Award Data

A stand-off mid-IR based system offers great promise for the detection of chemical, biological or explosive (CBE) agents. Such a system has yet to be realized due mostly to broad spectral features and interfering substances. In this proposal we will demonstrate the feasibility of a system that collects laser induced thermal emission (LITE) from a substance and identifies it as known CBE agent with ...

Thermopile arrays manufactured using integrated process compatible materials and micro-machining will provide high performance with low manufacturing cost. Black Forest Engineering (BFE) teamed with Case Western Reserve University will design thermopiles using silicon based semiconductors and compare performance. Low cost thermopiles, differentially coupled with advanced BFE CMOS readout, will pr ...

Accurate real-time waterborne pathogen detection is of paramount importance to security of U.S. military forces and installations. Fieldable high-throughput pathogen concentration is a critical analytical need for enhanced detection performance. Existing concentration methods are time-consuming, bulky, labor-intensive, power- and reagent-hungry, and consequently ill-suited for battlefield deployme ...

The Army has a clear need for a small unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) capable of autonomously accompanying a single soldier or vehicle. Such a UGV would help solve both logistical problems of soldiers needing to transport more equipment and supplies than they can carry in a backpack, and tactical problems of scouting unsafe areas. Multiple designs for such UGVs exist; however, they require active re ...

deciBel Research and our university partner, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)-Center for Imaging Science, propose to develop a dual MWIR/LWIR imaging polarimeter for the detection and discrimination of aerosolized biological spores. The system will exploit spectral absorption and MIE scattering-induced radiometric and polarimetric phenomenon exhibited by clouds of aerosolized biological spo ...

Hstar proposes a near autonomous combat casualty extraction robot (c2Exbot) system that: 1) supports autonomous dexterous manipulation, safe patient lifting and near autonomous navigation control, 2) utilizes a supervisory telepresence operation mechanism, 3) provides near autonomous patient diagnosis, injury assessment and emergency treatment, and d) provides semi-autonomous patient monitoring an ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research program will develop narrow band plasmonic resonant cavity filters with integrated microbolometer sensors operating in the long wave infrared (LWIR) atmospheric transmission band for IR absorption measurements of low concentration chemicals. IR spectroscopy can identify a wide range of contaminants, including chemical/biological warfare agents, exp ...

High efficiency, low pollution, and long lifetime make hydrogen-powered fuel cells desirable for portable power generation by the Army. However, it is impractical to transport hydrogen to where it is needed. Instead, reforming a transportable liquid fuel such as JP-8 or diesel fuel can produce the hydrogen for the fuel cell. Noble metal catalysts can speed this reforming, but they are expensive a ...

The proposed research incorporates several inventions to produce structural components that can be assembled into a highly enhanced chemical-biological (CB) forensic evidence container for transport and storage of contaminated articles. Bio-hazardous materials are frequently encountered in standard investigations, and currently used evidence bags are designed to handle the containment and preserv ...

Detection and identification of toxic chemical in water is vital for various military, environmental, and industrial applications. Specifically, the Joint Services have a need for rapid detection of trace levels of chemical contamination in water systems. This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will focus on the development of a novel detection system for sampling and identificat ...