Award Data

The CSA-UCDavis team proposes to develop a soil measurement device to allow for rapid and accurate measurement of soil parameters in order to rapidly and accurately characterize the terrain. The device will be man-portable but also allow for mounting to a small robotic vehicle. Parameters that will be measured include but are not limited to cone index, soil friction index, as well as soil shear ...

Electrodeposited chromium films have played a key role in the advancement of industrial technology over the past century. Unfortunately, such coatings have a critical problem, namely, the electroplating solution involves hexavalent Cr, which is a severe occupational and environmental hazard. We have produced a proprietary refractory amorphous metallic film that has a nanoindentation hardness app ...

There is a large unmet need for low-power sensor systems. This is not due to a lack of transducers, for there are many physical properties of a molecule or nanostructure that can be harnessed to perform the basic sensing task. The absence is due to problems in integrating science with technology into a small, portable, packageable scale. While it is relatively easy for the instrument designer t ...

As the U.S. Government continues to post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization (R/S) around the globe, the implementation of an automated strategic planning aid is critical to future success. The objective of this program is to demonstrate the feasibility of a strategic planning framework that leverages the latest collaboration technologies to provide desktop access to R/S goals, missions and ...

Humans take for granted their extraordinary visual abilities, however efforts to give such abilities to computers have meet with limited success thus far. Objects may be difficult for a computer to recognize/index because they are partly occluded, viewed from an unusual angle, because they blend into the background due to low contrast (or camouflage), or more generally because the best features (c ...

Efficient laser beam delivery on a distant target remains a key problem for practical implementation of tactical laser systems. Since the conventional target-in-the-loop (TIL) concept is generally not effective in such operational environments, new solutions are needed. MetroLaser has developed an innovative approach for effective compensation of laser beam aberrations in TIL systems. It is based ...

The objective of this proposed program is the design, development and demonstration of novel semiconductor quantum barrier/well devices that utilize spin-control mechanisms available in diluted magnetic materials (DMS) for achieving higher-level functionality (e.g., transistor action) at very high switching speeds and frequencies. The potential simplicity of DMS devices compared to standard thre ...

In battlefield environments, ballistic impact may result in the failure of military structures and materials, including armor. To improve the reliability and safety of military structures and materials, it is important to study material failure under ballistic impact in the design stage. There are two main failure phenomena related to the material response due to ballistic impact. One is adiaba ...

Pacific Science & Engineering Group (PSE) and the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) propose the Decision Support System for STAbilization, Reconstruction, and Conflict Transformation (START). This tool will facilitate the Draft Planning Framework for Reconstruction, Stabilization, and Conflict Transformation, a complex planning process involving collaborative users. START's graphical user in ...

Degradation and failure prognostics in electronic systems is a growing requirement for both military and civilian sectors of 21st century. US Army's FCS will extensively use complex electronic systems. To enhance functionality, survivality, and mission success probability of FCS platforms while limiting the logistic footprint, efficient prognostic health management is essential. Qualtech Systems, ...