Award Data

To understand how insects and crustaceans sense and process light fields, researchers need a projection system that provides realistic wide field of view (FOV), high-speed imagery from UV to red (320-650nm) that includes polarization control. Insects and crustaceans have vastly different visual acuity and wavelength response from humans. In addition, some can sense polarization. Therefore, commerc ...

United States Special Operations Forces (SOF) are called upon to operate anywhere in the world at any time, in extremis. Often these SOF operators must deploy using undersea vehicles such as the Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV) or, in the near future, the Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS), DCS/UEOS 3, etc.. UHF satellite communications are a major component of the SOF’s ability to operate anywh ...

Throughout history, airborne forces have given the United States military a significant tactical advantage with rapid deployment capability and little warning to opposing forces. Unfortunately, paratroopers often find themselves scattered across or even outside the intended drop zones. This forces the units to locate other squad members and equipment and regroup before they can proceed with their ...

The purpose of the Autonomous Cargo Handling System (ACHS) is to provide the means to autonomously move cargo on and off of Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) equipped aircraft (helicopters). AACUS provides the means by which a conventional aircraft can be converted to a fully autonomous aircraft through the use of an applique kit. The ACHS is a fully autonomous robotic system designed ...

Current environment models employed in MDA simulations are, in general, not coordinated to present a globally consistent environment picture and can be based on functions that have not been updated to take advantage of the environment models and databases that have become freely available in the information age. In contrast, radar atmospheric effects models whose behavior is derived from globally ...

Accuracies of initial alignment and gyroscopic drift in the presence of fast maneuvers and the settling time of gyroscopes and accelerometers govern navigation performances of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and of their associated Inertial Navigation (sub) Systems (INS). Most measuring devices include some electromechanical device, which has a time lag. In the case of IMU, the integration of mea ...

Under Phase-I of MDA SBIR 16.3-021, i3 demonstrated a new time-efficient technique, the i3 Transient Decomposition Method (TDM), for generating statistically-based material response models that predict the decomposition process that thermal protection system materials undergo when exposed to severe aerothermal heating environments. The i3 TDM is an enabling technology for MDA and other agencies th ...

Fine powder thermal battery cathode materials can exhibit challenging flow properties which makes processing with automated presses difficult.Granulating these powders can substantially improve flow properties and reduce the tendency for powder segregation during handling and pressing operations.Additionally, the properties of MgO that lead to good performance in thermal battery separators are not ...

Testing of satellite navigation receivers and their associated antenna systems is a critical component of fielding new navigation equipment for the warfighter. Anechoic chambers and open-air test ranges are typically used to test these systems in benign environments and in the presence of electronic attack (EA). A need exists for an indoor, dynamic satellite constellation simulation to bridge a te ...

The 7V and 10V space chambers at Arnold Air Force Base are deep space environment simulators developed to test high performance interceptors and surveillance sensors in deep space conditions (20K background temperature).The chambers operate over the visible to Long Wave Infrared portions of the spectra.The proposed spectrometer will be designed for integration into either space chamber to assist i ...