Award Data

The proposed Autonmous Reactive Ferrrying Drifter (ARF-D) provides wide measured swath, autonomously maintains a buffer distance from close-shore snags, and by utilizing river flow provides a very low power approach to obtaining cross-river surveying, providing greater coverage with minimal power penalty. By randomizing the cross-river transit paths multiple ARF-D units will naturally overcome the ...

The Navy is developing an electromagnetic (EM) launcher for long-range naval surface-fire-support. Severe operating conditions of the EM system place stringent requirements for materials, including high current and magnetic fields, high temperatures, contact with liquid metals, high stress/gouging from balloting contacts and high-speed-sliding electrical-contact with an Al armature. Engineered Coa ...

The objective of this Project is to explore and develop refractory coatings on high strength, high electrical conductivity copper alloy, to enable damage resistant electromagnetic launcher. An electromagnetic launcher consists of two parallel copper rails, and a moving armature. High electrical currents passing through the rails and armature result in strong magnetic fields, high temperatures, che ...

Nanotrons Corporation, in collaboration with Professor Byungki Kim at NSF Nanomanufacturing Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), proposes to develop the low-cost high-rate manufacturing technique for flexible explosive detection sensors to significantly increase sensitivity of detection of trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosives. The new approach combines cutting-edge nanomate ...

JM Harwood, LLC, and UAH Propulsion Research Center propose the development of an electronic miniature Direct Fuel Injection (DFI) system for 5-20 hp heavy fuel engines. This highly integrated Very Small Injection Technology (V-SInTech) DFI system will be capable of (a) multiple injections per cycle, (b) variable injection timing, (c) variable spray penetration depth, (d) real-time closed loop mod ...

We propose to design a high average power Er:Fiber ultrafast laser system which is pumped at 14xxnm, and at the same time solve other problems related to ultrashort pulses in fiber lasers. The advantage of using 14xxnm pumping is the reduction of the standard quantum defect from 37% to 5%, thus greatly reducing the thermal load on the system, which makes it inherently more efficient. We also inten ...

The Navy seeks devices that can provide power to maintain charge in batteries for shipboard sensors. The transduction materials proposed for most energy harvesting devices under development are either too brittle to endure significant loading or are too compliant to extract significant energy from the small amplitude vibrations present on ships. Terfenol-D (in a composite form) and Galfenol each p ...

A boat’s coxswain is adept at analyzing the wave environment, adjusting the craft’s propulsion system and control surfaces to mitigate its motions and reduce the chance of capsizing. There is a significant predictive component in the coxswain’s control decisions. Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) lack the benefit of a highly trained coxswain reading and predicting oncoming waves - existing au ...

Diver communication is vital for the US Navy while carrying out strategic underwater missions. Diver-to-diver communication and diver-to-vehicle communication can allow the sharing of information as it is discovered and also enable performing cooperative maneuvers. Emergency situations can also benefit from such communication. In addition to the communication capability, it would be useful to know ...

Scientific Systems and Brigham Young University will develop and test an autonomous helicopter landing system using vision-based navigation and control.