Award Data

It has long been known that analog computers can be faster and more power efficient than digital processors by many orders of magnitude. Until the 1970s analog computers were the dominant controllers in most industrial and military applications. Even today digital processors are still slower and more power consumptive than analog, but offer much more flexibility (programmability) and precision. ...

HJ Science & Technology (HJS & T) and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) propose to develop an automated, software-controlled, programmable, low-cost, and compact platform capable of running rapid and complex bioengineering processes and optimization of new biomanufacturing systems. Our approach combines the microfluidic automation technology of HJS & T with the novel synthetic biology technolo ...

A military without good leadership is a mob. Identification, preparation, guidance and mentoring of potential leaders are critical functions across all services. Leadership training and support can be substantially improved by refinement of theories and models on what constitutes good leadership, and what enables individual to be effective leaders. DoD needs better models of how leaders learn, ...

Genome-scale predictable cellular design and engineering of biomanufacturing systems is the overarching a goal of DARPA's Living Foundry thrust and, if realized, will enable rapid engineering of living biosystems for a broad range of applications in biotechnology and pharmacology. However, constructing living cells with designed genome is not fully automated and is severely limited by inhere ...

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite materials are light and strong, however the development of composite aerostructures has been expensive and slow. Custom tooling is required for each part produced, significant capital investment is required to win

The increasing use of video in force protection, autonomous vehicles reconnaissance, and surveillance in general has created a great demand for automated analysis and monitoring. It is infeasible to have humans monitoring and analyzing the vast amount of video used in such surveillance, and automated analysis yields hope to ease the burden and increase the amount of information extracted from col ...

To solve the DARPA need for high-performance MEMS-based optomechanical accelerometers, Applied Optronics proposes to develop a Compact Integrated Silicon Nitride Microresonator Accelerometer (OPTIMA), which is based on a combination of a high-Q silicon ni

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 ...

This program will demonstrate how additive manufacturing technologies can be used with reactive and high energy materials to create rapid and flexible fabrication of payload and munitions. Our primary approach to this problem will be to use powder bed binder printing techniques to print reactive structures. The anticipated feedstock will consist of composite particles containing all reactant spe ...

The challenges faced by airborne and ground-based sensors in detecting, classifying, identifying, associating and tracking difficult moving targets, such as insurgent forces, operating in difficult terrain such as mountains and forests will be addressed. Our team will quantify the performance that can be achieved using multi-sensor, multi-spectral, and multi-platform techniques, where the sensors ...