to extreme flight-line temperature swings and in-flight conditions, must be compatible with the proposed fire suppression system concept, and must be fully effective against aircraft fuel fire applications. The fire suppression system must be capable of aircraft integration at the lowest possible cost/weight/volume and must be capable of transmitting agent to the fire zone in a timely/efficient manner (ideally without need for total bay flooding). The aircraft-suitable fire suppression system should have the following attributes: low/no clean-up requirements after agent discharge; long life; non-clogging/non-clumping; and low maintenance. For active systems, the goal is to achieve fire suppression within 100ms of fire detection while using the smallest weight/volume of agent. For passive systems, the goal is to achieve fire suppression within 100ms of suppressant discharge while using the smallest weight/volume of agent. 

PHASE I: Prepare an efficient and economical fire suppression system design concept that incorporates an effective environmentally-safe agent having few cost/logistics burdens. 

PHASE II: Design, produce, and demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed environmentally-safe fire suppression agent. Couple the agent with a complete fire suppression system to demonstrate overall system effectiveness at costs, weights, and volumes lower than conventional Halon systems. 

PHASE III: Military Applications: Aircraft, ground vehicle, ship, submarine, and building fire suppression. Commercial Applications: Transportation industry (aircraft and ground vehicle fire suppression);residential and commercial building fire suppression. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Gann, R.G., "Screening Tests for Alternative Suppressants for In-Flight Aircraft Fires", The weekly of Business Aviation, Issue 4, Vol. 100, 2 Feb 2015

2. McMillin, M., "Consortium Seeks Halon Alternatives for Aircraft Propulsion Systems", Overhaul & Maintenance, Issue 3, Vol. 12, 1 Mar 2006

3. Gann, R.G., "Guidance for Advanced Fire Suppression in Aircraft", 1st Conference on Fire Suppression and Detection Research and Applications, Vol. 44, Issue 3, Sep 2008.

KEYWORDS: Efficient, Effective, Environmental, Safe, Aircraft, Fire, Suppression, Extinguishing, Agent, System, Low, Cost, Weight, Volume, Logistics 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop low cost, high sensitivity magnetometers and gradiometers utilizing direct-write, high-transition-temperature superconducting nano-Josephson junction SQUIDs. 

DESCRIPTION: There are a number of potential applications involving detection of small magnetic fields (< 1 pT) that are relevant to the DoD, such as non-destructive evaluation of aging aircraft and biomagnetic measurements of the human body [1]. Using an essentially portable HTS SQUID system whose temperature would operate in the vicinity of liquid nitrogen temperature, it is conceivable that such a system can be utilized to evaluate the state of health of each pilot and other crew members noninvasively, and it could make this evaluation in a period of less than 10 minutes. Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) provide unmatched performance in terms of bandwidth, sensitivity and dynamic range [1]. Unfortunately, SQUIDs comprised of conventional superconducting materials require cooling to about 4 degrees kelvin, employing liquid helium or large costly power-hungry and noisy refrigeration. SQUIDs comprised of ceramic high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials could alleviate the size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements by two orders of magnitude in comparison to the bulky and generally non-portable SQUID magnetic gradiometer systems [2]. Such traditional SQUID systems have been the norm thus far. However, until now it had not been possible to employ these more recent ceramic superconducting materials, as they had been found to be very difficult to work with, namely because of anisotropic electrical properties and intrinsic noise [3]. Despite these problems, there have been some demonstrations [4] of suitable low-noise HTS SQUIDs with acceptable noise properties. Historically, the reproducibility and circuit yield have been very low, thus making the cost per SQUID sensor prohibitive for practical applications. Recently Cybart et al. [5] have demonstrated a new direct-write approach for fabrication of HTS SQUIDs using helium ion-beam lithography, solving many of the problems associated with HTS SQUIDs such as reproducibility, circuit yield and cost. This demonstration provided a reliable method for fabrication of low-noise SQUIDs, but greater sensitivity is needed which requires a flux concentrator. In this program, a handheld SQUID prototype sensor composed of a helium ion direct write SQUID and suitable flux concentrator will be constructed for detection of magnetic fields smaller than 1 pT over a bandwidth from 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz. 

PHASE I: Simulate and design high Tc SQUID magnetometer and gradiometer sensors using helium ion direct-write Josephson junctions that will function at temperatures near 77 K. The circuits should be composed of both a helium ion beam HTS SQUID and a flux concentrator which will substantially increase sensitivity. Designs comprising both planar washer type direct-inject and multilayer SQUID input coils will be considered and evaluated. 

PHASE II: Handheld prototype magnetometers and gradiometers using the designs developed in phase I will be constructed. These sensors will be characterized in a flux-locked loop to determine their sensitivity, bandwidth and dynamic range. Devices will be operated in a micro-dewar and/or on compact cryocoolers to determine practical size and weight requirements, noise properties and other capabilities. 

PHASE III: Produce and market magnetometers and gradiometers for biomedical and non-destructive evaluation instrumentation. This phase would result in the introduction of this technology to real applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1.H. Weinstock, SQUID Sensors: fundamentals, fabrication, and applications, Springer, 1996.

2.H. J. M. Ter Brake, G. F. M. Wiegerinck, Cryogenics, 42, p 705, 2002.

3.D. Koelle, R. Kleiner, F. Ludwig, E. Dansker and J. Clarke, Rev. Mod,. Phys. 71, p 631 1999.

4.M. Faley, et al. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 23, p 1600705 2013.

5.S. A. Cybart, et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 p 598, 2015.

KEYWORDS: SQUID, Nondestructive Evaluation, Magnetometer, Magnetic Gradiometer, HTS Superconductor 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate Beta-Gallium Oxide (ß-Ga2O3) epitaxial structures suitable for fabrication of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) and High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) devices. 

DESCRIPTION: Next generation Air Force sensing systems depend on continued electronic materials innovation leading to enabling performance capabilities. Interest in ß-Ga2O3 has grown recently due to its unique combination of a large bandgap (4.8eV), estimated breakdown field (8 MV/cm), high electron mobility and availability of native single crystal substrates using inexpensive melt-based growth methods [1-5]. ß-Ga2O3 possesses a larger bandgap, higher breakdown voltage and lower on-resistance than those of Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). Exploitation of ß-Ga2O3 semiconductors holds promise for revolutionary improvements in the cost, size, weight and performance of a broad range of radio frequency, power switching and opto-electronic components utilized in radar, electronic warfare and communication systems. The realization of devices with optimal performance will require controlled growth of doped, high quality, homo/hetero-epitaxial structures on ß-Ga2O3 substrates. Common approaches under consideration for homo/hetero-epitaxial film growth include Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), Metal-Organic Vapor-Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) and Halide Vapor-Phase Epitaxy (HVPE). Homo-epitaxial, doped ß-Ga2O3 films can be grown enabling fabrication of MOSFET devices. Growth of hetero-epitaxial structures such as (AlxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 or (InxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 support fabrication of HEMT devices [6]. There is a need for a viable US-based source to develop and scale ß-Ga2O3 epitaxial processes to underpin and help drive the development of next generation ultra-high performance devices. 

PHASE I: Develop growth parameters for; (i) homo-epitaxial growth of MOSFET structure comprised of doped Ga2O3 films on bulk semi-insulating ß-Ga2O3 substrates and (ii) hetero-epitaxial growth of HEMT structure comprised of doped (AlxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 or (InxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 films on bulk (010) semi-insulating ß-Ga2O3 substrates. Deliver epitaxial wafers for Government evaluation. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate; (i) homo-epitaxial growth of MOSFET structure comprised of doped Ga2O3 films on bulk (010) 50mm semi-insulating ß-Ga2O3 substrates and (ii) hetero-epitaxial growth of HEMT structure comprised of doped (AlxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 or (InxGa1-x)2O3/ Ga2O3 films on bulk (010) 50mm semi-insulating ß-Ga2O3 substrates with nm-scale thickness uniformity at sub-nm RMS roughness levels. Characterize the epitaxial properties and modify the structure accordingly to enhance device performance. 

PHASE III: Phase III shall address the commercialization of the product developed as a prototype in Phase II. Commercialize device-quality homo/hetero-epitaxial layers to device partners. 

REFERENCES: 

1. M. Higashiwaki, K. Sasaki, A. Kuramata, T. Masui, and S. Yamakoshi, "Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors on single-crystal beta-Ga2O3 (010) substrates," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 100, Jan 2 2012.

2. M. Higashiwaki, K. Sasaki, T. Kamimura, M. H. Wong, D. Krishnamurthy, A. Kuramata, et al., "Depletion-mode Ga2O3 metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors on beta-Ga2O3 (010) substrates and temperature dependence of their device characteristics," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 103, Sep 16 2013.

3. W. S. Hwang, A. Verma, H. Peelaers, V. Protasenko, S. Rouvimov, H. Xing, et al., "High-voltage field effect transistors with wide-bandgap beta-Ga2O3 nanomembranes," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 104, Jun 16 2014.

4. K. Sasaki, A. Kuramata, T. Masui, E. G. Villora, K. Shimamura, and S. Yamakoshi, "Device-Quality beta-Ga2O3 Epitaxial Films Fabricated by Ozone Molecular Beam Epitaxy," Applied Physics Express, vol. 5, Mar 2012.

5. K. Sasaki, M. Higashiwaki, A. Kuramata, T. Masui, and S. Yamakoshi, "Ga2O3 Schottky Barrier Diodes Fabricated by Using Single-Crystal beta-Ga2O3 (010) Substrates," Ieee Electron Device Letters, vol. 34, pp. 493-495, Apr 2013.

6. R. Wakabayashi, K. Sasaki, A. Ohtomo, et al., ¬œGrowth and electric properties of conductive (AlxGa1-x)2O3 films, 1st International Workshop on Gallium Oxide and Related Materials, November 3-6, 2015.

KEYWORDS: Gallium Oxide, Epitaxy, Wide Bandgap Semiconductor 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Mitigate risk to high speed aerospace ground test facilities and test articles during wind tunnel startup. 

DESCRIPTION: During the start and unstart of high-speed wind tunnels, a model may experience a transient airload that is several times greater than the steady load, placing undesired forces and moments on the model, support structure, and balance measurement system. A similar problem exists in the start and unstart of ramjet and scramjet inlet models which are of increasing importance in the development of advanced flight systems. Conduct Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and structural analysis and small scale supersonic/hypersonic wind tunnel experiments to determine the forces and moments that are transmitted to test articles when injected into supersonic / hypersonic flow paths (i.e., similar to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex [AEDC] VKF tunnel model injection scenario). Compare these results to the loads that a test article would experience if left in place during the wind tunnel start-up process (i.e., no model injection and the test article sees the full start up shock). The test and analytical efforts should use the same test article geometry. The CFD should be time-accurate (LES turbulence modeling is desired) to fully account for the wind tunnel transient dynamics during startup. All work to be monitored by Subject Matter Experts. Phase 1 will develop a software application that, given specific test geometry, will provide an accurate assessment of airloads on a test article as it is injected into the airstream of a ground test facility and during startup for wind tunnels without model injection capability. This development will continue during Phase 2 and proposers will conduct air flow testing in wind tunnel(s) to validate the software model. Proposers MUST demonstrate that their team has the capability to obtain wind tunnel validation data safely and discuss the team's qualifications and experience for this in ALL proposals. At the end of Phase 2, software will be installed and demonstrated at an Air Force facility. Deliver software, source code, documentation, and data. 

PHASE I: Develop software application that, given specific test geometry, will provide an accurate assessment of airloads on a test article as it is injected into the airstream of a ground test facility and during startup for wind tunnels without model injection capability. 

PHASE II: Conduct air flow testing in wind tunnel(s) to validate the software model. Install and demonstrate at Air Force facility. Deliver software, source code, documentation, and data. 

PHASE III: Software will be of interest to other DoD and government test sites, including NASA. Manufacturer of DoD and commercial aircraft are potential customers for transition. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Winter, K.G., and Brown, C.S., Loads on a Model during Starting and Stopping of an Intermittent Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Royal Aircraft Establishment, 1956.

2. Shimura, T., Mitani, T., Sakuranaka, N., and Izumikawa, M., Load Oscillations Caused by Unstart of Hypersonic Wind Tunnels and Engines, Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 14, No.3, 1998.

3. Maydew, R. C., Compilation and Correlation of Model Starting Loads from Several Supersonic Wind Tunnels, Sandia Rept., SC-4691 (RR), June 1962.

KEYWORDS: Aerodynamics, Static Loads, Transient Loads, High-speed Flows, Model Injection 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate, through testing, a methodology to integrate pressure, acoustic, and temperature (from which heat flux may be derived) sensors for carbon-carbon structures to be used as test articles in arc jet facilities. 

DESCRIPTION: The Air Force needs a methodology to instrument carbon-carbon structures designed to be tested in arc jet facilities. How to instrument metallic test models is now an ordinary process for standard instruments such as pressure and acoustic transducers and thermocouples. However, there is still a lot to learn on how to instrument carbon-carbon structures without compromising the structural integrity of the test article. The non-isotropic nature of the material also complicates the measurements and data reduction. This topic is mostly concerned with incorporating existing pressure and acoustic transducers, as well as thermocouples (from which heat flux values may be deduced) and/or heat flux gages into carbon-carbon test articles. A key objective is that the incorporation of the transducers does not compromise the performance of the instruments. For example, if the transducer has a high frequency response, it is desired to keep that unaltered. For thermocouples, if measurements need to be made at embedded locations, then the effect of heat conduction through the materials needs to be taken into account when a measurement is being calculated from the readings obtained. Transducers that don't require active cooling are preferred. It is also desirable that if a transducer fails it can be replaced and installed in the same location. If the instrument needs thermal isolation from the test article, those issues need to be addressed as well. Careful consideration needs to be placed on sealing the transducer housings. The sensors must be installed in structures that sustain surface temperatures up to 3000°F during testing. Both high frequency and mean measurements of pressure and temperature / heat flux are needed to understand the flow field around any test article to be tested in an arc-jet facility. We rely on these measurements to deduce the heat fluxes on the test article and to understand the characteristics of laminar and fully turbulent flows. In Phase 1, proposers shall choose, taking into account transducers previously demonstrated at arc-jet facilities, at least one type of pressure and acoustic transducer and one type of thermocouple and/or heat flux gage to be integrated to a carbon-carbon structure. The proposer should design a process of integration for all the transducers chosen. Finally, the proposers shall perform bench top experiments where the transducers are installed, checked for leaks, and tested using simple controlled test conditions. Preliminary checks of the structural integrity of the structure should be completed. Also a methodology to replace transducers in the same location should be created. In Phase 2, proposers shall refine the installation methodology identified in phase I and complete a set of runs in an arc-jet facility. It is recommended that a canonical geometry is chosen for which there is reliable historical data of similar measurements at similar free-stream conditions so that the measurements can be accurately compared. The instruments should be subjected to as many tests as practically possible so that an initial assessment of the robustness of the installation methodology is completed, and the precision, accuracy and frequency response of the transducers used can be checked against historical data. At least one transducer for each type of measurement should be replaced and tested again to assess the effectiveness of the transducer replacement methodology developed in Phase I. 

PHASE I: Choose at least 1 type of pressure and acoustic transducers as well as 1 type of thermocouple or heat flux gage to be integrated to a carbon-carbon structure. Create a process for integrating all the transducers chosen into a test coupon. Perform bench top experiments using simple controlled test conditions. Preliminary checks of the structural integrity of the structure should be completed. 

PHASE II: Refine the Phase I integration methodology and test an instrumented model in an arc jet facility. Use a canonical geometry to compare the results with historical data of similar measurements at similar free-stream conditions. Test as many times as practical so that an initial assessment of the robustness of the installation methodology is made, and the precision, accuracy, and frequency response of the transducers can be compared with historical data. 

PHASE III: The instrumentation integration methodology could be patented and offered to the USG, industry, and academia. 

REFERENCES: 

1. David Glass, Ray Dirling, Harold Croop, Tim Fry, Geoffrey Frank, Materials Development for Hypersonic Flight Vehicles, AIAA 2006-8122

2. Timothy Wadhams, Michael Holden, Matthew Maclean, Charles Campbell, Experimental Studies of Space Shuttle Orbiter Boundary Layer Transition at Mach Numbers from 10 to 18, AIAA Paper 2010-1576

3. Tim Roediger, Helmut Knauss, Boris V. Smorodsky, Malte Estorf, Steven P. Schneider, Instability Waves Measured Using Fast-Response Heat-Flux Gauges, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 266-273, 2009

4. Michael A. Kegerise, Shann J. Rufer, Unsteady Heat-Flux Measurements of Second-Mode Instability Waves in a Hypersonic Boundary Layer, AIAA Paper 2016-0357

KEYWORDS: Carbon-Carbon Structures Instrumentation, Temperature Sensor, Pressure Sensor, Hypersonic Flow, Arc Jets Facility 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop ultradense, low-power plasmonic integration components and devices for future battlefield sensors and systems. 

DESCRIPTION: The use of surface plasmons in guiding metallic structures is one of the most promising approaches for overcoming the diffraction limit of light and significantly increasing levels of integration and miniaturization of integrated optical devices and components. The unique properties of plasmonic waveguides (such as very high mode confinement, ultrasharp bends, etc) promises the level of integration optical components, previously unachievable with any other technology. However, significant advancements in both the design and fabrication of both passive and electro-optically active plasmonic structures are required to transition this technology to practical applications. For example, due to very high dimensional tolerances of plasmonic devices electron-beam lithography is typically used for patterning of plasmonic waveguides, which is slow and expensive process, incompatible with large scale production and low costs, required by military and commercial applications. On the other hand, significant advances in nanofabrication techniques made over the last decade may provide the means to solve this problem. For these reasons, advancements in both theoretical understanding of plasmonic integrated circuits and fabrication techniques is required. Future battlefield systems will exploit highly sophisticated optical communication and signal processing systems with very high component integration density, low power consumption, fast and low-cost data transfer rates. Successful completion of this program will lead to the development of high quality, robust, photonic circuits that will serve as an integrating medium for optical components and networks and that will perform basic, on-chip functions (such as signal conditioning and signal processing). 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of the ultradense plasmonic components and circuits by modeling. Design an active integrated photonic structure and select the materials and fabrication methods. Demonstrate the validity of key processes. Identify the application, develop a documented set of performance parameters and suggest a viable transition to manufacturing strategy. 

PHASE II: Build upon Phase I work and fabricate functional passive plasmonic devices. Design and fabricate and demonstrate the functionality of active plasmonic devices. Address the integration of the developed plasmonic circuits into existing or future communication systems. Demonstrate the scalability of the fabrication process to the large-scale low-cost production in Phase III. 

PHASE III: Applications of the ultradense integrated photonic components in sensors, signal processing and communications. Commercial application: Enable fabrication and design of optical ultradense functional optoelectronic (OE) circuits for optical communications and optical signal processing. 

REFERENCES: 

1. T. Nikolajsen and K. Leosson, S. I. Bozhevolnyi, Surface plasmonic polariton based modulators and switches operating at telecom wavelengths, Appl. Phys. Lett., 85, 5833-5835 (2004).

2. S. I. Bozhevolnyi, V. S. Volkov, D. Devaux, J. Laluet & T. W. Ebbesen, Channel plasmonic subwavelength waveguide components including interferometers and ring resonators, Nature, 440, 508-511 (2006).

KEYWORDS: Signal Processing, Optical Components, Optical Subcomponents, Photonic Integration, Optical Processors, Nanotechnology, Plasmonics, Meta-materials, Nanofabrication 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a high-speed, low-noise scientific camera using a back-illuminated silicon CMOS image sensor capable of operating at high quantum efficiency (>80%) without the use of microlenses for use in advanced adaptive optics applications. 

DESCRIPTION: Low-noise, high-speed, scientific cameras are the backbone of adaptive optics (AO) applications, and are used in a wide range of applications from wave-front sensing to tilt control. Currently, charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors are the technology of choice for these, and other demanding imaging applications. The technology is well established, and enables high quantum efficiency (QE) to be achieved over the wavelengths of interest. Alternatively, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors offer potential performance advantages over CCDs. These advantages include lower read noise, the possibility for integrating the imaging system on chip, the provision of digital outputs, and a reduction in overall processing cost by leveraging existing CMOS digital processing technology. However, CMOS image sensors have yet to enter the high-specification scientific imaging market on a large scale, especially for AO applications operating in extremely low-light conditions. Standard front-side illuminated CMOS image sensors suffer from a reduction in QE since there is a light mask over the electronic circuit contained in each pixel, ultimately reducing the sensitivity of the device. In some applications, the QE can be increased through the use of microlenses to direct photons to the light-sensitive areas of each pixel. However, the use of microlenses is not suitable for wavefront sensing and other high performance science applications as photons are not absorbed uniformly across the device. Thus, a back-side illuminated CMOS image sensor with high QE and sensitivity is desirable for high-specification, low-light AO applications. In principle, it should be possible to back-thin existing CMOS image sensors to obtain the same, or better, performance as the CCD. This solicitation seeks exploration into the design, development, and demonstration of a high-speed, low-noise, scientific camera using a back-side illuminated 128 × 128 (minimum) silicon CMOS image sensor for use in advanced AO applications. The sensor is expected to demonstrate QE above 80% (at 570 nm) without the use of microlenses. Additional performance objectives for the sensor are (1) full frame rates above 5 kHz, (2) low read-noise below 3 e- at a 5 kHz frame rate, (3) true on-chip binning, (4) efficient windowing geometry for high frame rates, (5) oversampling through non-destructive reads to reduce read-noise at lower frame rates, (6) high linearity over the dynamic range of the imager for each pixel, and (7) the use of the camera-link communication protocol. 

PHASE I: Perform preliminary analysis and conduct trade studies to identify a suitable silicon CMOS image sensor. Work with foundry partners to implement back-thinning, anti-reflection coating, and packaging processes to solve the fill-factor and QE issues associated with the front-side illuminated sensor. 

PHASE II: Integrate the packaged back-illuminated CMOS sensor into a controller which uses a standard camera-link interface protocol to meet the stated performance requirements. Test and validate device performance. Further work is desired to complete specialized chip fabrication runs to incorporate skipping throw-away-guard-column (TAGC) mode to double the frame rate (or half the latency), and to optimize the read-out electronics for more specialized wavefront sensor (WFS) applications. 

PHASE III: Develop technology applicable to high-specification science-imaging applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Paul Jerram; David Burt; Neil Guyatt; Vincent Hibon; Joel Vaillant, et al. "Back-thinned CMOS sensor optimization", Proc. SPIE 7598, Optical Components and Materials VII, 759813 (February 25, 2010); doi:10.1117/12.852389.

2. James R. Janesick ; Tom Elliott ; Stewart Collins ; Morley M. Blouke and Jack Freeman "Scientific Charge-Coupled Devices", Opt. Eng. 26(8), 268692 (Aug 01, 1987).

3. Daniel Durni; David Arutinov; Martin Lesser, et al. High performance silicon imaging: fundamentals and applications CMOS and CCD sensors, Woodhead Publishing Ltd. Edition: 1st (May 28, 2014).

KEYWORDS: Image Sensor, Science Camera, CCD, CMOS, Back-Illuminated, Back-Thinned, Adaptive Optics