Award Data

The U.S. Air Force is interested in developing hypersonic vehicles including reusable transport aircraft, cruise missiles, and unmanned systems. Hypersonic flight regimes result in multifaceted and very difficult design challenges that can be encapsulated into an aerothermoelastic problem, which is a complex interaction of structural, thermal, and aerodynamic mechanisms. When a flexible structural ...

Many of the US Department of Defense (DOD) electrical connectors, back-shells and components currently contain cadmium (Cd).Cadmium is a known carcinogen.Furthermore, the cadmium is typically conversion coated with a hex-chromate which is also hazardous.Both the cadmium plating process and its subsequent conversion coating have been proven to be toxic (unlike other processes such as chromium plati ...

3D printing has recently taking a lead role as a potential solution for future manufacturing. However, there are still many problems and limitations to the technology for cost effective high resolution, high throughput manufacturing.Derived from the SBIR Phase I effort, Digibeam is presenting an innovative solution using a different beam and growth process that directly addresses both resolution a ...

To address the Air Force need for advanced radar characterization of fighter aircraft, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) is developing a new Near Field Scanner (NeFS) based on novel RF/microwave sensing and scanning technologies. Specifically, innovations in sensor miniaturization and broadband functionality, combined with an innovative 3D scanning platform, enable NeFS to measure near-field radia ...

To address the Air Force need for an automated target recognition (ATR) capability that uses Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to advance the development of the Highly Parallel LIDAR-based Automated Target Recognition (PLATR) system, which was proven feasible in Phase I. PLATR is based on an innovative combination of target isolation, target pose estim ...

To address the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) need for tooling and processes for repeatable adhesive dispensing onto threaded fasteners in missile production, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes, in Phase II, to advance development of the new Locking Adhesive DIspensing onto threaded Fasteners (LADIF) system. During Phase I effort, POC developed and demonstrated the feasibility of the LADIF c ...

Novel algorithms for improving the performance of IMU without changing the sensor hardware were demonstrated during the Phase I research. These improvements consisted of higher-order nonlinear transfer alignment and calibration filters incorporating detailed models of sensor uncertainties, de-noising algorithms to eliminate the impact of shock and vibration on the IMU navigation solution, and more ...

The efforts will leverage advanced multi-scale material modeling, multi-physics additive manufacturing (AM) simulation technologies to suggest optimized AM process and build parameters before printing in an attempt to deliver quality Direct Metal Laser Sinteringparts.Components/materials fabricated will meet MDA/Raytheon specifications. The qualification of each component will be shown by DOE, and ...

To address the MDAs need for a repeatable manufacturing process for aerospace-grade, thinned-walled aluminum alloy propellant tanks, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) developed the new Robotic Bonding (ROBOBOND) system, which utilizes conventional computer numeric control (CNC) machinery to perform friction stir welding (FSW) with minimum setup, allowing the technology to become widely available. ...

A key requirement for IR sensors in interceptor seekers is to continue to image through adverse environments, including the radiation from nuclear events. This radiation hardening requirement is addressed with a multifaceted approach that includes a novel filter, implemented in the unit cell, that mitigates the effects of gammas, betas, and protons, while leaving the IR signal unaltered. Other rad ...