Award Data

The US Navy operates a vast fleet of combat and support vessels with complex power control systems under the control and decision authority of human operators. Several current resources such as SPY-1D radar and Vertical Launch System (VLS) and future resources such as railgun, AMDR, and high energy laser (HEL) are energy hungry, exceeding current and planned power generation capability when deploy ...

Active imaging systems are used to for imaging in degraded visual environments like that found in marine fog and other environments with a high level of attenuation and scattering from obscurants like fog, rain, smoke, and dust.These systems are still limited in range and resolution. SA Photonics is taking advantage of multiple image enhancement techniques, like wavelength tunability, pulse contro ...

Degraded weather conditions particularly, dense maritime fog, reduces the US Fleet EO/IR systems ability to maintain situational awareness and detect/identify and track targets of interest. It is the Navys goal to develop an active EO/IR imaging system that jointly optimizes illumination source properties and implements advanced image processing to improve performance and operational range of curr ...

UUVs have become increasingly important tools in the collection of environmental data. Their unique ability to operate independent of surface vessel conditions allows oceanographic seawater measurements when traditional means is not possible. Historically sensor packages for UUVs have been based on adaptions of ship deployed equipment. Recent development in sensors, such as the Hybrid Flow Through ...

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an attractive joining method where high strength low porosity welds can be attained. However, the high temperatures and forces required for welding high strength materials like steel require the use of exotic tools. Cubic boron nitride (cBN)-based tools offer attractive tool wear characteristics in steels, but are very costly. Conversely, refractory metal alloys are ...

The underpinning science and sensing associated with autonomous navigation is advancing on numerous fronts. The navigation capability required for ship hull grooming in a low visibility environment is a natural application of this technology. Enormous benefit will be realized in the public and private sectors of the shipping industry. The economic and environmental impact realized using proactive ...

The Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) Team consisting of PSI, Draper Laboratories (Draper), and an airframe integrator are proposing a tunable hybrid composite structure capable of increasing the thermal operating performance by 500 C over conventional polymer matrix composites (PMCs). Our multifunctional composite approach combines PSIs low cost quasi-isotropic Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) system, a ...

The objective of this project is to develop a hybrid, multifunctional composite material that improves the thermal and chemical stability, and surface durability of traditional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. By using a standard prepreg lay-up process, in which a flexible conductive ceramic thin layer is bonded directly onto the outmost layer of polymer composites to ensure the ...

With MEDUSAE, our world class team proposes to leverage our extensive experience, existing technology, and a unique approach to lightweight, long lasting, self-recharging jellyfish-inspired floats to fill an oceanographic sensing capability gap for the Navy. Our experience in bio-inspired robot (including jellyfish), nonconventional actuation, and energy harvesting development promises to provide ...

Qualification of additively manufactured parts is hampered by the inherent uncetainty in properties due to heterogeneity in processing, microstructure, and defects. The proposed effort combines high-throughput testing of static and dynamic properties using tailored sample geometry, fixture design, and load application method with microstructure quantification and analysis. This system will drastic ...