Award Data

krtkl (“critical”) will conduct a Phase I Feasibility Study to identify the best approach for reducing aviator cognitive load by optimizing information delivery and decision-making based on a thorough analysis of existing platforms, sensors, data sources, and onboard compute resources. This information will be used to identify Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based algorithms for p ...

Existing airborne defense systems integrate a wide variety of sensors necessary to provide operators with situational awareness across the visual, thermal, signals, and electromagnetic spectrums. To date, individual sensor systems have been largely stove-piped, as have Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and advanced, Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-optimized data processing systems. T ...

Sensor systems aboard aircrafts address unique problems and are siloed in their objectives. A data silo is a term used to describe a data system that is insulated from other data systems. While keeping information categorized may lead to easier organization, the costs often outweigh the benefits. In aviation systems, data silos often lead to miscommunication, cognitive overload, and waste. These d ...

In manned aviation environments – both military and commercial – AI support is being developed and researched for ground-based planning and operational decision support. Using AI in real-time with crews poses additional questions and issues. This research will provide the means to understand the measures and requirements to architect potential AI-Agent solutions before implementation. This fea ...

This project aims to advance and commercially translate technology that uses concentrated solar radiation to convert natural gas directly into high-quality graphite and hydrogen. The solar-driven pyrolysis process involves no catalyst and releases zero CO2 as it captures carbon in the form of high-value graphite in a scalable, roll-to-roll (R2R) process. The pyrolysis process also produces a high- ...

Floating offshore wind power is poised for rapid growth in the US, where approximately 2/3 of the US offshore wind energy potential (2.8 out of 4.3 TW) exists over waters deep enough to require the use of floating platforms. However, cost remains an obstacle to extensive, rapid deployment of floating offshore wind. Anchoring floating wind installations to the sea floor is presently up to 15% of to ...

Lithium is a strategic mineral commodity that is fundamental to achieving U.S. energy independence. Today, the U.S. is reliant on other countries for a vast majority of its battery critical minerals processing, which poses risk of disruption to domestic supply chain. Our fundamental objective is to take a leading role in the development of a robust domestic minerals extraction and processing suppl ...

Floating solar photovoltaics is poised for rapid growth in the United States and globally because it offers new cost-competitive solar deployment options and unique advantages, including avoiding land-use conflicts, higher panel efficiency due to evaporative cooling, and improved water quality and conservation. However, modest cost reductions are still required for floating solar to compete with g ...

Iron (Fe) & steel production accounts for 7% of total industry CO2 emission. Currently, blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route produces 71% of global crude steel production. However, this process uses carbon (usually coke) as the reductant, which binds with oxygen in Fe ore and generates CO2. Direction reduction of ore (DRI) routes reduces Fe ore to sponge Fe via a solid-state process u ...

Statement of the problem – The proposed Advanced Multiport Solar Converter (AMSC) project directly addresses the problem the Department of Energy (DOE) presents in its Topic C56-15(a) – to incorporate wide-bandgap-based devices into a power conversion topology “designed to integrate and optimize distributed energy resources – in particular solar generation – with energy storage capabilit ...