Award Data

MZA partnered with the University of Notre Dame proposes to transition the Navys HEFL Beam Director Subsystem (HBDS) for flight testing on the Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory Transonic (AAOL-T) aircraft. We will reconfigure the HBDS integrating structure and aft beam control system to fit the cabin constraints of the AAOL-T aircraft with an aft beam control and scoring bench. Operational functiona ...

The Navy has a need to control such extreme power specifications that no suitable switches exist. The Navy power specifications require us to develop a novel medium (probably a pressurized gas or liquid) that can be configured to meet the requirements and control the flow of electrical power directly. Our extensive switching expertise has allowed us to develop a series of novel test fixtures and t ...

We propose to mature LG-X glider technology by manufacturing full-scaled prototypes and characterizing them in land-based flight-testing by using commercial aircraft to drop the gliders. Validated components such as the landing parachute, folding wing mechanism, and autopilot control system will undergo integrated flight-testing. Logistic Gliders will provide a considerable cost share to support ...

A critical aspect of exoskeleton control that has to date introduced a performance limitation is the ability of the exoskeleton to recognize the intent of the operator so it can apply assistance to their desired motion. This intent recognition effort is typically solved using ad-hoc methods where subject matter experts make design decisions and tune transitions to identify intended maneuvers as re ...

Our proposed second order uncertainty (SOU) product is a decision making software solution that addresses the problem of providing accurate and precisely defined decision courses of action (COAs) of complex, time-constrained problems in a fraction of the time required by alternative methods striving to achieve the same level of precision. Complex decision situations can deal with large volume of ...

This proposal addresses the problem of PCSS/laser trigger integration using a single monolithic laser diode array, thus simplifying the entire optical delivery network necessary for efficient operation of PCSSs. The proposal constitutes a logical continuation of Phase I effort where the main focus was on the detailed design of the PCSS/laser diode array (LDA) integrated architecture. In Phase II ...

Towing of a Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) system is an important aspect of rotorcraftmaritime operation. The oscillatory rotorcraft combined with the long and flexible towingcable, the low mass ratio of the towed body to the towing aircraft, and the rotor wake effecton the towed body presents a challenge for integration of a modern MAD system withrotorcraft platform. The research objective is t ...

The goal of this program is to design a lightweight optical bench capable of remaining stable under temperature and moisture changes, while isolating the precision optical array from vibrations such as engine noise and air turbulence. By integrating a customizable periodic stack in the bench, vibrations are attenuated more effectively than commercially available mounts. Additionally, the periodic ...

Thermally induced fatigue and residual stress introduced during fabrication are sources of failure in microelectronics, which raises reliability concerns for MDA and its system integrators. CFDRC has teamed with experts in the reliability of microelectronics packaging to develop a physics based modeling and testing protocol to correlate material properties and thermal loading conditions to stress ...

During Phase I and Phase II, M4 Engineering, Inc. and Sandia National Laboratories have created a unique bonded joint analysis methodology and associated software. During Phase II.5, the developed techniques will be further enhanced and a fully functional commercial analysis code (SIMULIA/Abaqus) plug-in will be created. The software plug-in will make the advanced technology accessible to all leve ...