U.S. ARMY
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Topics
The Army works to maintain its technological edge by partnering with industry and academia. Agile, free thinking, small, high tech companies often generate the most innovative and significant solutions to meet our soldiers’ needs. The Army seeks to harness these talents for the benefit of our soldiers through the SBIR Program.
The Army participates in one DoD solicitation each year with a two-tiered Phase I and Phase II proposal evaluation and selection process. Army scientists and technologists have developed 243 technical topics and the Phase III dual-use applications for each which address Army mission requirements. Only proposals submitted against the specific topics following this introduction will be accepted.
The Army is undertaking a transformation to better meet small-scale contingencies without compromising major theater war capability. This transformation has had a major impact on the entire Army Science and Technology (S&T) enterprise -- to include the SBIR program. To supply the new weapon systems and supporting technologies needed by the transformed Objective Force (OF), the Army has initiated the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The SBIR program has been aligned with FCS and OF technology categories -- this will be an ongoing process as OF/FCS needs change and evolve. All of the following Army topics reflect OF and FCS technology needs. Over 70% of the topics also reflect the interests of the Army acquisition (Program Manager/Program Executive Officer) community.
Please Note!
ü Your entire proposal (consisting of Proposal Cover Sheets, the full Technical Proposal, Cost Proposal, and Company Commercialization Report) must be submitted electronically through the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission Website. A hardcopy is NOT required. Hand or electronic signature on the proposal is also NOT required. You may visit the Army SBIR Website (address: http://www.aro.army.mil/arowash/rt/ ) to get started. This page links to the DoD-wide SBIR proposal submission system (available directly at http://www.dodsbir.net/submission), which will lead you through the preparation and submission of your proposal. Refer to section 3.4n at the front of this solicitation for detailed instructions on the Company Commercialization Report. You must include a Company Commercialization Report as part of each proposal you submit to the Army; however, it does not count against the proposal page limit. If you have not updated your commercialization information in the past year, or need to review a copy of your report, visit the DoD SBIR Proposal Submission site. Please note that improper handling of the Commercialization Report may result in the proposal being substantially delayed and that information provided may have a direct impact on the review of the proposal.
ü Based on past year's experiences with the electronic submission, please submit your proposals as early as possible.
ü Be reminded that section 3.4.b of this solicitation states: “If your proposal is selected for award, the technical abstract and discussion of anticipated benefits will be publicly released on the Internet on the DoD SBIR/STTR web site (www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/)”; therefore, do not include proprietary or classified information in these documents. DoD will not accept classified proposals for the SBIR Program. Note also that the DoD web site contains timely information on firm, award, and abstract data for all DoD SBIR Phase I and II awards going back several years.
ü The Phase II Plus Program objectives are to (1) extend Phase II R&D efforts beyond the current Phase II contract to meet the product, process, or service requirements of a third party investor, preferably an acquisition program, and (2) accelerate the Phase II project into the Phase III commercialization stage. "Third party investor" means Army (or other DoD) acquisition programs as well as the private sector. The general concept is to provide qualified Phase II businesses with additional Phase II SBIR funding if they can obtain matching non-SBIR funds from acquisition programs, the private sector, or both. Under Phase II Plus, additional funds may be provided by modifying the Phase II contract, and where appropriate, use will be made of the flexibility afforded by the SBA 1993 Policy which allows total Phase I + Phase II SBIR funding to exceed $850,000. Additional SBIR matching funds, subject to availability, will be provided on a one-to-one matching basis with third-party funds, but not to exceed $250,000. The additional SBIR funds must be used for advancing the R&D-related elements of the project; third-party investor funds can be used for R&D or other business-related efforts to accelerate the innovation to commercialization. More information is available on the Army SBIR web site: http://www.aro.army.mil/arowash/rt/.
Phase I Proposal Guidelines
The Army has enhanced its Phase I-Phase II transition process by implementing the use of a Phase I Option that the Army may exercise to fund interim Phase I - II activities while a Phase II contract is being negotiated. The maximum dollar amount for a Phase I is $70,000 over a period of up to 6 months. The Phase I Option, which must be proposed as part of the Phase I proposal if desired, covers activities over a period of up to four months and at a cost not to exceed $50,000. All proposed Phase I Options must be fully costed and should describe appropriate initial Phase II activities which would lead, in the event of a Phase II award, to the successful demonstration of a product or technology. The Army will not accept Phase I proposals which exceed $70,000 for the Phase I effort and $50,000 for the Phase I Option effort. Only Phase I efforts selected for Phase II awards through the Army’s competitive process will be eligible to exercise the Phase I Option. To maintain the total cost for SBIR Phase I and Phase II activities at a limit of $850,000, the total funding amount available for Phase II activities under a resulting Phase II contract is $730,000, unless Phase II Plus funds are provided.
Companies submitting a Phase I proposal under this Solicitation must complete the Cost Proposal within a total cost of up to $70,000 (plus up to $50,000 for the Phase I Option, if desired). Phase I and Phase I Option costs must be shown separately; however, they may be presented side-by-side on a single Cost Proposal. The Phase I Option proposal must be included within the 25-page limit for the Phase I proposal. In addition, all offerors will prepare a Company Commercialization Report, for each proposal submitted. The Company Commercialization Report does not count toward the 25-page Phase I proposal limitation.
Selection of Phase I proposals will be based upon scientific and technical merit, will be according to the evaluation procedures and criteria discussed in this solicitation, and will be based on priorities established to meet the Army’s mission requirements. The first Criterion on soundness, technical merit, and incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution (refer to section 4.2 at the front of this solicitation), is given slightly more weight than the second Criterion, which is given slightly more weight than the third Criterion. When technical evaluations are essentially equal in merit between two proposals, cost to the government may be considered in determining the successful offeror. Due to limited funding, the Army reserves the right to limit awards under any topic, and only those proposals of superior scientific and technical quality will be funded.
Proposals not conforming to the terms of this solicitation and unsolicited proposals will not be considered. Awards will be subject to the availability of funding and successful completion of contract negotiations. The Army typically provides a firm fixed price contract or awards a small purchase agreement as a Phase I award, at the discretion of the Contracting Officer.
Phase II Proposal Guidelines
Phase II proposals are invited by the Army from Phase I projects that have demonstrated the potential for commercialization of useful products and services. The invitation will be issued in writing by the Army organization responsible for the Phase I effort. Invited proposers are required to develop and submit a commercialization plan describing feasible approaches for marketing the developed technology. Fast Track participants may submit a proposal without being invited, but the application must be received NLT 120 days after the Phase I contract is signed or by the Phase II submission date indicated later, whichever date is earliest. The Fast Track technical proposal is due by the Phase II proposal submission date indicated later. Cost-sharing arrangements in support of Phase II projects and any future commercialization efforts are strongly encouraged, as are matching funds from independent third-party investors, per the SBIR Fast Track program (see section 4.5 at the front of this solicitation) or the Phase II Plus program. Commercialization plans, cost-sharing provisions, and matching funds from investors will be considered in the evaluation and selection process, and Fast Track proposals will be evaluated under the Fast Track standard discussed in section 4.3 at the front of this solicitation. Proposers are required to submit a budget for the entire 24 month Phase II period. During contract negotiation, the contracting officer may require a cost proposal for a base year and an option year, thus, proposers are advised to be mindful of this possibility. These costs must be submitted using the Cost Proposal format (accessible electronically on the DoD submission site), and may be presented side-by-side on a single Cost Proposal Sheet. The total proposed amount should be indicated on the Proposal Cover Sheet, Proposed Cost. At the Contracting Officer’s discretion, Phase II projects may be evaluated after the base year prior to extending funding for the option year.
The Army is committed to minimizing the funding gap between Phase I and Phase II activities. All Army Phase II proposals will receive expedited reviews and be eligible for interim funding (refer to top for information on the Phase I Option). Accordingly, all Army Phase II proposals, including Fast Track submissions, will be evaluated within a single two-tiered evaluation process and schedule. Phase II proposals will thus typically be submitted within 5 months from the scheduled DoD Phase I award date (the scheduled DoD award date for Phase I, subject to the Congressional Budget process, is 4 months from close of the DoD Solicitation). The Army typically funds a cost plus fixed fee Phase II award, but may award a firm fixed price contract at the discretion of the Contracting Officer.
Submission of Army SBIR Proposals
All proposals written in response to topics in this solicitation must be received by the date and time indicated in Section 6.2 of the introduction to this solicitation. Submit your proposal(s) well before the deadline. The Army does not accept late proposals.
All Phase I proposals must be submitted electronically via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission Site. Each proposal must include the Proposal Cover Sheets along with the full Technical Proposal, Cost Proposal and Company Commercialization Report. The Army will NOT accept proposals which are improperly submitted. A confirmation of receipt will be sent via e-mail shortly after the closing of the solicitation. Selection and non-selection letters will also be sent electronically via e-mail.
Electronic Submission of Proposals Using the DoD SBIR Proposal Submission System
Your entire proposal must be submitted using the online submission system. This site allows your company to come in any time (prior to deadline) to upload an updated Technical Proposal or edit your Cover Sheets, Cost Proposal and Company Commercialization Report. The Army WILL NOT accept any proposals which are not submitted through the on-line submission site (http://www.dodsbir.net/submission). File uploads may take a great deal of time depending on your internet connection speed and file size. If you experience problems uploading your proposal, call the help desk (toll free) at 866-724-7457. You are responsible for performing a virus check on each proposal before uploading electronically. The detection of a virus on any submission may be cause for the rejection of the proposal. The Army will not accept e-mail submissions.
Reminder! Based on past year's experiences with the electronic submission, please submit your proposals early.
Key Dates
Phase I Phase II
03.2 Solicitation Open 1 July - 14 August 2003 Phase II Invitation April 2004+
Phase I Evaluations August - November 2003 Phase II Proposal Receipt May 2004+
Phase I Selections November 2003 Phase II Evaluations June – July 2004
Phase I Awards December 2003* Phase II Selections July 2004
Phase II Awards November 2004*
*Subject to the Congressional Budget process.
+ Subject to change; Consult ARO-W web site listed above
Recommendations for Future Topics
Small Businesses are encouraged to suggest ideas that may be included in future Army SBIR solicitations. These suggestions should be directed to the SBIR points-of-contact at the respective Army research and development organizations (detailed on the following page).
Inquiries
Inquiries of a general nature should be addressed in writing to:
MAJ Janice M. Baker
Army SBIR Program Manager
U.S. Army Research Office - Washington
Room 8N31
5001 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22333-0001
(703) 617-7425
FAX: (703) 617-8274
ARMY SBIR PROGRAM
POINTS OF CONTACT (POC) SUMMARY
Research, Development & Engineering CTR POC Phone
U.S. Army Materiel Command
Armaments RD&E Center Carol L'Hommedieu (973) 724-4029
Army Research Laboratory Dean Hudson (301) 394-4808
Army Research Dr. Ellen Segan (919) 549-4240
Aviation RD&E Center Peggy Jackson (757) 878-5400
Communications Electronics Command Suzanne Weeks (732) 427-3275
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center Ron Hinkle (410) 436-2031
Missile RD&E Center Otho Thomas (256) 842-9227
Natick Soldier Center Dr. Gerald Raisanen (508) 233-4223
Simulation, Training Center Mark Stoklosa (407) 384-3928
Tank Automotive RD&E Center Alex Sandel (586) 574-7545
U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command
Developmental Test Command Nancy Weinbrenner (410) 278-1477
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Engineering Research Development Center)
Engineer Research & Development Center Susan Nichols (703) 428-6255
Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (Army Research Institute)
Army Research Institute Dr. Jonathan Kaplan (703) 617-8828
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Space and Missile Defense Command Jay Howland (256) 955-1843
Army Medical Command
Medical Research and Materiel Command Jeannie Shinbur (301) 619-7427
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
PROPOSAL CHECKLIST
This is a Checklist of Requirements for your proposal. Please review the checklist carefully to ensure that your proposal meets the Army SBIR requirements. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your proposal not being evaluated or considered for award. Do not include this checklist with your proposal.
____ 1. The Proposal Cover Sheets along with the full Technical Proposal, Cost Proposal and Company Commercialization Report were submitted using the SBIR proposal submission system, which can be accessed via the Army’s SBIR Web Site (address: http://www.aro.army.mil/arowash/rt/ ) or directly at http://www.dodsbir.net/submission. The Proposal Cover Sheet clearly shows the proposal number assigned by the system to your proposal.
_____ 2. The proposal addresses a Phase I effort (up to $70,000 with up to a six-month duration) AND (if applicable) an optional effort (up to $50,000 for an up to four-month period to provide interim Phase II funding).
_____ 3. The proposal is limited to only ONE Army solicitation topic.
_____ 4. The Project Summary on the Proposal Cover Sheet contains no proprietary information and is limited to the space provided.
_____ 5. The Technical Content of the proposal, including the Option, includes the items identified in Section 3.4 of the solicitation.
_____ 6. The Company Commercialization Report is submitted online in accordance with Section 3.4.n. This report is required even if the company has not received any SBIR funding. (This report does not count towards the 25-page limit)
______ 7. The proposal, including the Phase I Option (if applicable), is 25 pages or less in length. (Excluding the Company Commercialization Report.) Proposals in excess of this length will not be considered for review or award.
_____ 8. The proposal contains no type smaller than 10-point font size (except as legend on reduced drawings, but not tables).
_____ 9. The Cost Proposal has been completed and submitted for both the Phase I and Phase I Option (if applicable) and their costs are shown separately. The Cost Proposal has been filled in electronically. The total cost should match the amount on the cover pages.
_____ 10. The entire proposal must be electronically submitted through the online submission site (http://www.dodsbir.net/submission) by 6 a.m. EST on August 14, 2003.
ARMY 03.2 SBIR TITLE INDEX
Armaments RD&E Center (ARDEC)
A03-001 Generic Sensor Information Transmitter Optimized for Acoustics
A03-002 Recoil Energy Recovery for Powering Munitions
A03-003 Small Arms Gun Barrel Stabilization Using High Energy Density, Rugged, and Low Creep Actuators
A03-004 Innovative Modular Packaging of Military Supplies
A03-005 Utilization of Acoustics and Laser Light for Energy and Power Transmission
A03-006 Innovative Long Life Power System/Battery Recharge System for Munitions
A03-007 Nano-Particle Surface Tension Release by Laser Initiation
A03-008 Innovative Onboard Angular Orientation Sensors
A03-009 Mass Fabrication of MEMS-based Micro Detonator Technology
A03-010 Advanced Multi-Sensor Array System (AMAS)
A03-011 Solar Power for Ground Munitions, Sensors, and Communication Systems
A03-012 Remote Sensing of the Electro-Magnetic Potential of the Human Heart
A03-013 Medium Caliber Gun Barrel Bore Coatings
A03-014 Smart, Light Weight Electronic Pointing Device for Indirect Fire Weapons
A03-015 Advanced Neutron Source for Radiography & Tomography
A03-016 Innovative Real -Time Titanium Manufacturing
A03-017 Intelligent Agent Technologies for Homeland Defense
A03-018 Innovative High Resolution Thermal Imager with Small Optics
A03-019 Artifact Free Tomographic Algorithms
A03-020 3-D HyperSpectral Microbolometer
A03-021 Innovative Automatic Warhead Optimization and Modeling
A03-022 HyperSpectral Data Cube Processor
Army Research Institute (ARI)
A03-023 Measurement of Career Leadership Performance
A03-024 Semi-Automated Question Accumulation and Response System
A03-025 Enhancing Warrior Ethos in Initial Entry Soldiers
Army Research Lab (ARL)
A03-026 Ascertaining Bio-Mechanical Response of Armor Materials
A03-027 Actively Controlled Rotary Actuator For Vehicle Suspensions
A03-028 Hydrogen Generation and Storage for Fuel Cell Systems
A03-029 Innovative Methods for Geolocation and Communication with Ultra-Wideband Mobile Radio Networks
A03-030 Wideband High Fidelity I-Band Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM)
A03-031 Advancing the Objective Force Through Mulitnational Coalitions and Interagency Task Forces
A03-032 Crew Survivability Inside Future Combat Systems (FCS) -Type Vehicle: Techniques for Ammunition Protection from Fragments, Shock, and Fire
A03-033 Novel Hierarchical Hybrids for Transparent Armor
A03-034 Non-Imaging Disposable Sensor System
A03-035 Cross-Layer Designs for Energy-Efficient Sensor Networking
A03-036 Human Behavior Architecture Interface for Integrated Cognitive and Task Performance Model Development
A03-037 Non-Fuel-Cell, Ultra-Low Emission/Signature Engine Capable of Exhaust Water Extraction
A03-038 True Time Delay Multiple Beam Antenna System Design Tool
A03-039 High Energy, Fast-Rise Film Capacitors
A03-040 Mixed Signal for Multifunction RF (Radio Frequency) Sensor
A03-041 Efficient Atmospheric Extinction Algorithms for Line of Sight Transmission
A03-042 Agent-Based Knowledge Enablers for the Unit of Action
A03-043 Natural Hearing Restoration for Encapsulating Helmets
A03-044 Polymers for Lightweight Small Arms Cartridge Cases
A03-045 Configurable Tooling Systems for Complex Structures for Objective Force Survivability
A03-046 Breathable, Chemical Resistant, Elastomeric Protective Clothing Material
A03-047 Long Wave Infrared Acousto-Optic Materials
A03-048 Ultra-Compact Doppler LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for Unmanned Aerial/Ground Vehicles
A03-049 Blast and Shock Damage Analysis
Army Research Office (ARO)
A03-050 Research and Development of Stochastic Optimal Control Algorithms for Mobile Communications Systems
A03-051 Mixed-Feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
A03-052 Self-Decontaminating Coatings
A03-053 Detection of Drugs/Narcotics and Processing Components Using “Sniffing” Devices
A03-054 Large Scale Biomaterial Production
A03-055 Cross-Layer Wireless Networking for Low Energy Sensor Networks
A03-056 Man Portable Personnel Detection Device for MOUT
A03-057 High Power, High Efficiency Diode Sources for Pumping Eye-Safe Solid State Lasers
A03-058 Chaotic Radio Frequency (RF) Sources for Ranging and Detection (RADAR) Applications
A03-059 Compact Submillimeter-Wave Sources and Detectors for Biological and Chemical Spectroscopy
A03-060 Personnel Detection and Warning Systems for Perimeter, Ambush, and Casualty Detection.
A03-061 Integrated Computational Algorithms to Treat Fracture and Fragmentation
A03-062 Integrated Information Interface for Electromagnetic Modeling and Simulation Tools
Army Test & Evaluation Center (ATEC)
A03-063 Remote Neurological Measurement and Sensing
A03-064 Advanced Electro-Optical/InfraRed (EO/IR) Projector for Testing Imaging Sensors
A03-065 Variable Cold-Stop for a Multi-Band Infrared Imagers
Aviation RD&E Center (AVRDEC)
A03-066 Airspace Management and Deconfliction of Networked UAV
A03-067 Active Trim Tab Actuator For In-Flight Rotor Blade Tracking
A03-068 Dismounted Small Unmanned Air Vehicle (SUAV) Associate
A03-069 Advanced Technologies for Improved Part Power Performance in Small Turbine Engines
A03-070 Merging Sensor and Stored Terrain Database Data for Rotorcraft Poor Visibility Weather Operations
A03-071 Sensors for Detecting and Monitoring Fatigue Cracks
A03-072 Self-Healing Composite Structures
A03-073 Advanced Snubber/Damper for Bearingless Helicopter Main Rotor Blades
A03-074 Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
A03-075 Composite Fastener Development
A03-076 Combat Rotorcraft Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Suppression Technology
A03-077 Analysis, Design & Test of Low Reynolds Number Rotors and Propellers
A03-078 High Strength, Affordable Helicopter Gears
A03-079 Miniature Inertial Reference System
Communications Electronics Command (CECOM)
A03-080 Small Multi-decade Communications and Electronic Warfare (EW) Antenna
A03-081 Blockage Mitigation Techniques for On-the-Move Satellite Communications
A03-082 Extensible Markup Language (XML) Compression Tool
A03-083 Military 3-D Visualization Utilizing Gaming Technology
A03-084 Ultrafast Charging of Smart Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery Hybrid Power Sources
A03-085 Lithium-Air Technology
A03-086 Commanders Portal Technology
A03-087 Use of Cognitive Systems in Generation of Course of Action
A03-088 Near-Real Time Tactical Automated Machine Translation Technology(N-TAMTT)
A03-089 Integrated Search and Discovery Portal
A03-090 Techniques for Unconventional Terrain Navigation
A03-091 Command and Control Metrics
A03-092 Advanced Monostatic and Bistatic Azimuth Estimation Techniques
A03-093 Video-Moving Target Indicator (MTI) Trackers for Multiple Targets
A03-094 Knowledge Engineering Environment for Army Intelligence Analysis and Interpretation
A03-095 See Thru the Wall Technologies
A03-096 Perimeter Detection System
A03-097 All Terrain Combat Identification
A03-098 Wind Blown Clutter Reduction to Improve Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Moving Target Indicator (MTI) Performance
A03-099 Selective Localized Global Positioning System (GPS) Denial
A03-100 High Speed, High Power, Electronically Tuned Components
A03-101 Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection (LPI/LPD) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Mitigation Techniques
A03-102 Global Positioning System (GPS) Interference Electronic Support Measure (ESM) Payload for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
A03-103 Low-Loss Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Data Compression
A03-104 Low Cost Three Dimensional Laser Radar Receiver
A03-105 Optical Components to Reduce Retroreflection from Uncooled Infrared Focal Plane Array
A03-106 Uncooled Infrared (IR) Camera with High Resolution Zoom
A03-107 Landmine Detection
A03-108 Off-Route Mine Detection
A03-109 Detection of Non-buried Explosives using Chemical Detecting Technologies
A03-110 Lightweight Laser Designator
A03-111 Near Infrared Streak Tube
A03-112 Security for Wireless Handheld Devices
A03-113 Terrain Aware Network Planning Tools
A03-114 Network Protocols for Onboard Satellite Packet Routing
A03-115 Small, Bandwidth Efficient Satellite Communications Modems and Waveforms
A03-116 Satellite Access Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
A03-117 Disposable Micro-Radios for Sensor and Munitions Networks
A03-118 Digital Dynamic Pre-Distorter for High Power Amplifiers for Wideband Digital Radios
A03-119 PAMELA: Propagation Analysis and Modeling Experiments for Laser Applications
A03-120 Smart Single or Multiple Beam Forming Antennas in the 1 to 2 GHz Range
A03-121 Networked System on a Chip for C4ISR
A03-122 Orthogonal Coding for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
A03-123 Disposable Imaging Sensors
A03-124 Automated Wafer Polishing for Epi-ready CdZnTe Substrates
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC)
A03-125 Carbon Nanotube Obscurants for Survivability
A03-126 Multi-Dimensional Separations Technology for Proteomics
Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC)
A03-127 Buried Mine/Unexploded (UXO) Detection and Identification Improvement Through Characterization and Innovative Incorporation of Sensor Background Noise/Clutter Signals
A03-128 Implementation of a Geospatial 3-dimensional Topology Model
A03-129 Spatial Data Mining
A03-130 Sensors for Rapid Chemical Biological Radiological (CBR) Detection and Countermeasure Activation to Protect Water Distribution Systems
A03-131 Immunological Detection of Pathogens by Biofunctional Membrane
A03-132 Modeling and Simulation of Chemical and Biological Agents in Potable Water Systems
A03-133 Geospatial Exploitation of Motion Imagery (GEMI)
A03-134 Dendrimers for Biological Warfare Agent Detection and Neutralization for Immune Buildings
A03-135 Urban Tactical Decision Aids
A03-136 A Device for Estimating Site Condition
A03-137 Void Detection and Stiffness Measurement System for Road and Airfield Pavements
Missile RD&E Center (MRDEC)
A03-138 High Temperature Matrices for Filament Wound Composites
A03-139 Robust Alignment Concepts for Precision Guided Weapons
A03-140 Fabrication Enhancements for the Production of Spinel Domes
A03-141 Thermobaric Blast Pressure Gauges
A03-142 Weapon Weight Reduction Using Genetic Algorithms
A03-143 Rocket Exhaust Plume Secondary Smoke Formation Modeling
A03-144 Nanograin MgF2 for Tri-Mode Seeker Dome
A03-145 Weather Encounter Particle Impact Phenomena and Failure Criteria for Missile Components
A03-146 Coating Applications of Single Wall Nanotubes
A03-147 Impedance-Based Structural Health Monitoring
A03-148 Hypersonic Material Technology for Missile Components
A03-149 A Throttling Solid Propellant Rocket Motor with Adaptive Thrust Control
A03-150 High Speed X-Band Single Pole 4 Throw Switch
A03-151 Diode-Pumped Solid-State Laser (DPSSL) for Airborne Laser Radar
A03-152 A Logistic Regression Model for Single Shot Missile Reliability Prediction
A03-153 Advanced Gel Propellent Fuel
A03-154 Advanced Gel Bipropulsion Tank System
Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC)
A03-155 Development of Medic Blood Pack
A03-156 Skeletal Muscle Water Content Measurement Sensor/Tool
A03-157 Generic Flavivirus-Based Vaccine Platform for Biological Threat Agents
A03-158 Enhanced Detection and High-Throughput Screening of Proteomic Signatures/biomarkers in Neoplastic Tissue
A03-159 Personal Area Network for Warfighter Physiological Status Monitoring (WPSM)
A03-160 Biomonitors for Real-Time Air Toxicity Monitoring
A03-161 Integrated Architecture for Functional Genomic Measurements
A03-162 Haptics-Optional Surgical Training System (HOSTS)
A03-163 Re-Usable Intraosseous Infusion Device
A03-164 Diagnostic Microarray Test Based on Comparative Studies of Gene Expression in Humans with Common Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases
A03-165 Accelerated Drug Design Through Computational Biology
A03-166 Development of Bioassays for Prion Infectivity Using Human, Deer, or Elk Cells
A03-167 Innovative Manufacturing Techniques for Polysaccharide-Protein Conjugate Vaccines
A03-168 Anti-Microbial Nanoparticles Composed of a Magnetic Core and Covered with Photocatalytic TiO2
A03-169 Programmable Wrist-Worn Prediction Model and Environmental Stress Monitor
A03-170 Patient Safety Perioperative Readiness Support System
A03-171 Multimeric Protein Malaria Vaccine
A03-172 Angiogenesis Targeted Drug Development
A03-173 Amplification of Proteins in Body Fluids for Early Detection of Biological Warfare Exposure
A03-174 Advancing Training Techniques of Non-Invasive 3-Dimensional Ultrasound Sound Technologies for both Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications
A03-175 Portable Test for Detection of Viruses in Arthropod Vectors
A03-176 A "Personal Blood Pack" to Improve the Availability of Red Cells for Transfusion during Contingency Operations
A03-177 Development of a Field Portable Mosquito Monitoring System with Attractant
A03-178 Noninvasive Treatment of Hemorrhagic Shock
Natick Soldier Center (NSC)
A03-179 Non-Ceramic Small Arms Protective Inserts in Personnel Armor
A03-180 Development of Stitchless Seaming Equipment
A03-181 Self-Decontaminating Barrier Material Incorporating Catalytically Reactive Membranes for Individual and Collective Protection on a Chemically/Biologically Contaminated Battlefield
A03-182 Individual Cooling Element (ICE) for Improved Warfighter Hydration
A03-183 Development of Silent Hook and Loop Closure System
A03-184 Modular Parachute Concepts
A03-185 Micro-Atomizing Logistic-Fuel Delivery System
A03-186 Hydrogen Capture or Utilization in Mg/Fe Based Chemical Heaters
A03-187 Medical Textiles
A03-188 Height Sensors and Velocity Sensors
A03-189 Tactical Guidance System for Military Free Fall
A03-190 High Performance Shelter Insulation with Reduced Weight and Cube
A03-191 Body Conformal Integrated Personal Area Network
A03-192 Active Package Olfaction to Increase Soldier Acceptance of Field Rations
A03-193 Rigidification of Flexible, Inflatable Composite Structures
Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC)
A03-194 Enhanced Lethality Munitions for Army Applications
A03-195 Advanced Algorithms for Tomographic Imgaging
A03-196 Explosive Pulsed Power
A03-197 Engineering Models for Reactive Munitions
A03-198 Compact, Rugged Ultra Wideband Antennas
A03-199 Army Directed Energy Weapon Systems Deployability Enhancements
Simulation, Training & Instrumentation Command (STRICOM)
A03-200 Advanced Virtual Environment Haptic Simulation
A03-201 Automated Tool to Model Software for System Performance Predictions
A03-202 High-Precision, Expendable, Six Degree-of-Freedom Sensor
A03-203 Trainning Performance Assessments for Mixed Initiative (Manned/Umanned) Team
A03-204 Adapting Intelligent Tutoring System for Assessing Collaborative Skills
A03-205 Software Tools for Modeling Urban Details
A03-206 Common Aggregation Framework for Simulation Scalability
A03-207 Multi-Resolution Terrain Models Representation
Tank Automotive RD&E Center (TARDEC)
A03-208 Increased Plastic Oxygen/Water Barriers
A03-209 Lightweight Multi-Use Slipring
A03-210 Damage-Based, Low-Threshold Optical Attenuating Materials
A03-211 Low Cost Materials, Designs, and Manufacturing Processes for Robust Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)
A03-212 Hydraulic Actuated Roll Inhibited Active Suspension for the Army
A03-213 Biofiber-Reinforced Structural Composites for Use in Matting/Temporary Roadway Panels
A03-214 Portable Highly Mobile Autonomous Robot for Mine Detection
A03-215 Enhanced Mobility for Small Vehicle Platforms
A03-216 Command and Control of Small Tele-Operated Robots
A03-217 Advanced Thermal Management of LEDs
A03-218 MEMS/Smart Sensor for Hydraulic Fluidic Analysis
A03-219 Intra Vehicle Adaptive Computing, Network Security, and Networking Using Ultra Wideband (UWB) Technology
A03-220 Multiperspective Autostereoscopic Display
A03-221 Replacement of CRT-Based Displays
A03-222 Integrated High-Performance Remote Visualization Capability
A03-223 Integration of Vehicle Models and Analytical Simulations
A03-224 Development of High-Resolution Virtual Terrain for Use in a Motion-Based Simulator with an Image Generator
A03-225 Computational Modeling of Nanostructures
A03-226 Integrating Stochastic Engineering Models in a Distributed Environment
A03-227 Exploratory Development for A Controllable Combustion Process for Improved Power-Density and Fuel Economy within Multi-Fueled, Low Heat Rejection Compression Ignition Engines
A03-228 Passive Thermal Management for Next Generation Vehicles
A03-229 Virtual Prototyping Vehicle Electrical System Management Design Tool
A03-230 Transmission and Driveline Development and Their Components
A03-231 Develop New Innovative Filtration Designs and Components for Improved Service Life, Performance and Durability
A03-232 Point of Use Oil Quality Analysis
A03-233 Advanced Military Diesel Engine Technologies
A03-234 High Efiiciency, Compact Heat Exchanger for Mobile Equipment Applications
A03-235 Next Generation Thermal Management Rapid Prototype Tool for Future Combat Systems (FCS) and 21st Century Truck
A03-236 MEMS Smart Battery Monitoring System
A03-237 Heavy Duty Vehicles Cold starting System
A03-238 Low-Power, Compact Logistic Fuel Pre-Reformer
A03-239 Development of An Underarmor 10 Kilowatt Thermoelectric Generator Waste Heat Recovery System for Military Vehicles
A03-240 Water Production for Tactical Systems
A03-241 Innovative Wet Gap Crossing Technologies for the Future Combat System/Objective Force (FCS/OF)
A03-242 The Robotic Mule
A03-243 Development of 15,000/30,000 BTU Multi-Fuel Fired Forced Air Heating System
ARMY 2003.2 SBIR TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS
A03-001 TITLE: Generic Sensor Information Transmitter Optimized for Acoustics
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Close Combat Systems
OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative generic sensor information transmitter for acoustics detection.
DESCRIPTION: The land acoustic development efforts have made significant strides classifying and tracking targets over large battlespace areas using multiple microphone beamforming arrays. The highest performance has been achieved with devices employing arrays of 8 microphones or more in circles of 12 ft diameter or more. Unfortunately, the cost to develop a unit consisting of a large number of microphones and with accurate placement has been historically unattractive. Most planned implementations have been compromises employing modest sized arrays with 5 microphones or less, with projected development costs still high. An innovative approach is possible to break the paradigm. This SBIR technology is looking to optimize the functional combination of input signal feature extraction with data compression in order to achieve very high total compression ratios of the input acoustic signal in order to achieve significantly greater target detection performance at appreciably lower costs. The realization of total compressions ratios in excess of 50 to 1 (with goal 100 to 1) allows a practical, low cost means to directly transmit the essential raw acoustic signal from remotely deployed sensors to a remote master computer. With such an approach, an entirely different system solution is possible. Instead of deploying large devices with cumbersome multiple microphone fixtures and high cost custom processing electronics, it would be possible to seed a surveillance area with a modest quantity of single microphones containing low cost, small sized generic "sensor information transmitters". Significant system level performance gains are possible as a result of the freedom with which a "master" computer can analyze the essential attributes of all raw sensor data within the surveillance area. The implementation of higher performance system level beamforming using strategic combinations of the remotely deployed sensors allows greater detection ranges, better multiple target discrimination, more accurate target tracking, and system solutions which can be customized to a particular surveillance application.
PHASE I: Design and optimize innovative solutions for acoustic signal feature extraction in functional combination with state-of-the-art compression schemes (lossy, lossless, or integrated) optimized for the transmission of essential acoustic feature information while maintaining a high level of beamforming performance after signal de-compression. Total compression gains desired are in the range of 50-100.
PHASE II: Develop a prototype generic processing board solutions, of approximately 2 inch square or less and 4 chips or less, offering quick transition to production. Provide interface from the compressed data output to an RS232 link for connection to GFE communications systems. Demonstrate the ability to transmit the raw acoustic signal from each sensor to a remotely placed master computer. Test system performance using GFE acoustic target tracking and classification algorithms.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Small, low cost "sensor information transmitters" can be easily optimized for a wide range of sensor types and obviate the need for custom sensor on-board processing solutions at the sensor node level. Once the "generic front end electronics" is designed for a particular sensor type and optimized for a particular application, the device can be wirelessly linked to any standard computing platform to host the system level processing algorithms. The approach also promotes the proliferation of low cost, deployable sensors in support of targeting for FCS systems. DoD applications for ultra low cost, small size acoustic, seismic, and magnetic sensors include homeland security border patrol, base security systems, and to better promote mass scattered air-deployable surveillance/targeting sensors systems. Commercial applications include crowd control systems, home security systems, and traffic monitoring of autors or aircraft.
REFERENCES:
1) Johnson, Don H., Dudgeon, Dan E., ?Array Signal Processing: Concepts and Techniques?, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993.
2) K. Sayood. Morgan Kauffman, "Introduction to Data Compression", Second Edition, 2000.
3) A. Gersho and R. M. Gray, Vector "Quantization and Signal Compression", Kluwer Academic Press, 1992.
4) N. S. Jayant and P. Noll, "Digital Coding of Waveforms", Prentice-Hall, 1984.
5) R. M. Gray, "Source Coding Theory", Kluwer, 1990.
6) R. M. Gray, "Entropy and Information Theory", Springer-Verlag, 1990.
7) T. C. Bell, J. G. Cleary, and I. H. Witten, "Text Compression", Prentice-Hall, 1990.
KEYWORDS: acoustics, classification, tracking, feature extraction, signal compression
A03-002 TITLE: Recoil Energy Recovery for Powering Munitions
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Electronics
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Design and build an innovative system that converts the recoil G-Force of firing a projectile into powering the munition:
DESCRIPTION: The weapons of the future are no longer normal bullets or kinetic energy projectiles. Currently we are using sensors, seekers, electronic fuzing, and the road to directed energy projectiles is before us still. These systems need a sizable source of energy to function and the space consumed by large batteries is unacceptable for many applications. When these projectiles are fired, either from a tank gun, mortar shell, or rocket tube, they are exposed to G forces in excess of 18,000 Gs in a small fraction of a second. If this force can be converted into electrical energy and stored for a short period of time (10 minutes at the most), we could have more accurate and lethal projectiles.
The generated power should minimally operate the fire control and acquisition systems within that ?smart? projectile; and optimally provide Source Power for an onboard Directed Energy Projectile.
The system should be as small (volumetrically) as possible and have the potential to generate enough power to operate at least one device at 12v for a minimum of 3 minutes.
PHASE I: Design a system capable of taking a significant shock load and converting it into electrical energy. Perform trade-off analysis of size vs. power output and technical complexity/reliability.
PHASE II: Fabricate and characterize prototype device.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to military applications, any industry plagued with shock loading could benefit from the virtually free energy generated by phenomena that are already present. For example, in the case of Electric Vehicles, energy could be generated every time the vehicle hits a bump, the shock load is transferred from the wheels, creating energy to recharge the battery.
REFERENCES:
1) http://www.g2mil.com/155mortars.htm
2) http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/smallarms/Ernest-Jones.pdf
KEYWORDS: Power, Energy, Shock Loading, G Forces, Alternative Energy
A03-003 TITLE: Small Arms Gun Barrel Stabilization Using High Energy Density, Rugged, and Low Creep Actuators
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Weapons
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Individual Weapons
OBJECTIVE: To design and develop innovative high energy density, low creep actuators for small arms applications to compensate for combat induced stress related gun position jitter.
DESCRIPTION: In modern infantry combat soldiers are exposed to intense external stimulations generated by the effects of modern weapons including bright flashes of light, extreme loud noises, witnessing of severe injuries and loss of life, etc. It is well know that the stress generated by these combat experiences produces physiological effects that are detrimental to fine motor skill dependent activities such as marksmanship. For example, studies have shown that the heart rate of a soldier in combat can reach upwards of 300 beats per minute, well above the typical maximum of approximately 200 beats per minute experienced by elite athletes in competition. Additionally, both respiration rate and muscle jerk response increase. These well known physiological effects significantly degrade a soldier’s marksmanship performance in terms of shot accuracy and dispersion which degrades mission effectiveness, increases collateral damage and civilian casualties and ultimately reduces soldier combat survivability.
Various strategies have been developed to mitigate these effects on the soldier including: a) physical conditioning to build-up and maintain gross motor skills, physical strength and stamina, b) mental conditioning to better enable the soldier to manage the psychological effects and c) rigorous marksmanship training including range and simulated combat exercises. However, these training regimes are costly, time consuming and have varying degrees of effectiveness, since it is virtually impossible to simulate the external stimulation and life threatening nature of actual combat.
Instead of the current approach described above, the U.S. Army is seeking the development of an innovative active gun barrel stabilization system including rugged, high energy density, low creep actuators to integrate into a small arms platform in order to decouple the stress related tremble or jitter imparted by the soldier to the weapon from the weapon gun barrel. The small arms stabilization system envisioned here would function in a similar fashion to that of optical stabilization systems found in many small handheld video cameras, i.e., rejecting “high” frequency jitter/tremble disturbances from the camera line of sight but allowing lower frequency camera pointing commands.
The target application for the effort here is the M24 Sniper Weapon System. This platform and the environment in which it must operate place many difficult constraints on the system design. For example, the stabilization system must be compact, lightweight, have minimal effect on weapon balance or feel, and fit into small spaces such as the gunstock. It must operate under harsh environmental conditions including high shock levels, cold and hot temperatures, water immersion, etc. Additionally, the system must be very reliable and if it fails must not effect the operation of the weapon.
The design of the small arms stabilization system contemplated here will likely require an integrated system of sensors, actuators, a processor and other electronics and a power source. Critical in this design effort will be the development of rugged, high energy density, low creep, and compact actuators. A comprehensive tradeoff analysis must be performed among the candidate actuator technologies in order to produce an actuator design that meets the significant constraints of the target small arms application. The desired (i.e., target) actuator specifications for effective performance are: -/+ 400 micrometer maximum azimuth/elevation displacement capability; force capability of 45 Newtons (10 pounds); frequency response of 0-10 Hz and physical envelope dimensions of 20mm x 10mm x 10mm. Explicitly delineate power requirements and schemes for minimizing both power load and weight/volume of power package.
PHASE I: Design a small arms gun barrel stabilization system.
PHASE II: Build a prototype of the small arms stabilization system.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: For military application, integrate this technology into the M24 sniper rifle and test in a relevant environment. Through live fire testing, demonstrate improvement in bullet impact dispersion at various ranges. Through environmental testing, demonstrate system ruggedness and reliability; however, potential applications are not limited to munitions.
For commercial applications, cost effective, low creep actuators are needed in the aerospace industry, as well as in the vehicle industry. Stabilized platforms have broad applications in numerous commercial endeavors.
REFERENCES:
1) Siddle, Bruce K. Sharpening the Warrior's Edge, Millstadt, IL: PPCT Research Publications, 1995.
2) Marshall, S. L. A., The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation, The Combat Forces Press, 1950.
3) Grossman, D., & Siddle, B. K., "Psychological Effects of Combat," in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, Academic Press, 2000.
4) FM 23-10 Sniper Training. Headquarters of the U.S. Army. Washington D.C. August 1994
KEYWORDS: actuators, weapon stabilization, gun barrel
A03-004 TITLE: Innovative Modular Packaging of Military Supplies
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Design and build modular packaging with features of biodegradability and impact mitigation capability for mixed classes of supply including ammunition to support various military missions.
DESCRIPTION: To support the future force in military missions, the logistics system must provide fast and accurate supplies to soldiers in order to enhance their operational efficiency in battlefield. Modular packaging is an excellent concept to help the Army to meet this objective. Furthermore, to increase the safety of ammunition handling and reduce environmental impact, the modular packaging should be fabricated with biodegradable materials with a novel internal packing material which is capable of insulating against high temperature and preventing munitions initiation from ballistic and fragment impact. The biodegradable materials should be lightweight, disposable, and relatively low cost. The proposed packaging must be capable to maintain a 3 pound per square inch (psi) seal and meet the rough handling requirements at ambient temperature as stated in the military packaging requirements as stated in MIL-STD-1904 including secured and loose cargo vibration and a three to seven foot drop test. The internal packing material should also be lightweight and low cost. In addition, it should be fire-resistant and impact-absorbing, with thermal insulating properties, and which can be made either electrically conductive or insulative. This material, such as carbon-based product would be applied or foamed into the interior of ammunition or missile containers to reduce the munitions sensitivity to bullet and fragment impact, and increase the time to reaction in cook-off events. The modular packaging should consist of a group of standardized modules consisting of at least three optimum sizes, large, medium and small. All modules will be used for shipping and storage of both solid materials including ammunition, and liquid materials such as water. The liquid modules should have an internal collapsible bladder with a self-contained extraction features with quick release couplings for transfer of liquid without the use of a pump. The loaded modules should be one man portable for small and medium modules and two men portable for the large one. A unit load can be built by using a combination of the standard modules to within a volume of 44 by 54 by 48H, occupying a quarter of a 463L pallet. Features to interlock one module to another and pallet components (top lift and base units) to modules are desired to provide a stable load. Minimizing or total elimination the use of banding is desirable. These features should be easy and quick to connect and disconnect. When a unit load is built using a combination of the standard modules with mixed classes of supply, it must meet the rough handling requirements as stated in the MIL-STD-1660.
PHASE I: Conduct studies and analysis to develop biodegradable packaging materials and impact mitigating internal packaging materials. Develop optimum standard sizes of modules and combinations of the modules to form a unit load within the volume as stated above. Design individual modular packaging to in accordance with military packaging requirements. Design self-contained extraction features (such as inflatable bladder) for liquid modules and easy connect/disconnect interlocking features to ensure a stable pallet load.
PHASE II: Upon successful completion of Phase I, develop and fabricate a prototype modular packaging system based on material and manufacturing process selected in Phase I. The material selected must be commercially available and the process developed be easily transitioned to high volume production. The prototype system will also be tested in accordance with Army’s requirements, MIL-STD-1904 and MIL-STD-1660.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This system would have wide use in private sector to deliver products in a pre-packaged configuration such as medical supplies, video equipment, electronics, computer and food industry. Modular packaging would provide standardized modules common to all products including both liquid and solid. This concept will make handling, transportation and storage much more efficient and readily compatible to automation.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: ?????
REFERENCES:
1. MIL-STD-1904, Design and Test Requirements for Level A Ammunition Packaging
2. MIL-STD-1660, Design Criteria for Ammunition Unit Loads
KEYWORDS: Modular Packaging, Solid and Liquid Materials, Self-Contained Extraction Features, Innovative Interlocking Features, Easy Connect/Disconnect, Modules, ballistic shock mitigation, Pre-Packaged Configuration, biodegradable
A03-005 TITLE: Utilization of Acoustics and Laser Light for Energy and Power Transmission
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Design and build an energy/power transport mechanism using laser light and/or acoustics. This laser and/or acoustic source will transport the energy or power and deliver on target.
DESCRIPTION: Lasers and acoustics are used commercially for a number of different applications and one emerging technology/use is that of an energy transport mechanism. This technology permits the delivery of energy without the requirement that the laser source or acoustic element generate that power itself. This significantly reduces the size and weight of the laser source, reducing the need for large thermal management systems. It also provides the designer with a degree of latitude on the characteristics of the carrier beam to operate optimally in the prevalent atmosphere without sacrificing the properties of the energy to be delivered.
PHASE I: Investigate the possibility of using relatively low power lasers and acoustics to transport energy at range. Include discussions of the enabling technology, possible improvements to that technology, ranges expected, and amount of energy that can be reliably transported. Predict the behavior of both technologies and down select to the optimal transport mechanism (laser, acoustic, combination) for Phase II and support that decision.
PHASE II: Fabricate and characterize prototype device.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: A number of commercial applications, including any that require rapid set-up or breakdown of operations, remote test sites, or command centers. Also could be used for non-explosive demolition work, remote drilling, or heating.
REFERENCES:
1) http://www.spie.org/
2) http://hifnews.lbl.gov/hifweb03_02.html
3) http://www.cmmp.ucl.ac.uk/~ahh/teaching/1B24n/
4) Transport Equations for Elastic and Other Waves in Random Media, Leonid V. Ryzhik, George C. Papanicolaou and Joseph B. Keller. Wave Motion, 24, (1996), pp. 327-370.
5) Stability of the P to S energy ratio in the diffusive regime, Leonid V. Ryzhik, George C. Papanicolaou and Joseph B. Keller. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 86, (1996), pp. 1107-1115. Erratum. Vol. 86, (1996), p. 1997.
6) Transport Equations for Waves in a Half Space, Leonid V. Ryzhik, Joseph B. Keller and George Papanicolaou. Communications in Partial Differential Equations, 22, (1997), pp. 1869-1910.
7) Transport theory for acoustic waves with reflection and transmission at interfaces, G. Bal, J.B. Keller, G. Papanicolaou and L. Ryzhik. Wave Motion, 30, (1999), pp. 303-327.
8) Probabilistic Theory of Transport Processes with Polarization, G. Bal, G. Papanicolaou; To appear in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics.
KEYWORDS: LASER, Energy Transport, high power, Directed Energy
A03-006 TITLE: Innovative Long Life Power System/Battery Recharge System for Munitions
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Electronics
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO - Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative small energy scavenging system no larger than the size of a AA battery in volume, to power or recharge 3.6 V batteries used on asset visibility, prognostic-diagnostic sensing and robotic systems.
DESCRIPTION: This technology would enable prolonged use of battery-powered devices, extending operational life and shelf life, and reducing or eliminating costly battery replacement maintenance cycles. The increased operational life would be especially helpful in supporting prolonged operation in remote or hostile locations typical of the modern battlefield. (Afghanistan, Bosnia, SWA, etc.)
This new technology would support and enhance munition asset visibility and prognostic-diagnostic systems currently under development. These systems will allow more rapid and accurate location of items and assessment of materiel condition to accelerate delivery of critical munitions throughout the logistics system on a moments notice in support of short re-supply cycles.
The system design should provide at least 3 amp-hrs of energy over 15 years to extend the life of initial power sources/batteries. It must be capable of operating in explosive environments and comply with Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) standards. It must be operational between ?65F to +190F and withstand shock and vibration incident to infrequent off-road transit by tactical vehicles. Approximately 95% of the lifecycle will be spent inside dark munitions storage structures with average daily temperature fluctuations of 3 to 10 degrees. Therefore, harnessing this modest daily thermal fluctuation is likely to be the primary opportunity available in the absence of mechanical energy associated with infrequent transportation of the device.
Ideally the manufacturing will cost no more than approximately $5 for quantities of approximately 10,000. The device must be highly reliable and able to be integrated in a package roughly the size of a deck of playing cards.
PHASE I: Design a system capable of extending the life of rechargeable lithium batteries and/or powering munition asset visibility and prognostic-diagnostic sensor devices.
PHASE II: Fabricate prototype and demonstrate proof of principle in a laboratory environment using actual munitions prognostic-diagnostic sensors and asset visibility devices.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The technology/system developed could extend the life of a wide variety of items used in the commercial shipping, automotive and aerospace industries, as well as in numerous consumer goods. For example, literally hundreds of millions of battery powered smoke detectors and utility meters in use across the country could benefit. Tremendous cost savings would be realized through reduced or eliminated battery maintenance and increased operational life. Powering non-munition related items within the military is possible as well. Examples include advanced robotic applications, monitoring medical and food supplies and tracking replacement part shipments.
REFERENCES:
1) RRAPDS Environmental Sensor Overview & System Demo
2)https://w4.pica.army.mil/asis/RRAPDS-WebJune01_files/frame.htm
Thermoelectric generators:
3) http://www.hi-z.com/
4) http://www.dts-generator.com/
KEYWORDS: Electronics, microelectronics, sensor, prognostics, asset visibility, FCS, Objective Force, reduced logistics footprint, reduced life cycle costs, optimize resources, enhanced re-supply, lethality, enhanced survivability
A03-007 TITLE: Nano-Particle Surface Tension Release by Laser Initiation
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Design and fabricate a system capable of initiating the surface tension energy in nano meter size particles using lasers.
DESCRIPTION: Particles of exceptionally small diameter (10 nm – 1 micron is size) not only store a bulk energy due to their composition. They also contain surface tension energy inherent to their geometry. This surface tension energy (energy/surface area) is greater at that size given that the surface area continues to get smaller and smaller as the diameter reduces. At extremely small particle sizes the bulk begins to flow as a fluid and begin surprising us as to the amount of energy the particles can provide. There has to be a way to characterize the energy within the surface as given by the chemical composition of the particle, how it was formed and under what conditions, and the geometry of the particle to determine the total energy present in the particle. The technology would then be applied to energy storage, explosive enhancement, and aerosol cloud ignition for FCS self-protection.
PHASE I: Investigate the possibility of using a laser to extract and determine the surface tension energy of a nano-particle. Provide trade-offs of laser power, particle size and the amount of energy extracted. Provide findings and demonstrate the concept in a laboratory setting.
PHASE II: Design and fabricate a system capable of extracting and determining the surface tension energy with a laser and provide to the ARDEC for testing and evaluation.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to military applications, this technology has applications in the realm of particle manipulation for use in high power capacitors, designer explosives, particulate fuels, and pharmaceuticals.
REFERENCES: http://www.microperforation.com/page3.htm
http://www.wcsscience.com/surfacearea/andtemperature.html
http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~mecapol/Mecanique_Physique/Introduction/PDF_files/Cavitation_Models.pdf
KEYWORDS: Laser, Initiation, Nano, nano-particles, surface tension force
A03-008 TITLE: Innovative Onboard Angular Orientation Sensors
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors, Weapons
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Arms (OPM-CAS); PM Abrams
OBJECTIVE: To develop innovative onboard angular orientation sensors for munitions as alternatives to rate gyros and GPS for low cost integration into the next generation of smart munitions.
DESCRIPTION: Innovative onboard orientation sensor technologies are sought for munitions and other similar angular orientation measurement applications as alternatives to rate gyros, GPS and other similar sensors. The primary goal is to develop angular orientation sensors that could be used onboard munitions to provide full angular orientation information relative to a ground or base reference. The sensory system must be autonomous and must not acquire the sensory information through communication with a ground or airborne source. Sensors that can be embedded into the munitions structure and occupy minimal added volume are highly desirable. Precision, direct and stable measurement of angular orientation is critical for guidance and control of smart munitions. The proposed sensors must provide angular orientation with accuracy of around 0.1 milli-radians, must have negligible drift over several minutes of operation, must be capable of withstanding the harsh firing environment, such as temperatures of around 1200 deg. F and pressures of around 85,000 psi during firing, and very high accelerations of sometimes in excess of 100,000 Gs. This research will transition as a system solution applicable to direct fire munitions and indirect fire munitions where the exit, initial velocity and pitch, yaw and roll information are needed to compute a munitions trajectory. The exit initial conditions are needed for IMUs to calculate the trajectory needed for guidance and control. The design should address the issues of angular measurement accuracy, sensitivity, computational algorithms for angular orientation calculations, susceptibility to environmental noise and methods of reducing their effects, optimal design of the proposed sensors through modeling and simulation, methods of integrating the sensor into munitions and weapon platforms, methods and algorithms for processing the sensory signals, and methods of enhancing the performance of the sensor using signal processing and/or other hardware or software means. The primary trade-off parameters are size, cost, power consumption and accuracy.
PHASE I: Design an innovative onboard angular orientation sensor system for munitions as an alternative to rate gyros and GPS for low cost integration into the next generation of smart munitions.
PHASE II: Develop and fabricate a prototype of the proposed sensor system.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The development of direct and absolute angular orientation sensors has a wide range of military, homeland security and commercial applications. In the military related areas, such sensors, particularly if they are low cost, are essential for guidance and control of all smart munitions, missiles and guided bombs. These sensors are also essential for the development of guidance and control systems of various weapon platforms, robotic systems, particularly those used for remote operation in hazardous environments which may be encoutered in homeland defense. Commercial applications include testing and validation systems such as those used in simulators.
REFERENCES:
1) Carlos M. Pereira, "Sensory Systems and Communication For The Detection Of Rotational And Translational Position Of Objects In Flight". TACOM-ARDEC publication.
2) Carlos M. Pereira, Dr. Michael Mattice, Robert C. Testa, "Intelligent Sensing and Wireless Communications in Harsh Environments". Presented at the Smart Materials and MEMS Symposium, Newport Beach, California, March 2000.
3) Carlos M. Pereira, "RF Characterization of Charge Propellants as an Environments for Embedded Sensors RF Tags". TACOM-ARDEC publication, July 1999.
4) Coplanar Waveguide Circuits, Components, and Systems Rainee N. Simons Book;2001;ISBN 0-4711-6121-7; Product No.: PC5948-TBR
5) A Coplanar Waveguide Bow-Tie Aperture Antenna,G. Zheng, A. Elsherbeni, C. Smith, University of Mississippi, USA
6) Synthesis of Irregular Waveguide Field Transformation Elements using a Multi-Resolution Algorithm, M.-C. Yang, K. Webb, Purdue University, USA
7) Modeling of Mode Excitation and Discontinuities in PBG Waveguides, F. Capolino, D. Jackson, D. Wilton, Univesity of Houston, USA
8) Folded Coplanar Waveguide Slot Antenna on Silicon Substrates with a Polyimide Interface Layer,A. Bacon, Georgia Institute of Technology, G. Ponchak, NASA, J. Papapolymerou, N. Bushyager, E. Tentzeris, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
KEYWORDS: Affordable sensors for future Armaments, sensors to determine angular orientation, position, coordinate reference system, minimal real estate, low probability of detection
A03-009 TITLE: Mass Fabrication of MEMS-based Micro Detonator Technology
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: OICW STO Manager, Joint Service Sm Arms Prog Ofc
OBJECTIVE: Design an innovative, lightweight, compact, low power, low cost, MEMS-based micro detonator.
DESCRIPTION: Detonators have been successfully micro miniaturized to electrically initiate a weapon's firing sequence. The very small size of a micro detonator may facilitate the use of additional energetics to enhance lethality; or, may facilitate the integration of ‘smart fuzing’ within the warhead. Smart fuzing increases munitions lethality significantly. Recent advances in micro-machined silicon techniques demonstrate the capability for low-cost integrated micro cavities with a high degree of isolation, leading to the fabrication of wafer-based micro detonators that are extremely dense. The resulting micro detonators can be self packaged when separated from the wafer. This technology provides the potential for very low cost, very inexpensive, small, compact detonator components. This topic encourages new and novel mass fabrication approaches to micro detonator devices using micro-machining integration. Proposed components that include low temperature polymers and which exploit the unique capabilities of low voltage (1-3 DC) activation, particularly with secondary energetics, are sought under this topic. The MEMS-based micro detonator should be compated, 2 to 5 mm's squared, low power less than 200 micro-watt, and low cost (approximately 20 cents per detonator). For mass fabrication it is envisioned that 300 micro cavities be loaded and sealed simultaneously on a 4-inch silicon wafer.
PHASE I: Design a MEMS-based micro detonator that can demonstrate the feasibility of mass fabrication.
PHASE II: Develop a prototype MEMS-based micro detonator for mass fabrication.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The micro detonators will be applicable for use in military applications for medium-caliber air bursting munitions, landmines and demolitions, and commercially for anti tamper applications to protect microelectronics from unwanted exploitation.
REFERENCES:
1) Cooper, Paul W., Explosive Engineering,Wiley-VCH Inc. 1996 Chapter 24.
KEYWORDS: Energetic Deposition; Mass Fabrication; Low Temperature; Polymers; Low Voltage;
A03-010 TITLE: Advanced Multi-Sensor Array System (AMAS)
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors, Weapons
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Close Clombat Systems
OBJECTIVE: Design, build, and test an Advanced Multi-sensor Array System (AMAS) using innovative noise reduction techniques, wherein magnetometer array sensor data is fused with acoustic array sensor data. AMAS shall detect and track ferromagnetic vehicles at very long range.
DESCRIPTION: During the last three years, the Army has been developing short-baseline solid-state magnetometer array (magnetic gradiometer) sensor systems for the real-time detection and tracking of armored vehicles. Since development has been focused on applications to anti-tank landmines (area denial), magnetometer array dimensions (baseline) have been constrained to match the outer dimensions of landmines.
This developmental experience has shown that the maximum detection and tracking ranges of short-baseline solid-state magnetometer array sensor systems are severely limited by noise. If detection and tracking ranges of landmine-sized magnetic gradiometers are to be significantly increased, it is imperative that innovative noise reduction techniques be explored, such as: low-noise electronics, real-time noise suppression signal processing, and post-deployment array baseline expansion. Recent experiments have also shown that when target data from a simple and inexpensive acoustic array sensor system are fused with magnetic gradiometry, not only can more accurate and more reliable real-time tracking performance be obtained, but also detection and tracking ranges can be extended.
AMAS shall significantly increase the maximum detection and tracking ranges of short-baseline magnetic gradiometers by incorporating innovative noise reduction techniques and data fusion with an inexpensive and simple acoustic array. AMAS magnetometers shall all be low-cost solid-state magnetometers.
When AMAS is eventually militarized and inserted into a munition, it will be completely self-contained (in the pre-deployed state) within the munition; however, for this SBIR, AMAS shall have all non-deployed components (except for its laptop computer operator console and power supply, as will be described) inside a vertical cylinder, five inches in radius and ten inches in height.
AMAS shall perform real-time detection and tracking, at 15 – 20 samples per second, of a main battle tank (MBT) moving at 60 kilometers per hour in the horizontal plane. MBTs of interest are those that the US Army may encounter in future battles; however, for the purposes of this SBIR effort, this MBT shall be defined to be an M1 Abrams. The AMAS magnetic gradiometer alone (without acoustic data fusion) shall: detect a moving MBT at a range of 60 meters; and track it (in range and bearing) up to a maximum range of 30 meters, with RMS tracking errors of plus or minus 15 degrees in bearing, and plus or minus 15 % in range. AMAS (with acoustic data fusion) shall: detect a moving MBT up to a maximum range of 300 meters; and track it up to a maximum range of 60 meters, with RMS tracking errors of plus or minus 3 degrees in bearing, and plus or minus 10 % in range. In addition, the AMAS shall estimate the target’s magnetic moment vector with an accuracy of plus or minus 10 percent.
The reference coordinate system to be used in all measurements, calculations, and data inputs/outputs is the X, Y, Z coordinate system; where X is the north direction component, Y is the east direction component, and Z is the downward vertical direction component.
The AMAS shall be operated from a laptop computer operator console. Via this console, the AMAS operator shall be able to: start/stop data collection; select all AMAS modes of operation; select all AMAS parameters; initiate target-tracking algorithms (in both real-time and post-processing modes); display the target track and estimated target magnetic moment vector; and record all sensor data and tracking data.
The electrical power source of AMAS shall be dual mode: internal battery power, able to fully power AMAS for up to eight hours without recharging; and external power, able to utilize commercially available 115 volt/60 Hz electrical power. Battery recharging circuits shall be part of AMAS.
PHASE I: Develop the AMAS design. Perform all experiments required to show that the design shall meet the specified AMAS performance requirements for detecting and tracking the MBT. Specify all components. Specify all component performance parameters. Show origin of all component performance parameters by internal experiment reports, by published papers, by journal articles, etc. Analyze all sources of noise, including sensors, electronic circuits, and geomagnetic, to determine the resultant RMS noise to be expected in individual magnetometer outputs. Analyze the AMAS design to show that all performance requirements will be met.
PHASE II: Develop a prototype of the AMAS system.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: AMAS would have wide utility in civilian applications such as: homeland security applications including perimeter protection, airport security, and firearms detection; archeological surveying; and de-mining (UXO) applications.
REFERENCES:
(1) W. Michael Wynn, “Detection, Localization, and characterization of Static Magnetic-Dipole Sources,” in “Detection and Identification of Visually Obscured Targets,” edited by Carl E. Baum, published by Taylor & Francis, 1999.
(2) Czipott, Peter V.; Perry, Alexander R.; Whitecotten, Brian R.; Dalichaouch, Yacine; Walsh, David O.; and Kinasewitz, Robert T.; “Magnetic Detection and Tracking of Military Vehicles,” 2001 Meeting of the MSS Specialty Group on Battlefield Acoustic and Seismic Sensing, Magnetic and Electric Field Sensors, 23 October 2001, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, magnetics, acoustics, landmines, UXO detection, sensor fusion, tensor magnetic gradiometry, tracking algorithms, signal processing, noise-suppression algorithms, and magnetometers
A03-011 TITLE: Solar Power for Ground Munitions, Sensors, and Communication Systems
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM-Close Combat Systems
OBJECTIVE: Design, develop, and test a solar power source for ground munitions, sensors, and communication systems.
DESCRIPTION: Many modern ground based munitions, sensors, and communication systems require a large amount of power to operate. Since these systems are usually battery driven, they must operate on a frugal energy budget, and battery replacement is not always an option. To extend the operating lifetime in the field, new energy sources are needed to address the problem. One possible solution is to incorporate solar power to recharge batteries as an additional power source to significantly extend the operating lifetime. In addition, solar power may make it possible to operate more energy consuming devices, such as video cameras, over an extended period of time.
The solar power source shall be designed for an existing sensor system that is in the form of a cylinder with dimensions that are 14 inches high and 5 inches in diameter. Six to eight rod shaped legs shall be used to erect the cylinder vertically from a horizontal position on the ground. The power source shall include, but not be limited to, solar cells configured to the cylinder or the legs, non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries, monitoring indicator/software, and associated electronic circuitry, including the power switching electronics between the non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries. The solar power source shall be capable of providing a nominal voltage of 14 VDC, be capable of generating at least 5.18 W-hrs/day with 6 hours of sunlight/day, and have a nominal battery capacity of at least 13Ah at 15 mA. It shall also be designed to withstand 1300 G's deceleration upon impact with the ground. The solar power source shall be tested in conditions such as snow (3 inches), tree canopy shadowing, tall grass (12"), dust, solar shadowing from the erected sensor system and tree leafs, and variations from solar output due to the diurnal cycle and time of year. Also, the source shall not attract enemy attention. Therefore, a low reflectivity surface on the solar cells shall be utilized in the design.
PHASE I: Design the solar power source. Specify all components. Specify all components parameters. Estimate the performance of the solar power assembly under varying environmental conditions. Show that the design objectives can be met.
PHASE II: Develop a prototype of the solar power source.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The proposed solar source can be utilized by the civilian sector to provide remote power for homeland security applications such as perimeter protection. In the military sector, the proposed source can be used as a power supply for ground based perimeter protection and target acquisition.
REFERENCES:
1) D. L. Pulfrey, Photovoltaic Power Generation, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1978.
KEYWORDS: Power, Solar Power, Photonics, Batteries
A03-012 TITLE: Remote Sensing of the Electro-Magnetic Potential of the Human Heart
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Biomedical, Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Design and build a device that can remotely detect the electronic signature of the beating human heart. The device would be portable, preferably give range and direction of the signal, and be able to work in high electronic noise environments.
DESCRIPTION: Advances in electronic signal detection and filtering technology could make it possible to remotely detect the electronic signal given off by the beating human heart. The human heart has a specific electronic signature that could be detected by filtering out the noise using modern electronic filtering technologies. Uses of such a device are numerous. A handheld version could be used by a medic in the field to determine the heart rate of wounded soldiers. By further refining such a device to detect through walls and obstructions, it could be used by soldiers in urban environments to determine how many individuals are in a room that is about to be entered and cleared. The signature could be detected using active doppler radar to sense the movement of the heart. The use of MEMS devices (gyroscopic) could be incorporated into the device in order to minimize the size needed as well as provide a means of canceling the doppler noise effects from the relative movement of the soldier carrying the device. It is expected that the weight of the system be approximately 5 to 10 lbs. and that the sensing range should be between 20 and 50 feet. If the sensing range of the device can be increased, then it could augment other sensing devices such as infrared and light amplification. With a longer range capability, this technology can be used in a telescopic sight on small arms/rifles to detect where enemy soldiers might be hiding.
PHASE I: Develop and build a proof-of-principle device using breadboard components that would show that the concept is feasible.
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype of the human heart sensor.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: For military applications, it is expected that this technology can be incorporated into the gun sight of small arms. Commerciallly, this technology would have applications in the medical industry. It would also have applications in security/police forces for detection and surveillance of individuals.
REFERENCES:
1) http://www.biofind.com/business/opportunity_search_details.asp?OpportunityId=110
2) http://www.darpa.mil/DSO/thrust/sp/metaEng/quasar.html
3) E.F. Grenecker, "Radar Sensing of Heartbeat and Respiration at a Distance with Security Applications," Proceedings of SPIE, Radar Sensor Technology II, Volume 3066, Orlando, Florida, pp. 22-27, April, 1997.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, electrocardiogram(EKG), remote detection, tracking, surveillance, heart rate, heart rhythm
A03-013 TITLE: Medium Caliber Gun Barrel Bore Coatings
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
OBJECTIVE: Develop, demonstrate and validate a coating technique to apply advanced erosion resistant materials to medium caliber gun tubes.
DESCRIPTION: Current medium caliber (20mm to 40mm) gun tubes have chrome as a protective coating applied on bore surfaces via aqueous electrodeposition. Utilization of highly energetic propellants exposes the gun barrel to high flame temperatures and erosive gases. Micro-cracks and porosity in electrodeposited chromium allow hot propellant gases to reach and degrade the steel substrate resulting in severe reduction of barrel life and overall performance. Executive Order EO13148 requires the usage reduction of hexavalent chrome (primary element of electro-deposition) by 50% by 31 Dec 2006. Currently under development in the Army is a process known as Cylindrical Magnetron Sputtering (CMS-IM). This internally-magnetized (IM) coating deposition technique is known to produce high quality coatings where materials are highly adhered, fine grained, crack-free and fully dense. Traditionally perceived as a “line-of-site” technology, CMS-IM has made instrumental advances in applications of coatings to internal surfaces of cylindrical substrates. This process is better suited for larger bore diameters and has fundamental limitations in internal bore diameters smaller than 60 mm. There is a need to develop a technique to apply quality coatings to gun tubes with dimensions below 60mm (all medium calibers). Specific efforts will be concentrated on designing methods of surface cleaning and preparation. The developed deposition process would demonstrate an ability to produce uniform, well-adhered dry coatings to comply with existing medium caliber test protocol requirements. The technique should have the potential to develop a coating of tantalum or other protective coating in a thickness suitable to provide a gun tube bore service life superior to one of an electroplated chrome bore. Explosive bonding of tantalum has shown success in the M242 Bushmaster 25mm. Some issues remain, such as the high cost of the tantalum material and the softness of the unalloyed tantalum. For purposes of flexibility of manufacture, it is desired to seek processes that yield nominally equivalent or superior results.
PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of producing novel coating materials and/or processes for erosion protection of medium caliber gun tube specimens under simulated exposure conditions. Common coating characteristics (i.e., uniformity, density, etc.) should be sufficient to maintain or exceed current system results.
PHASE II: Further develop, optimize and implement the approach developed in Phase I and demonstrate performance improvements by applying the developed coating technology to a full-scale gun tube. Emphasis should concentrate on designing methods to improve surface preparation and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of the steel substrate.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This protective coating technology will have multiple uses for both military and commercial applications. Any systems where steel tubes are exposed to a corrosive, wear or erosion environment will have applications for this coating technique and benefit from this development. Examples would include engine or hydraulic cylinders, exhaust components manufacturing technology where sliding wear or erosion are a problem. Marine environments should not affect this coating.
REFERENCES:
1) “Analysis of magnetron-sputtered tantalum coatings versus electrochemically deposited tantalum from molten salt”, Surface and Coatings Technology 120-121 (1999), 44-52.
2) Tri-Service “Green” Gun Barrel, www.serdp.org/research/PP/PP-1074.pdf.
3) "Analysis of magnetron-sputtered tantalum coatings versus electrochemically deposited tantalum from molten salt", Lee, Cipollo, Windover, Rickard; Surface and Coating Technology 120-121 (1999) 44-52.
4) Ceramic Gun Barrel Liners, Retrospect and Prospect: Dr. R. Nathan Katz, Worchester Polytechnic Institute, see: http://users.wpi.edu/~katz/coverpg.html
5) Gradiated Gun Barrel Fabrication Process, see: http://www.zyn.com/sbir/sbres/sbir/dod/navy/navysb03-1-065g.htm
6) Systems Analysis Physical Vapor Deposition of Tantalum on Gun Barrel Steel, US Environmental Protection Agency, e-mail address: http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/std/sab/ta_pvd.htm
7) R. A. Srinivas, M. Xi, Ming, B. Metzger, Z. Lando, M. Narasimhan, and F. Chen, Enabling and cost effective TiCl4 based PECVD Ti and CVD TiN processes for gigabit DRAM technology Source, Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, v. 3883, 1999, p 137-147.
8) J. J. Hautala and J. F. M. Westndorp, Patent US 6,413860, Apr. 27, 1999.
9) R. N. Johnson, “ElectroSpark Deposition: Principals and Applications”, Proceedings of the 45th SVC Technical Conference, April 13-18, 2002.
10) R. N. Johnson, “Electro-Spark Deposited Coatings for High Temperature Wear and Corrosion Applications”, Elevated Temperature Coatings: Science and Technology I, N. B. Dahotre, J. M. Hampikian, and J. J. Stiglich, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 265-277.
11) Robert F. Lowey, Gun Tube Liner and Wear Protection, TPL, Inc Report Number TPL-FR-ER31, ARO Tech Report Number 39097.1-MS-SB2,
Contract DAAD 19-99-C-0002, 30 May 2002.
KEYWORDS: Erosion, Coatings, Chrome replacement, Gun tubes, Steel, Surface Preparation
A03-014 TITLE: Smart, Light Weight Electronic Pointing Device for Indirect Fire Weapons
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Mortars
OBJECTIVE: Develop and produce a highly accurate smart, small, lightweight Electronic Pointing Device (EPD) for indirect fire weapons.
DESCRIPTION: The EPD will support managing fires effects and provide digital displays of its status/condition for determining the weapon's tube azimuth with respect to north and elevation. The EPD will be capable of being fully warmed up/operational within 2 minutes without support items, e.g. spare batteries etc., for a 24 hour fire mission. Current artillery and mortar weapon “pointing devices” such as the M2 compass is too inaccurate or too heavy and very expensive. The electronic systems employ status quo electronic sensor technology and require costly support equipment (e.g. heavy batteries for power etc.). It is proposed to create a light weight autonomous digital pointing device using/uncovering alternative critical enabling technologies (e.g., interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope) that would replace current status quo pointing sensors being employed. The new battlefield pointing system must be smart, rugged, responsive, accurate and simple. Using smart technology the EPD must be able to detect very accurately tube azimuth with respect to north and elevation. The EPD will provide digital-reading outputs in mils. This is one of the primary problems whose solution will enable required accurate fire. To assure conforming operational performance, accuracy requirements, e.g., 0.5 mil, will have to be demonstrated. The new unit will have for the user system self-diagnostic fault protection/alert, battery condition capability and be operable by users of the current weapon. The sight unit must meet the associated environmental requirements, e.g., firing durability. It is desired that the unit can function autonomously. With this information the gunner can readjust the weapon to the target should either move during firing(s). The EPD will also provide the other incidental but necessary fire control capabilities, e.g., support massed area fires. The pointer system must provide rapid response in all kinds of battlefield environments to enable accurate shoot and scoot operations (e.g. mortars). The EPD will be employed by the host artillery/mortar system on a non-interfering basis. The unit is envisioned to be operable with the M224 (60mm), M252 (81mm), M120 and M121 (120mm) series mortars and M119, M198 towed howitzers. The new EPD will be capable of being introduced without causing interference to function of weapon parts, weapon operability, firing, and safety.
PHASE I: Develop methodology/design and implementation of a low cost EPD system, which will result in a state of the art system. The EPD fire control unit conceptual operational electronic capabilities will be defined and demonstrated in a bread board configuration.
PHASE II: The effort will focus on designing, fabricating and testing one EPD.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: With appropriate modifications the EPD could accurately sense the azimuth with respect to north and elevation (tilt) of airplanes, ships, vehicles, buildings etc. This “sensor” could be a very compact electronic unit with a digital pointing and "level" output display. Avoided would be use of similar more expensive, larger, heavy pointing devices. A modified EPD could also provide direction in mils to a visible fixed reference point(s). Since it is compact, the unit's electronic location sensor and digital readout could be adapted for users of boats, and by bikers, hunters, surveyors, etc. where elevation and azimuth bearings to a known point(s) is required. With this information the distance to a point could be approximated. The observer's location could also be determined by triangulation if two bearing points are available.
REFERENCES:
1) “Guidance, Navigation, and Control from Instrumentation to Information Management,“ Eli Gai, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 10-14, Jan-Feb 1996.
2) “The Development of Modern Inertial Navigation Systems,” W.X. Fu and C.Rizos, Proc. 3rd Satellite Navigation Technology Conference, Sydney, Australia, 8-10 April, paper no. 11.
3) “Modern Navigation, Guidance, Control,” Ching-Fang Lin, Prentice Hall, 1991.
4) “Navy and Industry Investigate New Super-accurate Optical Gyros for Possible Use on Ballistic Missile Submarines,” Edward Walsh, Military & Aerospace Electronics, December 2001.
KEYWORDS: Artillery, electronic pointing device, indirect fire weapons, mortar, digital readings, self-diagnostics, interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope, links, weapon fire control, required operating characteristics, massed area fires
A03-015 TITLE: Advanced Neutron Source for Radiography & Tomography
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Close Clombat Systems
OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative small electrically generated source of thermal neutrons meeting requirements for practical neutron radiography.
DESCRIPTION: Practical applications for neutron radiography require thermal neutrons (energy range approximately 0.01 eV to 0.5 eV) of flux density of approximately ten billion neutrons per second per steradian from a point source of less than two millimeters in diameter. Neutron generating tubes using deuterium-deuterium (D-D) and deuterium-tritium (D-T) reaction have been around for many years. Unlike neutron radioactive sources, neutron radiation exists only when the deuterium ions are accelerated when hitting the deuterium or tritium target. Hence, the tube’s advantages are: it can be turned on and off like an x-ray tube, deuterium is not a controlled substance, and the tubes can be small (less than 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters) and portable. The D-D reaction produces a 2.4 MeV neutron and the D-T reaction produces a 14 MeV neutron flux, both referred to as fast neutrons. Neutron radiography is best done using thermal neutrons, which can be created by moderating the fast neutrons emanating from the tube. Current neutron tube’s flux output is inadequate to provide the thermal neutron flux density required for practical radiography. This solicitation is for a point source of thermal neutrons of sufficient flux for practical neutron radiography, which, like the neutron tube described above, is small, portable and is not naturally radioactively generated. The source should include a hermetically sealed generating tube, power supply and controlling electronics, moderator, etc., necessary for a self-contained system. The proposed source should be compared with all advertised neutron tubes, highlighting why the proposed solution excels over others.
PHASE I: Design the advanced neutron source. Provide convincing argument, preferably through simulations, from theory in conjunction with empirical data, that it will meet the described performance parameters.
Phase II: Fabricate a fully operational neutron source that meets the requirements for practical neutron radiography.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Small intense neutron sources have hundreds of applications. Built appropriately, thousands of units would be readily sold and deployed into applications. Applications include neutron radiography for security screening, industrial inspection, and medical diagnostics. Neutron therapy applications exist. Intense portable neutron sources are the best tool for finding buried mines for the de-mining application.
REFERENCES:
1) WEB site: Products from Thermo MF Physics A-320-4P.htm
2) Technology Transfer Department, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MS 90-1070, Berkeley, CA 94720, (510) 486-6467 FAX: (510) 486-6457
3) NonDestructive Testing Handbook, 2nd Edition, Volume three – Radiography and Radiation Testing, American Society for Nondestructive Testing, 1985
KEYWORDS:
neutron source, neutron radiography, non-destructive testing, deuterium, tritium, neutron generatring tubes, thermal neutrons
A03-016 TITLE: Innovative Real -Time Titanium Manufacturing
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM XM777 Lightweight Howitzer
OBJECTIVE: To develop an innovative, robotic system for welding titanium for current and future Army requirements.
DESCRIPTION: The Future Combat System (FCS) initiative has significantly increased the need for titanium parts in/on weapon systems. Many of these titanium parts will have to be welded. The application of robotic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) to titanium is relatively new. In order to obtain welds that are of high quality, it is necessary to develop an adaptive control methodology for real-time control and monitoring of the welding process. This SBIR proposes the development of an adaptive control/arc monitoring system that will be applied to existing welding hardware. The system will be innovative and beyond the scope of what is currently available commercially. This real-time control/monitoring system will integrate gas quality control with adaptive controls such as vision or other sensors with the goal of adding these to existing commercial welding robotic hardware. The system will allow the user to both monitor welding variables (current, arc length, torch speed, etc.), and make critical changes to these variables during the welding process. Trade-off optimization models should be explored. Factors affecting gas quality such as oxygen content, hydrogen content and dew point should be part of these models, as well as factors dealing with current, arc length and torch speed. A relationship between these factors and the welding gas will be outlined and explored. Hardware and software requirements will be determined for the system, as well as the best method of integrating the gas monitoring system with the adaptive controls.
PHASE I: Design an innovative real-time integrated control/monitoring system for titanium welding.
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype control/monitoring system for the arc welding of titanium.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Besides the military application for the future combat system, potential commercial applications include the aerospace and automotive industries.
REFERENCES:
1) The NIST Automated Arc Welding Testbed
http://www.isd.mel.nist.gov/documents/rippey/awms97.pdf
2) Development of Robotic GMAW Workcell for Fabrication of Ti6A1-4V Machine Gun Receivers.
http://www.titanium.org/PDF/Newsletters/March2002News.pdf
3) Common gun and torch questions for robotic welding.
http://www.binzel.com.au/binzel.nsf/edithints/CFF5F9C6B0104296CA256B7B001A1073/$file/Common%20gun%20and%20torch%20questions%20for%20robotic%20arc%20welding.pdf
KEYWORDS: Titanium, Welding, Real –Time, Future Combat System, Robotic.
A03-017 TITLE: Intelligent Agent Technologies for Homeland Defense
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: HomelandSecurity Office, Picatinny
OBJECTIVE: Develop algorithms, design methodology and processing architectures to support implementation of real time intelligent agent technology for coordinated, rapid information retrieval, fusion, and prediction of potential threats for Homeland Defense.
DESCRIPTION: The terrorist/ threat prediction process and generation of the common relevant operational picture (CROP), be it carried out by human analysts or an intelligent system, is very data intensive. The data are usually distributed across several services, multi-national forces and/or agencies and in various formats. The problem is how to automatically accumulate relevant data from such distributed and heterogeneous data sources so that minimal amount of time is spent in learning individual data formats. Intelligent agent technology can greatly enhance data retrieval efficiency by automatically locating and retrieving data based on user queries. Once the specific data sources have been located and retrieved, they need to be fused based on some standard ontology to support rapid situation and threat assessment and prediction.
The amount of relevant data that are being accumulated has become overwhelming. A manual analysis to look for indications and warnings of threats into such data is highly time consuming. Intelligent techniques therefore need to be employed that can automatically assess and predict threats in a timely manner. Such techniques should be robust in order to deal with uncertain and incomplete data.
Specific areas of research within intelligent agent technology for Homeland Defense include:
1) Retrieval of data from distributed heterogeneous data sources based on agent technology
2) Fusion of accumulated information
3) Situation and threat assessment based on artificial intelligence techniques that can deal with uncertain data, such as Bayesian belief networks
Prediction of terrorist activities preferably taken into account the spatial and temporal dimensions
PHASE I: Develop the methodology, computational approaches and architectural concepts to support design and implementation of real time intelligent agent technology for coordinated, rapid information retrieval, fusion, situation assessment, and prediction of potential threats for netted fires and Homeland Defense applications. Problem formulation should take into account heterogeneity and voluminous nature of distributed data sources. Phase I will also identify specific software development and design tools, provide preliminary concept definition and specification of implementation environment.
PHASE II: Develop a fully integrated design and prototyping environment to support generic intelligent agent technology for coordinated, rapid information retrieval, fusion, and prediction of potential threats for Homeland Defense. The environment will include components for information retrieval, fusion, situation assessment and prediction. Develop detailed agent algorithms, application scenario, and software prototype and evaluate via simulation. Optimize module algorithm design based on test data and provide complete documentation of algorithms and the architecture.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Militarily, this technology can also be applied to the FCS system. There are many dual use applications of such intelligent agent technology. For example in the law enforcement community, this research could be applied to money laundering and drug dealing arena. On the commercial side, this research is applicable to detect credit card and telecommunication fraud by collecting data from multiple corporate data sources. The research is also applicable to generate business intelligence by collecting and analyzing data available over the web.
REFERENCES: Das, S., Shuster, K., and Wu, C. (2002) “ACQUIRE: Agent-based Complex QUery and Information Retrieval Engine,” Proceedings of the 1st International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, Bologna, Italy (July).
Pearl, J. (1988). Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems: Networks of Plausible Inference. San Mateo, CA, Morgan Kaufman.
KEYWORDS: Intelligent Agents, Homeland Defense, Information Retrieval, Situation Assessment, Threat Prediction
A03-018 TITLE: Innovative High Resolution Thermal Imager with Small Optics
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Close Combat Systems
OBJECTIVE: Design and build an innovative, automated thermal-imager with 360° field of view (FOV) optics to provide instantaneous full horizon detection, location and tracking of multiple targets.
DESCRIPTION: An automated target detection, location, and tracking sensor is needed to provide situational awareness of battlefield activities for target detection. An 8 to 14 micron uncooled, infrared, focal plane array thermal imager with 640x480 pixel resolution has the potential to provide day/night detection of personnel, aircraft and vehicles even when camouflaged. The novel combination of this high-resolution thermal imager with 360° FOV optics are needed to provide accurate target bearing, temperature profiles, and rough order of magnitude target imaging which can aid classification, discrimination and identification of targets. Innovative new technologies are required to make the 360° FOV sensor practical for the battlefield. The new technologies should encompass low cost, small optical lenses as opposed to the current expensive germanium or gold components, while still maintaining the required signal intensity level. It is expected that the sensor will be integrated with other unmanned ground sensors automatically to cue the imager. Also, it is expected to be integrated with GPS and an electronic compass to resolute target locations in Latitude and Longitude. An Automated Target Recognition (ATR) algorithm will be developed that combines the temperature profiles and shape icons with acoustic, seismic and magnetic target features to significantly enhance the ATR capabilities of remote sensors. When combined with other unmanned ground sensors, the thermal imager can be more effective than existing sensors. The integrated prototype sensor will be demonstrated against personnel, vehicles and aircraft to determine its automated capability; the number, type, speed, and direction of travel, location; and characteristics of targets on the battlefield.
PHASE I: Design an integrated 640x480 pixel, high-resolution, 8 to 14 micron, uncooled thermal imager with 360° FOV optics.
PHASE II: Develop an integrated prototype thermal imager with 360° FOV optics.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: For military applications, the research will determine if it is possible to mass-produce the IR reflective optics for less than $100 so they can be incorporated into the intelligent munitions system. This 360° FOV thermal imager can also be used for a variety of homeland security applications such as border monitoring, airport security, high value (power plants, chemical plants, water plants, etc.) facility protection, transportation security (subways, trains, highways, bridges, tunnels, etc.). Commercially, it can be used for detecting animals on highways, avalanches, protecting railroad crossings, and for ground control applications.
REFERENCES:
1) AFRL-IF-RS-TR-2001-211, Sensor Data Collection and Management over a WEB, McQ Associates, POC Russell Thomas.
2) Into the Woods: Visual Surveillance of Non Cooperative and Camouflaged Targets in Complex Outdoor Settings, Vision and Software Technology Laboratory, Lehigh University, POC Dr. Terry Boult.
KEYWORDS: thermal imager, uncooled IR focal plane arrays, image processing, ATR, target tracking and location, sensor
A03-019 TITLE: Artifact Free Tomographic Algorithms
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Close Combat - Mines, Countermines, Demol
OBJECTIVE: Develop new computer x-ray tomographic reconstructing algorithms which do not create artifacts in the images.
DESCRIPTION: Tomographic reconstruction techniques by computed tomography (CT) have been continuously improving over the last years, but all of the algorithms create artifacts. For instance, nearly all CT algorithms calculate the density of volume elements within the reconstructed volume using a back-projection process. In these algorithms the absorption of an x-ray passing through the volume is evenly attributed to all of the volume elements through which the x-ray passed. This calculation always predicts the wrong density (which is the primary source of the artifacts) for the volume elements, but is most severe and noticeable when a very highly absorbing volume element is adjacent to lesser absorbing elements. These artifacts are perceived in the tomographs as dark and light rays emanating off sharp edges of the reconstructed volume. This solicitation is for development of one or more algorithms which drastically reduces or eliminates all artifacts, including that just described. Previous works to reduce artifacts require a prior knowledge of the geometry of the object to be reconstructed. The proposals for this solicitation must be indifferent to the geometry of the object. They must be applicable to full body reconstruction using cone beam CT, that is, reconstruction of all adjacent volume elements throughout the entire object, as opposed to reconstruction volume elements in one or more isolated cross-sectional slices through the volume. Proposals must show that the author has in-depth comprehension of the cause of numerous kinds of artifacts and a description of why the proposed methods should eliminate such.
PHASE I: Using both real data from actual objects and phantom data, develop one or more algorithms that result in greatly reduced artifacts. Quantify the reduction in artifacts for the developed algorithms comparing them to one another and to existing published and commercial algorithms. For Phase 1, the algorithms need not calculate rapidly.
Phase II: Optimize the algorithms so that they can produce a full body tomographic 3-D reconstruction on serial processors ganged in parallel. Reconstruction time for a volume exceeding 1300 by 1300 by 1300 volume elements must be less than ten minutes, where the raw data is 1300 by 1300 pixels by 361 rotational views. Demonstrate and deliver operational and source code, which is sufficiently documented that a computer programmer unfamiliar with the code can modify and maintain it. The code must be tested against images of objects having sharp and dense edges and corners, such as steel bars and gears, where density variation factors are five or greater within three volume elements. The code must not produce noticeable artifacts of density greater than one tenth of one percent of the true volume element density.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Applications include all industrial computed tomography (CT) inspection applications, both military and commercial. CT applications include airport baggage inspection systems and medical diagnostic equipment. Artifacts are the bane of all CT systems, whether x-ray, neutron, acoustic, ultra-sound, or seismic. One or more algorithms which prevent artifacts from forming will have a marketplace in and for all such systems. For example, the government is currently purchasing thousands of CT systems for baggage inspection in airports. All of these systems suffer from such artifacts.
REFERENCES:
1) Smith, B. D., Cone-Beam Tomography: Recent Advances and a Tutorial, Opt. Eng. , 1990, vol. 29, no. 5.
2) Axelsson-Jacobson, C., Guillemaud, R., Danielsson, P.-E., Grangeat, P., Defrise, M., and Clark, R., Comparison of 3D Reconstruction Methods from Cone-Beam Data, in Three-Dimensional Image Reconstruction in Radiation and Nuclear Medicine , Grangeat, P. and Amans, J.-L., Eds., Dordrecht: Klüwer, 1996.
3) Herman, G., Image Reconstruction from Projections. The Encyclopedia of Computerized Tomography , New York: Academic, 1980.
4) Tuy, H. K., SIAM J. Appl. Math., vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 546 552.
5) Badazhkov, D. V., Some Algorithms for Tomographic 3D Reconstruction in Problems with a Helical Trajectory of a Radiation Source, in INPRIM-2000, Novosibirsk, 2000.
6 Trofimov, O., Kasjanova, S., and Badazhkov, D., Algorithms of 3D Cone Beam Tomography for Incomplete Data, Proc. 1st World Congress on Industrial Process Tomography, Buxton, 1999, pp. 181183.
7) Badazhkov, D. V., Some of the Algorithms for the Analysis of a Photoplethysmogram, Pattern Recognit. Image Anal. , 1999, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 341343.
KEYWORDS: Computer tomography, radiography, x-ray, NonDestructive inspection, baggage inspection, tomographic artifacts.
A03-020 TITLE: 3-D HyperSpectral Microbolometer
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Develop a 3-D microbolometer in which each layer of the single MEMS device measures the IR energy within a different narrow spectral band.
DESCRIPTION: Uncooled microbolometers are used for infrared imaging. Current micro-bolometer pixels are mechanically situated in a single plane, with each pixel absorbing a broadband of infrared energy. This solicitation is for the development, design and fabrication of stacked layers of micro-bolometer pixels in a single chip in which each layer absorbs energy in a narrow infrared band and passes the remaining energy onto the layer below. The structure, as a whole, will measure the intensity of the infrared energy in narrow spectral bands for each picture element in the scene, i.e., the 3-D microbolometer structure will measure simultaneously the entire data cube, as it is called in the HyperSpectral industry. The number of spectral bands should exceed 63, the spectral resolution should exceed one tenth of a micron, the broad spectral region should be approximately 8 to 25 microns, the number of spatial pixels should be 256 by 256 or more, the response speed of the device (data cubes per second) should be greater than 20 cubes per second.
PHASE I: Design the 3-D microbolometer. Provide convincing evidence that the device can be realistically fabricated using available manufacturing technology. Provide convincing evidence that the device can acquire a HyperSpectral infrared image. Compare the device design to that of the best, most efficient, and fastest microbolometer designs then available. Provide evidence that the developer can produce at least a fully operational prototype device within the Phase II budget.
Phase II: Fabricate a self contained, fully operational 3-D microbolometer that includes all the electronics, power supplies, computational hardware, software, etc., to acquire HyperSpectral Infrared images.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: HyperSpectral imaging has already been shown to have a huge military and commercial market. Applications abound in target acquisition, battlefield assessment, LADAR, missile guidance, non-destructive inspection, surveillance, medical diagnostics, chemical analysis, process control and many other fields. A device of the nature being solicited could be used wherever infrared hyperspectral imaging is appropriate. But such a device could outperform all others in terms of robustness, acquisition speed, and field hardening. These attributes are essential to many of the aforementioned applications.
REFERENCES:
1) http://weewave.mer.utexas.edu/MED_files/MED_research/microbolometers/bolo_paper/IRMMW_bolo_paper.html
2) http://www.aticourses.com/hyperspectral_imaging.htm
3) .http://www.techexpo.com/WWW/opto-knowledge/IS_resources.html
KEYWORDS: HyperSpectral imaging, thermal imaging, microbolometers
A03-021 TITLE: Innovative Automatic Warhead Optimization and Modeling
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Weapons
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Multi-Role ATD Manager, ARDEC
OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative, semi-automatic warhead optimization and modeling system using hydrocode simulation with design sensitivity analysis and stochastic methods.
DESCRIPTION: There is a need to quickly develop and field new lightweight warheads for Future Combat Systems (FCS). Automatic optimization and modeling software is needed, but current optimizing is done with smooth continuous response functions. Warhead simulations, however, are based on complex hydrocode simulations that are subject to considerable numerical noise. These noises introduce errors in the simulations that are not physics based; they include errors in the calculated velocities, stresses and strains. Another problem with the noise is that it may cause the simulations to terminate prematurely. Additionally, simulations must be calibrated with respect to experiments that are also subject to many noise sources, ranging from manufacturing imperfections to test measurement uncertainty. Numerical noise can be greatly reduced by using analytical differentiation of the equations of motion through the process of Design Sensitivity Analysis (DSA). Noise can be reduced by improving the accuracies of the velocity, stress and strain predictions to be within 5% of the experiment. In simulations where the noise would cause the calculation to go unstable, these new techniques would enable the simulations to run to completion. The optimization process must be suitable for large numbers of design variables. Stochastic methods should also be used in this optimization procedure to account for simulation and experimental noise. Approaches for this might include an extension to Kriging methods that are used for fitting data subject to large amounts of noise. The resulting software system should be able to take a set of design requirements, search through an existing database for similar experimental results from previous tests and produce a candidate design with a minimum of user intervention (reduced from user manipulation during every 100 calculation cycles to near autonomous completion).
PHASE I: Design an automatic warhead optimization and modeling software. Demonstrate the ability to compute analytical derivatives of major warhead performance variables based on typical input design variables using DSA in hydrocode simulations. Use this procedure to automatically iterate for an optimal warhead design.
PHASE II: Produce a robust system for automatic warhead design.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to military applications, design optimization using hydrocode simulation is done in many different industries ranging from car crash to metal forming to bird ingestion in jet engines.
REFERENCES:
1) AIAA2000-4906, Design Sensitivity Analysis for Structures using Explicit Time Integration, D. Stillman.
2) ASME 2002 Symposium on Design Automation for Vehicle Crashworthiness and Occupant Protection, "Development of a Design Sensitivity Analysis Technique for Explicit Finite Element Software with Applications in Crashworthiness", D. Stillman. Current tools used with Explicit FEA showing brute force stochastic simulation:
3) http://www.easi.com/software/storm Kriging theory:
4) http://www.geomatics.ucalgary.ca/~nel-shei/lecture.htm Design Sensitivity Analysis:
5) http://www.ccad.uiowa.edu/focus/designopt/dsa.html
KEYWORDS: hydrocode, simulation, design sensitivity analysis, numerical noise
A03-022 TITLE: HyperSpectral Data Cube Processor
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Materials/Processes, Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Ammunition
OBJECTIVE: Fabricate a computer processor which has the ability to process HyperSpectral Images in rates of 30 or more cubes per second.
DESCRIPTION: Hyperspectral images can easily exceed 100 MB in size, consisting of more than one hundred spectral bands and be greater than one million pixels. The images need to be calibrated, corrected and spectrally matched to known spectra. The results need to be output at video frame rates to common display devices as images. Current processors do not come close to such high processing rates. This solicitation is for the design and fabrication of such a device. Consideration will be given only to those proposals where it is clear that the Phase II effort will actually fabricate, test and implement the processor in a hyperspectral system.
Hyperspectral images can easily exceed 100 MB in size, consisting of more than one hundred spectral bands and be greater than one million pixels. The images need to be calibrated, corrected and spectrally matched to known spectra. The processing algorithms will include (a) large convolutions, which may run in parallel on all of the pixels; (b) possible spatial transformations; (c) scalar and vector products and differences; (d) table lookup; etc. The results need to be output at video frame rates to common display devices as images. Current processors do not come close to such high processing rates. This solicitation is for the design and fabrication of such a device. Consideration will be given only to those proposals where it is clear that the phase 2 effort will actually fabricate, test and implement the processor in a hyperspectral system.
PHASE I: Design the hyperspectral data cube processor. In order to meet the Phase II requirements, the design must build on prior techniques or technology. It is expected that the commitment for the fabrication of the ASIC will be completed in the first six months of Phase II. The contractor?s design must be evaluated by at least one external expert in the processor field and his results reported to the government.
PHASE II: Fabricate a self contained, working system which can be directly attached to HyperSpectral VIS-NIR Imager, Model 700, fabricated by Surface Optics Corporation, acquire hyperspectral images and display the analysis results.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: HyperSpectral imaging has already been shown to have a huge military and commercial market. Applications abound in target acquisition, battlefield assessment, LADAR, missile guidance, non-destructive inspection, surveillance, medical diagnostics, chemical analysis, process control and many other fields. A device of the nature being solicited could be used wherever infrared hyperspectral imaging is appropriate. The device will outperform all others in terms of robustness, acquisition speed, and field hardening. These attributes are essential to many of the aforementioned applications.
REFERENCES:
1) http://www.aticourses.com/hyperspectral_imaging.htm
2) http://www.techexpo.com/WWW/opto-knowledge/IS_resources.html
3) http://www.surfaceoptics.com/
KEYWORDS: HyperSpectral imaging, parallel processors, data cube
A03-023 TITLE: Measurement of Career Leadership Performance
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Center for Army Leadership, CGSC
OBJECTIVE: To develop a measurement system for leadership performance of Objective Force Leaders that accounts for cumulative experiences in applicable career areas. Assessment approaches should use objective, unbiased measures of leadership and should be specific to a leader’s experience in positions of responsibility and types of career opportunities open to him or her. The product will be used to aid leader development in instituional, operational and self development. The product, when widely applied, will have secondary applications to screen for appropriate development tracks, to inform Army educational institutions about appropriate course timing and duration, and to set optimal assignment paths.
DESCRIPTION: Long-range measures of leadership performance are needed to understand the impact of leadership over time and at various points in one’s career. Measures will lead to feedback to guide the development of leaders. Measures will be applicable for self-development and for institutionally-directed education. The Army Training and Leader Development Panel Officer Study found that 'junior officers are not receiving adequate leader development experiences,' [junior officers] 'do not believe they are being afforded sufficient opportunity to learn from the results of their own decisions and actions,' and 'personnel management requirements drive operational assignments at the expense of quality developmental experiences' (ATLDP, 2000).
Leaders develop over time based on unintentional experience and intentional attention to needs and goals. Development occurs because of an integration of trial and error experience, education and thoughtful reflection, and observation of the good and bad examples of others. Change can occur suddenly and rapidly or continuously and steadily (Weick & Quinn, 1999). The pattern of change over time can be revealing about a leader. But the Army has no theory-based system of leader development based on change over time. More importantly, there is no adopted system to measure the types, frequencies, and qualities of experiences that influence leader development. The Army is different from most civilian organizations because it grows its leaders “from the ground up” and moves leaders through a series of assignments in which they can develop for subsequent positions of higher responsibility.
People will remain the centerpiece of the Army and growing leaders will be one of its most essential missions. Leaders will be relied on to out think and dominate adversaries by speed and decisive action. Objective Force leaders will require a collection of interpersonal, conceptual, technical, tactical, mental, physical, and emotional competencies and the ability to learn, be self-aware and adapt. These requirements need to mature earlier in leaders’ careers. Leaders must grow with the positions they assume to fully anticipate the higher order effects of their actions (Objective Force, 2002).
Standard Industrial/Organizational methods of psychology could link measures of leadership performance to job requirements. However, traditional job analysis would be complicated in this application by the number of different positions and skill classifications. Costs for a thorough job analysis of Army leader positions that constantly change are prohibitive. Rigorous job analyses that represent a bottom-up approach are impractical. In the Army, as with many organizations, a great variability of job demands exists within positions of supposedly the same level of authority and responsibility.
In the absence of a rigorous job analysis, leader assessment tools are oftentimes based on leader attributes, rather than objective measures of behaviors and outcomes. These subjective measures are often one-shot, self-report measures that attempt to tap job-related constructs. Measures that capture leader performance for only one point in time are insufficient in the support of leader development. These snap-shots of attributes are limited in scope and do not provide the objective behavioral information needed for leader development. In addition, self-report measures may be subject to socially desirability and faking (Paulhus, 1986).
On the other hand, biodata measures (activities, accomplishments, experiences) may be sufficiently free of social desirability bias and faking to be applicable to a career-oriented measurement framework. Biodata measures might focus on unit ratings, awards, climate, morale, and retention or on individual experiences considered to be significant learning opportunities. Measures that address growth or development over a period of time or in stages are reasonable candidates to consider. Records of work assignments (McCauley, Eastman & Ohlott, 1995) and the development that results can provide a basis for identifying appropriate measures. Retrospective measures confirmed by outside sources may be suitable substitutes for longitudinal measures taken at time intervals. These are not practical for validation research and may be too limiting for career development. Analysis of actual leadership challenges and situations for an individual would provide insight into leadership beliefs, styles, and capabilities. Systems of measurement should be explored to consider the merits of alternate approaches [e.g., modification of receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) from signal detection theory [Swets, 1964], personal strategies for leveraging talents and compensating for weaknesses, biodata (Mael & Schwartz, 1991), measures of variability such as Weiss & Shanteau’s index of consistent discrimination variability (CWS), and so on].
PHASE I: Phase I will produce a framework for measurement and theory building or application, selection of measurement concepts, and demonstration of proof of concept. Models of leader work experience and event-based situations shall be a fundamental aspect of the measurement framework. Measurement or characterization of multiple leadership performance instances shall be intrinsic to the concept. Profiles of measured leader instances shall be explored to characterize leader potential for positions of greater responsibility derived from measures of performance.
PHASE II: Phase II will involve enhanced tool and measurement system development, evaluation, and validation. Validation shall be done at various ranks and for various leader positions within the Army. The goal will be to achieve face, construct and predictive validity.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Phase III will involve tailoring aspects of the measurement system to use in leadership domains beyond the US Army. Sister service and joint assignments would be prime candidates for immediate extension of the measurement system. Aspects of the framework will need to be tailored to make it applicable to organizations that hire for positions throughout levels.
REFERENCES:
1) ATLDP (2000). The Army Training and Leader Development Panel Officer Study Report to the Army. http://www.army.mil/features/ATLD/report.pdf
2) McCauley, C. D., Eastman, L. J., & Ohlott, P. J. (1995). Linking management selection and development through stretch assignments. Human Resource Management, 34, 93-115.
3) Mael, F. A. & Schwartz, A. C. (1991). Capturing temperament constructs with objective biodata. ARI Technical Report 939. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. ADA 245 119
4) Paulhus, D. L. (1986). Self-deception and impression management in test responses. In A. Angleiner & J.S. Wiggings (Eds.), Personality Assessment via Questionnaire (pp. 142-165). New York: Springer.
5) Objective Force Task Force (December 2002). Objective Force in 2015 White Paper.
6) Swets, J. (1964). Signal detection and recognition by human observers. New York: Wiley and Sons.
7) Weick, K. E. & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 361-386.
8) Weiss, D. J. & Shanteau, J. CWS: A User’s Guide. http://www.ksu.edu/psych/cws/pdf/using_cws.pdf
KEYWORDS: Leadership, leader development, career, self-development, measurement, assessment
A03-024 TITLE: Semi-Automated Question Accumulation and Response System
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: TRADOC- Training Developments and Analysis Dir.
OBJECTIVE: To create and empirically validate a semi-automated system that uses desktop computer technology to answer questions posed on user specified topics. The system would allow subject matter experts (SME) without high-level computer skills to load topic-specific text information into the system and manage the system. An artificial intelligence component would allow the system to refine answers automatically based on SME input and questioner feedback.
DESCRIPTION: The Objective Force will be a networked system of systems with soldiers who update their knowledge and skills through reachback capabilities and life long learning. To fully meet the training needs of this networked force, a greater use of distributed learning and embedded training is required (TRADOC). SMEs and instructors spend a great deal of time responding to questions, many of which are redundant. A system that can appropriately answer questions would reduce the workload of SMEs and instructors, allowing them to spend more time on other crucial aspects of teaching and supporting life long learning. A successful system would also provide assistance to Objective Force soldiers when they have on-the-job questions that need immediate answers, are engaged in embedded training, or performing en route mission rehearsal.
While automated question answering systems have been developed previously, many have been an attempt to answer questions in far reaching content areas, like “Ask Jeeves”. This process leads to vague answers and enormous databases that grow to an unmanageable size for a single administrator using a desktop computer. Question answering systems that cover limited content areas, like the Answer Wizard in Microsoft Help, have tended to be more successful in providing on-target responses, however these limited content systems lack administrator control and provide “canned” responses.
While the average computer user can ask questions of these systems, both types of systems require high-level technical skills to develop the content, maintain the knowledge-base, and manage the output. Presently, there is no automated question management system that runs on a standard PC administered by a person without high-level computer skills.
The proposed system would be a shell program with the capability of parsing information provided by an administrator to answer questions in natural language. For example, a SME could load text files that come from a particular book, topic notes, and other sources. The system would then use a combination of statistical (e.g., frequency of word usage, correlation of terms) and linguistic (e.g., latent semantic analysis, natural language processing, and knowledge-base) methods to locate information and generate appropriate responses to questions acquired from natural communication media (e.g., e-mail, text messaging, threaded discussions). In addition, based on input by the SME and answer feedback from the questioners, the system should refine successive responses. The SME would have control over the output of the system to determine that quality answers are generated, and as the system produced a higher percentage of quality answers the SME could allow the system to respond directly to the questioner. The SME would also have the ability to modify topic content. For example, a graphical file might be linked to a particular answer or set of terms, so that the graphics would be included in subsequent responses to related questions. In addition, the system should code the questions/answers in a common metadata format, so that they may be repurposed for use with a SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) compliant learning management system.
PHASE I: Phase I should determine the feasibility of producing a question answering system that runs on a desktop computer administered by a person without high-level technical skills. This feasibility study with specific recommendations for the system to be developed during the Phase II effort would be required by the end of Phase I.
PHASE II: In Phase II, the findings of Phase I should be used to develop a working version of the system to be assessed by instructors of distributed learning courses. The assessment should include courses in at least three different military content areas. The assessment of the system should cover the quality of responses, ease of use, and reactions from both students and administrators. The goal would be for the system to accurately respond to questions on topical information 95% of the time to the satisfaction of a SME.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Ownership of a flexible, easy-to-use semi-automated question accumulation and response system should position the company well for integrating their system into distributed learning courses and learning management systems presently in use by both the private and public sectors. The system could be used in training and educational environments, as well as “help desks”.
REFERENCES:
1) About ADL. (n. d.) Retrieved March 18, 2002 from http://www.adlnet.org/index.cfm
2) Graesser, A. C., & Wisher, R. A. (2001). Question generation as a learning multiplier in distributed learning environments (Technical Report 1121). Alexandria, VA; U.S. Army Research Institute for the Social and Behavioral Sciences.
3) Martinovic, Miroslav (2002) Integrating statistical and linguistic approaches in building intelligent question answering systems. A presentation at the International Conference on Advances in Infrastructure for 3-busines, e-Education, e-Science, and e-Medicine on the Internet, SSGRR 2002W, in L’Auila, Italy. Available at www.ssgrr.it/en/ssgrr2002w/papers/81.pdf.
4). Moore, M. G. (2001) Surviving as a distance teacher. The American Journal of Distance Education, 15(2), 1-5.
5) TRADOC (2002) Military Operations: Force Operating Capabilities.
[Pamphlet 525-66] Fort M.
KEYWORDS: question, question answering, latent semantic analysis, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, language parsing, distributed learning, embedded training
A03-025 TITLE: Enhancing Warrior Ethos in Initial Entry Soldiers
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: US Army Infantry School, Dir. of Opns & Training
OBJECTIVE: Develop program to enhance the attributes of Warrior Ethos for initial entry soldiers.
DESCRIPTION: In his controversial, but widely quoted 1947 book, Men Against Fire, military historian S. L. A. Marshall wrote of tactical conditions faced by mid-twentieth century soldiers “at the opening of a new age in warfare when it appears certain that all operation will be accelerated greatly, that all ground formations must have greater dispersion for their own protection, and that therefore thought must be transmitted more swiftly and surely than ever. These things being true, it is an anachronism to place the emphasis in training and command primarily on weapons and ground rather than on the nature of man” (Marshall, 1966, p.39). Marshall wrote of individual courage: “…how to free the mind of man, how to enlarge his appreciation of his personal worth as a unit in battle, how to stimulate him to express his individual power within limits that are for the good of all” (Marshall, 1966, p. 23). The next paragraph, however, identified a problem: “we have never got down to an exact definition of what we are seeking” (ibid.).
More than 50 years later, this perceived shortfall is readily encompassed by what is defined as the Warrior Ethos. Field Manual 22-100, Army Leadership (DA, 1999) characterizes Warrior Ethos, the attitudes and beliefs of the American soldier, by “the refusal to accept failure” (p. 2-21). The total commitment exemplified by the Warrior Ethos lies in teamwork, discipline, and perseverance (Honore & Cerjan, 2002). Warrior Ethos is “developed and sustained through discipline, example, commitment to Army values, and pride in the Army’s heritage” (DA, April, 2002, p. 16).
Marshall’s prediction of the dispersed battlefield has come to fruition, as has an awareness of the human dimension of combat. The Objective Force soldier exemplifies “human characteristics such as common sense, battlefield instinct, and the warrior ethos [and] must react to issues of morality, and exercise mature judgment, while decisively wielding highly lethal weapons in the demanding, chaotic environment of war” (DA, 2002, p. 113). As the Objective Force exploits advances in information technology, the battlefield will grow more dispersed and the Warrior Ethos attributes even more important for leaders and soldiers. General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defines the baseline attributes inherent in Warrior Ethos as cohesion, commitment, self-sacrifice, courage and leadership (Myers, 2002). The remaining issue is the feasibility of training and sustaining Warrior Ethos through providing an environment in which to nurture their development.
PHASE I: Phase I shall consist of a front-end analysis to determine the components of the constructs associated with Warrior Ethos, the fundamental attributes embodied therein and the environments suitable to enhance these values. Warrior Ethos encompasses Combat Arms, Combat Support and Combat Service Support operations; all areas shall be considered. Additionally, some feasible candidate training methods and environments shall be identified, including but not limited to the use of simulation and distributed training. Strengths and weaknesses of each environment shall be addressed. Example training vignettes and exercises exemplifying attributes of the Warrior Ethos for personnel of varied ranks and backgrounds shall be created, as well as proposed metrics by which progress can be measured. Solutions and examples may come from other than military archives.
Currently, training for initial entry soldiers provides a focus on the Army value system and the attributes of Warrior Ethos. The products of this research shall not duplicate the existing Army values training programs already in place in the various One Station Unit Training (OSUT) programs of instruction (POI) or in the training provided in the Basic Combat Training (BCT) POI but may expand upon them by providing a means of reinforcement for the training currently in place. Other on-going Warrior Ethos initiatives may be monitored but not duplicated.
Proposed solutions for development of a multi-faceted Warrior Ethos training program shall be documented in a Phase I report. The report shall include findings from the front-end analysis and examples of potential solutions for multi-echelon training in diverse environments.
PHASE II: In Phase II, training support packages, means of delivery, and assessment shall be developed and tailored for specific environments and echelons. An assessment plan shall be developed for review and approval. Performance measures appropriate for each environment (and specific cognitive attribute) shall also be developed, tested, and revised as necessary. An evaluation of the Warrior Ethos training package shall be conducted and documented in a report.
PHASE III: This phase includes tailoring the approaches and assessment procedures to other military and commercial markets. In addition to application throughout the Department of Defense, products from this research topic would have immediate benefit to personnel associated with the Department of Homeland Defense.
REFERENCES:
1) Department of the Army, Army Training and Leader Development Panel Phase II (NCO Study) Final Report, Training and Doctrine Command, April 2002. [Available at http://usasma.bliss.army.mil/qao/support/NCO_ATLDP_Report.pdf].
2) Department of the Army, Army Leadership (Field Manual 22-100), Washington, DC, 1999.
3) Department of the Army, Military Operations: Force Operating Capabilities (TRADOC Pamphlet 525-66). Washington, DC, 2002.
4) Russel L. Honore, Robert P. Cerjan, “Warrior Ethos” The soul of an Infantryman. Fort Leavenworth, KS: News from the Front, Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL). [Search for “Warrior Ethos” at HTTP://call.army.mil]
5) S. L. A. Marshall, Men Against Fire, Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith (1947); and New York: William Morrow & Company (1966).
6) Richard B. Myers, The Warrior Ethos, speech given to the Air Force Sergeants Association, Jacksonville, FL, 14 August, 2002.
KEYWORDS: Warrior Ethos
A03-026 TITLE: Ascertaining Bio-Mechanical Response of Armor Materials
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Soldier
OBJECTIVE: Design and development of an instrumented measurement device/fixture to measure the dynamic response of armor materials to non-penetrating ballistic impacts. This device will enable the assessment of non-lethal weapons effectiveness, and the potential for blunt force trauma injuries associated with personal body armor energy transfer characteristics when used as protection against otherwise lethal threats. The test device must be able to measure the ballistic energy that will be imparted to the human thorax, and must measure the time-and space-resolved loading and deformation of the armor material, including rate effects, associated with the energy and momentum transfer due to non-penetrating impact by military anti-personnel (lethal and non-lethal), and small caliber armor piercing ammunition. Data obtained using this device will be used to assess and compare new armor materials, and as input to biomedical models of behind armor injury currently in development to assess and model blunt force trauma, incapacitation and survivability criteria for personnel.
DESCRIPTION: Researchers and developers of personal body armor systems have a need for reliable experimental techniques for assessing the relative effectiveness of body armor materials in preventing injury related to impact loading imparted by stopping small arms projectiles. Likewise, developers of anti-personnel ammunition, both lethal and non-lethal, require quantitative measures of weapons effectiveness for enemy incapacitation. Impact induced loading occurs through the transfer of energy and momentum from the projectile, through the armor materials and any equipment and clothing external to the armor, to the human wearer. The initial deformation of the armor materials is caused by the propagation of impact induced stress waves and their interactions, and the subsequent deformation of the materials occurs through sustained stress imposed on the armor after the wave interaction effects are completed. The initial deformation of the material and associated energy and momentum causes changes in the material to take place during the first few microseconds after the impact. This leads to changes in the initial mechanical properties of the material, which may influence the material response to the sustained stresses. The goal of this effort is to provide increased understanding of how various armor system components and combinations may mitigate the energy imparted to the human thorax associated with ballistic impact, and to help identify design parameters for enhanced non-lethal weapons. It has been pointed out that body armor material developers lack valid testing methods to determine if the body armor they develop will prevent life-threatening blunt trauma injuries. As a consequence, future body armor systems may protect soldiers from penetrating injuries, yet allow serious or lethal blunt trauma injuries.
This need has grown from the military’s desire to develop and evaluate user-friendly defeat mechanisms and material systems for small arms protection and other urban environment threats at reduced weights and enhanced protection. Research in this area has been limited to date due to ballistic range instrumentation limitations. The major goal of this effort will be to determine methods to measure and characterize the transfer of energy to the body during the ballistic impact (blunt trauma). A successful program will generate experimental data that can be compared to the energetic parameters being used to develop injury models, and to directly support the various modeling efforts in this area. By measuring how much energy is transferred, how fast is it transferred, how deeply the body is penetrated and how large an area/volume of the body is affected, researchers will be able to assist military users with defining what areas of the body are most desirable to protect, and to what level of protection. The experimental evaluation of the designed test fixture will include: temperature conditioning, ability to withstand non-penetrating ballistic impact from fragmenting munitions (2 grain small fragment simulators up to 207 grain large fragment simulators), small arms projectiles (.22 cal to at least .30 cal), non-lethal weapons (e.g., 'bean bag"), and could include thrust/stab resistant materials testing.
PHASE I: Establish the feasibility of developing a Test Device which can be used to measure dynamic material response during a non-penetrating ballistic impact and demonstrate that the device can used to measure momentum and energy loading characteristics critical to supporting human thorax blunt trauma effects from the ballistic threats listed in the description.
PHASE II: Fabricate an Armor Materials Dynamic Measurement Device to Assess Blunt Trauma Effects.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Potential exists for supplementing National Institute of Justice prescribed test fixtures, and use in development of commercial ballistic personal protective systems, as well as military body armor systems.
REFERENCES:
1) Cavanuagh JM: ?The biomechanics of thoracic trauma,? Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention, Nahum AM and Melvin JW (eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 362-390, 1993.
2) Cooper GJ, Pearce BP, Sedman AJ, Bush IS, Oakley CW, ?Experimental Evaluation of a Rig to Simulate the Response of the Thorax to Blast Loading,? The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp S38-S41, 1996.
3) Mirzeabasov TA, Sheikhetov VB, Shikurin VV, Belov DO, Odintsov VA, Target for Simulating Biological Subjects, United States Patent 5,850,033, Dec. 15, 1998.
4) U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice Standard 0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Police Body Armor, Washington, DC, September 2000.
KEYWORDS: Ballistics, Body Armor, Dynamic Material Response, Material Deformation, Test Fixture, Blunt Trauma
A03-027 TITLE: Actively Controlled Rotary Actuator For Vehicle Suspensions
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Aviation
OBJECTIVE: Active suspension systems extensively utilize linear struts to control a vehicle's suspension. These struts are passive, semi-active and fully active systems. The semi-active and fully active systems integrate actuation functions with their spring and damping capability. The linear struts are not optimally suited for all applications due to packaging and performance limitations (length of stroke, response time and dynamic control of stiffness and dampening). Suspension systems for future vehicles, such as swing arm or multi-jointed leg systems, would greatly benefit from compact actively controlled rotary actuators instead of the traditional linear strut.
The objective of this topic is to develop an actively controlled rotary actuator applicable to single or multi-element swing-arm automotive suspension systems. This actuator when integrated with such a suspension system must be more compact, consume less power to operate and result in lower absorbed power to vehicle occupants when the vehicle is operated across rough terrain, than linear actuator systems. It is anticipated that the development of such an actuator will be a major departure from conventional approaches. In particular alternative approaches to the traditional functionality of a spring and dampening system are sought. It is assumed that electric powered vehicles will be the future norm so utilizing electrically powered systems is acceptable as an alternative to hydraulic or pneumatic systems.
DESCRIPTION: The proposal shall include a rotary actuator concept and estimates of capabilities and performance in sufficient technical detail such that the Government fully understand its operation and can arrive at the same conclusions claimed by the offeror. To facilitate sizing the actuator the offeror shall assume the actuator is for a four-wheel hybrid electric drive vehicle with common swing-arm suspensions at all wheel positions. In-the-wheel electric motors provide propulsion. The actuator shall be integrated into either a single or multi-element swing-arm suspension. The vehicle's weight is 1000 lbs per wheel. Performance estimates shall be made based on a 2 in. RMS course consisting of 8 in. radius half round bumps with a vehicle speed of 50 mph. The offeror shall also show the applicability of the actuator to facilitate vehicle climbing up, down and across complex terrain such as building rubble or other obstacles a soldier might experience. An estimate of the power consumption for operation shall be provided.
PHASE I: The Phase I effort consists of developing a detail preliminary design of the actuator that also shows how it is integrated into the aforementioned swing-arm suspension. Detail performance and energy consumption calculations shall be made.
PHASE II: The Phase II effort shall consist of developing a detail design, fabricating and testing the actuator subject to realistic operational conditions.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The actuators can be used on military vehicles and by the automobile industry especially on trucks and SUVs
REFERENCES:
1) http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/43853/article.html
2) http://www-control.eng.cam.ac.uk/gww/what_is_active.html
3) http://www.ippt.gov.pl/~smart01/abstracts/pdf/socha.pdf
KEYWORDS: Mobility, suspension, rotary actuator, electric drive, swing arm suspension
A03-028 TITLE: Hydrogen Generation and Storage for Fuel Cell Systems
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Soldier
OBJECTIVE: To develop new/improved methods for hydrocarbon fuel processing and hydrogen storage for use with hydrogen/proton exchange membrane (PEM) or solid oxide fuel cell systems.
DESCRIPTION: Small and efficient hydrogen/PEM or solid oxide fuel cell systems are in development to meet the need for power for vehicle-borne battery chargers, vehicle silent watch and field headquarters. The power range of interest is approximately 500 to 2000 Watts. The main difficulty that remains to be overcome for such applications is the development of compact fuel reformers that produce hydrogen gas on demand. Very often, the purity of reformate is also an issue. Also, a means for safe and efficient storage of pure hydrogen for the lower power levels needed for the dismounted soldier is of interest.
For hydrogen generation, we are seeking new catalysts and improved reactor design for the reformation of readily-available hydrocarbon (and especially diesel-) fuels and the identification of other chemical reactions and processes that will allow a safe, well-regulated production of gas at a high weight percentage relative to the weight of fuel plus container.
For hydrogen purification, we are seeking new materials and methods to remove carbon monoxide and/or sulfur compounds from the reformate gas. The proposed technologies may include, but not be limited to, Pd-based membrane assemblies and post-reformation sulfur scrubber/adsorbent. For hydrogen storage, we are seeking new materials that will reversibly adsorb hydrogen to an extent greater than 3% by weight.
PHASE I: Phase I will identify materials, processes and conditions that could result in the required hydrogen generation, purification or storage components. Initial experimentation to prepare required new materials or to devise new processes will be conducted.
PHASE II: Phase II will include the preparation of new materials, optimization of chemical processes and the demonstration of a breadboard prototype fuel processing components, sub-components or hydrogen storage units for 0.1 – 2 kW fuel cell systems.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The power and energy generation components under consideration here are of great potential value for uses as small home electrical generators, and power for a variety of portable civilian electronic and electrical equipments.
REFERENCES:
1) International J. OF Hydrogen Energy 26 (3): 243-264 MAR 2001.
2) J. Power Sources ( 106) p. 231, 2002.
KEYWORDS: Hydrogen, fuel reformer, hydrogen generator, hydrogen purification, fuel processor, APU.
A03-029 TITLE: Innovative Methods for Geolocation and Communication with Ultra-Wideband Mobile Radio Networks
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
OBJECTIVE: To develop signal processing algorithms and architectures to facilitate geolocation and communications using ultra-wideband radios.
DESCRIPTION: Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio networks have the potential to provide very high bandwidth mobile wireless communications in Army tactical scenarios, including challenging urban (indoor/outdoor) environments [1-3]. The high bandwidth implies significant potential for high resolution positioning systems, as well as wall-penetrating radar and other applications. This geolocation capability with a handheld device would find applications in areas where GPS may fail (indoors, challenging urban environments such as those envisaged in MOUT, special forces requirements, etc). Many issues surround implementation, including propagation characteristics, optimal receivers, modulation formats and coding, interference rejection, channel estimation and equalization, spatial processing, and others [4]. Optimal signal design and evaluation of performance bounds are important. Acquisition and synchronization issues are significant challenges in receiver processing. The ability to combine various signal processing methodologies into a low power implementation is critical to enable use of UWB for geolocation and communications. New network protocols may be necessary for self-configurable mobile networks. The goal of this SBIR is to develop processing algorithms and architectures that exploit innovative techniques to overcome these hurdles.
A successful technique should provide the user with a robust real-time method for communicating a desired digital signal over a potentially time-varying dispersive channel, in the presence of undesired interference, leading to high-resolution position estimation. Geolocation algorithms should be robust. Temporal, spatial or other forms of diversity are very likely to be required to achieve this goal.
PHASE I: Propose, analyze, and simulate novel techniques for geolocation using UWB radio networks; compare with existing techniques; analyze computational requirements and complexity; suggest designs for real-time implementation.
PHASE II: Develop working prototype radios and demonstrate in a real-time experiment; market the processor to the telecommunications industry.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: As wireless communications systems move to higher and higher data rates, advantages of conventional methods become less and less due to the increase in receiver complexity for equalization and other tasks, and proliferation of in-band interference. In addition, very fast A/D converters are significant power consumers. Thus, UWB systems may be required to gain advantages of spread spectrum systems, while at the same time minimizing multi-user access interference and ameliorating the multipath problem. Mobile network protocols that are self-configuring and robust are called for in a variety of commercial situations, and represent a significant hurdle for current commercial wireless systems. E-911 requirements are being written into commercial wireless phone standards; however, conventional designs are likely to fail in challenging scenarios, such as indoors, severe urban canyon environments etc. Therefore, successful new methodologies for UWB radio networks will have significant commercial potential for high bandwidth multi-user systems as well as for precise positioning.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Successful development of low complexity ultra-wideband systems may provide a cheaper alternative to expensive, high complexity, very wide bandwidth conventional communications and positioning technologies.
REFERENCES:
1) Workshop on UWB, sponsored by the Army Research Office and the University of Southern California, May 25-28, 1998, Solvang, California.
2) 1999 Ultra-Wideband Conference, Sept. 28-30, 1999, Washington, DC.
3) 1999 IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM-99), special session on Ultra-Wideband Communications, Oct. 31 - Nov. 3, Atlantic City, NJ.
4) A. Swami and B. M. Sadler, “Issues in Military Communications,” IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp 31--33, 1999.
5) 2002 IEEE Conference on Ultrawideband systems and technologies, 21-23 May 2002, Baltimore, MD.
KEYWORDS: Wireless communications, ultra-wideband, geolocation, diversity combining, equalization, mobile networks.
A03-030 TITLE: Wideband High Fidelity I-Band Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM)
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Research and develop a Wideband High Fidelity I-Band Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) suitable for airborne generation of multiple high fidelity simulated targets for long-range radar sensors.
DESCRIPTION: Current DRFM systems fall short in supporting future airborne target simulator applications for long-range radars that require high fidelity generation of multiple simultaneously delayed replicas of arbitrarily complex radar waveforms with very large instantaneous bandwidths. The proposed DRFM in the envisioned airborne target simulator application would be an extensible system with multiple output signal channels, each having an independently programmable dynamic time delay and doppler frequency offset. The basic DRFM proposed should have at least 4 channels and be expandable to a total of at least 16 channels.
Ideally, the proposed DRFM would handle radar signals with instantaneous bandwidths of 2 GHz or greater anywhere in the range of 8.0 to 11.0 GHz. Proposed DRFM designs with instantaneous operating bandwidths of less than 2 GHz will be considered, however, anything less than 1 GHz will not be considered. The operating frequency band would be set programmatically by the user to position the instantaneous bandwidth anywhere in the range of 8.0 to 11.0 GHz.
The signal delay for each channel in the proposed DRFM should be user programmable over a range of 500 nanoseconds to 30 milliseconds in 2 nanosecond steps. System proposals with wider delay ranges and/or smaller step sizes for each signal channel will be given extra consideration. The proposed DRFM design should allow the programmable delay for each channel to be updated at a rate of at least 25 kHz.
Signal fidelity and spurious signal levels are major concerns in the design of the proposed DRFM. Ideally, the delayed replicas of the radar waveform reproduced by the DRFM should be indistinguishable from a real radar target return signal. This level of fidelity will require spurious signal levels (including harmonics) below -40 dBc or better inside and outside of the DRFM operating band. The proposed DRFM should be capable of handling peak input power levels ranging from -10 to -50 dBm while maintaining this level of signal fidelity and spurious signal performance. DRFM designs offering high signal fidelity, low spurious signal levels and superior phase noise performance will be receive preference over less capable designs. Signal output levels on each channel should be suppressed when no input signal is present to prevent spurious exitation of radars under test. The proposed DRFM should include protective circuitry to prevent system damage for input signal levels of +10 dBm or more.
The maximum output power level for each channel of the proposed DRFM should be at least +23 dBm. Each channel should incorporate output power attenuation that is user programmable over a range of 0 to 80 dB in steps of 0.1 dB or smaller. This attenuation capability is required to implement dynamic adjustment of target amplitude as a function of range. The proposed DRFM design should include provisions to maintain a flat frequency response characteristic for each output signal channel over any operating frequency band selected by the user, over any arbitrary input signal level and output power attenuation, and over an operating temperature range of 0 to +55 C. The desired level of flatness is +/- 1 dB. DRFM proposals will be given extra consideration to the degree that they effectively address this performance issue. The proposed DRFM should incorporate a doppler frequency offset for each output signal channel that is user programmable over the range of +/- 2 MHz with a resolution of 0.1 Hz or better.
The proposed DRFM envisioned would incorporate an Ethernet 10/100BT interface employing a TCP/IP protocol for all user programming of the DRFM. User commands should be designed and structured to minimize system response time to user commands, provide both low-level and high-level control of all DRFM functions required for radar target simulation, implement initialization to a known state, and provide built-in-test (BIT) information to assure proper system operation and identify the source of any major component malfunctions. DRFM design proposals will be given extra consideration if they provide additional logic signal outputs to facilitate integration of the DRFM with Global Positioning System (GPS) time code equipment. Additional logic signal outputs desired include an "Input Signal Present" line providing a positive true TTL level indicating the presence of a DRFM input signal, and a "Delay Update" line for each output signal channel, providing a positive true TTL pulse coincident with the internal DRFM execution of each delay update event on a particular output signal channel.
The proposed DRFM system should be mountable in a standard half-height rack and operate without degradation in a field van or on a subsonic fixed or rotary wing aircraft at up to 15,000 feet above mean sea level over an ambient temperature range of 0 to +55 C. Microwave signal input and output ports should utilize APC3.5 female connectors and have characteristic impedances of 50 ohms with Voltage Standing Wave Ratios (VSWRs) of less than 2:1. Prime power available to operate the proposed DRFM is 115 VAC, 60 Hz. DRFM design proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their responsiveness to the design goals above and the feasibility of the proposed design.
PHASE I: Research, develop and propose a prototype system design with the potential of realizing the goals in the description above, favoring proven commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies to minimize technical risk and achieve cost savings. Develop technical specifications for all system components and identify them as commercially available or to be developed. Model and predict the performance of the proposed system, identifying critical components to be developed. Conduct detailed theoretical and/or laboratory investigations on the design and performance of critical components to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the proposed system design, including mitigation of risks associated with factors limiting system performance. Deliver a report documenting the research and development effort along with a description of the proposed system and specifications for all system components.
PHASE II: Procure or develop the system components specified in Phase I. Fabricate the DRFM system prototype proposed in Phase I. Characterize and refine the system performance in accordance with the goals stated in the description above. Document the DRFM system theory of operation, design, component specifications, system performance and any recommendations for future enhancements.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The proposed research and development (R&D) effort has wide commercial application to microwave signal processing functions in military and commercial radar sensors and communication systems. This R&D effort will yield advancements in ultra high speed (above 2 GHz) analog/digital system design involving Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs), Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs), multiplexers and demultiplexers, and memory components. These advancements will have direct application to the design of a wide variety of systems employed in both military and commercial applications.
Military applications of the proposed wideband DRFM development include radar target simulation and electronic countermeasures signal generation. Airborne generation of simulated radar targets utilizing the wideband DRFM technology developed in this effort could exercise air and missile defense system sensors with fewer air breathing and missile target vehicles, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings while providing increased opportunities for exercising these system sensors.
In addition to providing DRFM technology suitable for testing next generation radar systems, commercial applications of the proposed R&D effort include arbitrary waveform generators and signal processors, vector signal generators and modulators, telecommunication circuit emulation and test equipment, voice and data packet switching and routing equipment, and other systems employing ultra high speed signal conversion, processing, switching, routing and storage functions.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Cost savings exceeding 127 million dollars has been demonstrated using DRFM-based radar target simulators instead of live targets on SHORAD radar test programs. Development of the proposed system will be instrumental in extending these cost savings to other air and missile defense systems.
REFERENCES:
1) "Electronic Warfare Vulnerability Assessment of Radar Systems,"
http://www.arl.army.mil/slad/Services/Mkt33.html
2) Pace, Phillip E., "Advanced Techniques for Digital Receivers," (Artech House Radar Library), ISBN: 1580530532, July 2000.
3) Schleher, D. Curtis, "Electronic Warfare In the Information Age," Artech House, ISBN: 0890065268, July 1999.
KEYWORDS: microwave, sensor, radar, target simulator, target simulation, DRFM, delay, digital, memory
A03-031 TITLE: Advancing the Objective Force Through Mulitnational Coalitions and Interagency Task Forces
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: USAREUR
OBJECTIVE: To provide a model of multinational teamwork and develop methods and information systems to promote rapid formation of multinational and interagency teams to combat terrorism through decisive warfighting and support and stability operations (SASO).
DESCRIPTION: Multinational operations are a critical component of current U.S. Army deployments. Recent examples include Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, and the Philippines. Multinational operations require Army commanders and staffs to work closely with NATO forces, the international community, and non-governmental organizations. Since the terrorist attack on America the Army increasingly participates as members of joint and interagency task forces with team members from across DoD, the FBI, and the CIA. Whether it is to combat terrorism or keep the peace and provide disaster relief, rapidly forming and maintaining multifunctional teams to conduct tactical, operational, and strategic missions will continue to be a core Army requirement. Future operational challenges include increasingly joint, multinational, and interagency coalitions during the stability phases of operations. In the future operational environment, Objective Force leaders and soldiers must be able to transition smoothly from warfighting to peacekeeping to maintain a strong power base.
Little is known about how to rapidly form and support multinational and interagency teams for military operations. Research and development has primarily focused on the priority mission of the U.S. Army--fighting and winning the nation's wars. It has been implicitly assumed that an army prepared to fight can adapt their warfighting skills and information systems for full spectrum operations. However, in an initial investigation, U.S. Army unit personnel reported that their pre-deployment training had not fully prepared them for support and stability operations (Klein & Pierce, 2001; Pierce & Klein, 2002; Pierce & Pomranky, 2001). Barriers to learning and performance included the Army's approach to deployment training (Ross, 2000; Ross & Pierce, 2000; Ross, Pierce, & Baehr, 1999), organizational design of the multinational, military headquarters, and command and control systems available for peacekeeping. A high unit operational tempo, personnel rotation cycles that had key unit leaders and staff members rotating into and out of the unit less than 30 days before deployment, and a lack of training environments to practice support and stability operations hindered their preparation. Further, training did not include meaningful or accurate representation of the role of multinational forces, the international community, or non-governmental organizations. A lack of skill in multinational teamwork was specifically identified as a weakness. Organizational barriers included a lack of information system interoperability and restrictions on information access among team members. Communication barriers included lack of language skills or the means to interpret non-English words. Finally, command and control systems designed for warfighting were not optimal for maintaining situation awareness required for making decisions in support and stability operations.
Phase I: Phase I will define Objective Force requirements to work within multinational coalitions at the Unit of Employment (UE) and Unit of Action (UA) levels. Team models and theories to identify team process or organizational barriers unique to a military system of systems will highlight the impact of several possible variables on team performance. These variables may include, but are not limited to, the presence of a military culture that transcends national cultural boundaries, organizational issues that arise from distributed teams and collaborative information technology, and cognitive differences in teamwork that can be attributed to culture. Phase I research should also address information system design requirements suitable for decentralized, distributed, and highly mobile team operations in complex and dynamic situations.
Current observations of multinational teamwork at the sustainment force headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and theoretical research is available to inform each of the team and organizational areas identified. However, a need exists to systematically apply the theoretical literature to the Army to better understand team, organization, and information system requirements for joint, multinational, and interagency military operations (Salas, Dickinson, Converse, & Tannenbaum, 1992). The application of this literature should result in a better understanding of military team performance requirements in multinational coalitions and interagency task forces and identify ways to facilitate team development through training, organizational design, and technology. The feasibility study shall also determine the usability of current team models and theories to the formation and support of military teams, develop a taxonomy of military team requirements for full spectrum operations, and identify knowledge gaps.
PHASE II: Phase II would build on the theoretical understanding from Phase I to develop prototype training programs to prepare the Army to participate as members of multifunctional, non-hierarchical teams. Training programs must leverage advances in simulation technology to create synthetic task environments that allow practice of complex cognitive tasks and promote development of adaptable leaders and teams. Synthetic task environments shall be designed to clearly link objectives to performance measures to support adaptive learning (Ross, Pierce, & Baehr, 1999). Training programs must be designed to meet the needs of the Army, in that they must be low cost, easily modifiable, and usable with co-located or distributed teams. Training programs would also define organizational processes required for rapid development and maintenance of high performing teams. Further, and as part of the training program, Phase II would require the introduction, assessment, and iterative development of information systems that support collaboration among diverse team members performing full spectrum military warfighting and peacekeeping operations. Products would include collaborative work tools as well as refined requirements. A possible solution to communication barriers might be rapid language translation within specific domains. Finally, Phase II will require a model for moving legacy Army systems to the Future Combat System concept of a multinational coalition strategy that is based on a system of systems architecture and incorporates information technology interoperability among U.S. forces and coalition partner. This model should be sufficiently detailed to allow Depart of Army and/or Joint Forces Command analysts to perform experimentation with proposed concepts.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Models, methods, and tools to promote development and maintenance of multinational and interagency teams for military operations will advance the state of the art in international cooperation regardless of mission (Klein, Klein, & Mumaw, 2001). They will be integrated into the Army's All Source Analysis System (ASAS), the Future Combat System (FCS), and operational systems of the Department of Homeland Security to enable teams of intelligence specialists to collaborate and assess emerging complex situations.
REFERENCES:
1) Fleishman, E. A., & Zaccaro, S. J. (1992). Toward a taxonomy of team performance function. In R.W. Sweezey & E. Salas (Eds.), Teams: Their training and performance. Orlando, FL.: Academic Press.
2) Klein, H. A., Klein, G., & Mumaw, R. J. (2001). A review of cultural dimensions relevant to aviation safety. Wright State University, General Consultant Services Agreement 6-1111-10A-0112.
3) Klein, G. & Pierce, L. G. (2001). Adaptive teams. Proceedings of the 6th ICCRTS Collaboration in the Information Age Track 4: C2 Decision-Making and Cognitive Analysis. Web site: http://www.dodccrp.org/6thICCRTS/.
4) Pierce, L. G. & Klein, G. (2002). Preparing and supporting adaptable leaders and teams for support and stability operations. Submitted for presentation at Defense Analysis Seminar XI, Seoul, Korea.
5) Pierce, L. & Pomranky, R. (2001). The Chameleon Project for adaptable commanders and teams. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 45th Annual Meeting, 513-517.
6) Ross, K. G. (2000, September-October). Training adaptive leaders--are we ready? Field Artillery Journal, 15-18.
7) Ross, K. G., & Pierce, L. G. (2000). Cognitive engineering of training for adaptive battlefield thinking. Proceedings of IEA14th Triennial Congress and HFES 44th Annual Meeting (Vol. 2, pp. 410-413). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
8) Ross, K. G., Pierce, L. G., & Baehr, M. (2000). Revitalizing battle staff training. Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.: U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL Technical Report 2079). Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.: U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
9) Salas, E., Dickinson, T. L., Converse, S. A., & Tannenbaum, S. I. (1992). Toward an understanding of team performance and training. In R. W. Sweezey & E. Salas (Eds.), Teams: Their training and performance (pp. 3-29). Norwood, NJ.: ABLEX.
KEYWORDS: Team Performance, Organizational Design, Culture, Cognition, Multinational Operations
A03-032 TITLE: Crew Survivability Inside Future Combat Systems (FCS) -Type Vehicle: Techniques for Ammunition Protection from Fragments, Shock, and Fire
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: IAV & FCS programs manaement are being approached
OBJECTIVE: To research, study and propose devices, methods and designs to reduce the chances of inside vehicle munitions detonation and explosion, for crew survivability inside this class of vehicles. Creative and innovative techniques and devices are sought to make the inside vehicle crew survive a hit from a small arms (12.5mm) and medium caliber (20, 25, 30 mm) when the inside munition is hit by the spall resulting from the armor perforation. In addition, these
munitions should also be protected from excessive heat resulting from fires inside the vehicle The designs and methods need to be modular, i.e., not vehicle specific, and may also consider round to round protection (jackets) as possible munition factory-installed feature. Light-weight, low-cost, simple, practical, human-factors friendly, effective methods and devices, in a tight crew space inside the vehicle, are desired. Two different, viable methods/devices/designs are be submitted as the outcome of a study of different approaches conducted in this study. Those designs have to be shown to be guided and soundly supported by the analyses performed.
DESCRIPTION: Several methods/devices/designs that can protect the inside-the-vehicle large-caliber munition (105-mm caliber diameter, as a representative case) stewed in their munitions rack inside an IAV- or FCS-Type vehicle, are to be innovated, researched and studied to recommend the best two designs/devices. The three mechanisms of burning, detonation, and the explosion of the propelling charges inside their steel/brass/aluminum/combustible-case of the representative caliber of 105mm, should be considered. The propellant mass in the
representative case is about 10 kg of charges. The typical shapes of propellant charges are long sticks and short cylindrical granular, among others. The vehicle's wall may be considered made of hard steel and of about 15-mm thickness. The munition case wall may vary in thickness from 2 to 8 mm. Protection methods are sought to prevent ammo detonation or explosion under the two threat scenarios below:
1- From behind-armor-debris and fragments resulting from a representative threat, say from
the 30mm munitions. The representative debris fragment may be modeled as of about 5-gm in
mass, 10-mm in maximum diameter and of velocity of about 800 m/s. Several angles of impact
with the munitions rack may be considered. Few munition-case thickness and case material may
be considered.
2- Protection from flash and sustained fire temperatures. Flash fire may be considered of
temperature of 1700 F for ten seconds, and the sustained fire is of 400 F for two minutes.
For feasibility study considerations, the munitions rack may be modeled as a box of dimensions of,
say, 1.0-m long, 0.6-m wide and 0.45-m high. The designs should not interfere with the
unhindered use of the rack by the loader/gunner.
PHASE I: To provide concepts, perform studies, analyses, computer simulations for several protection methods/devices/designs, with currently available material, that are suggested to protect the stewed munition (mainly the propellant charge inside the ammo casing) from detonation, explosion, or burning. At least two designs of protective methods and designs are to be submitted with their attributes of weight, shape, and their other physical properties and their predicted performance results. All assumptions and properties used need to be stated and justified.
PHASE II: To produce, deliver and test prototypes of the two best protective methods/devices selected. Testing may initiate on possibly a smaller scale model and then proceed to a full scale testing with live munition in static testing. Necessary changes and improvements may be performed based on the performed tests. Weight, cost estimates per copy with considerations for mass production shall be given.
PHASE III: Perform design changes for adaptation to the mass production for retrofitting the particular vehicle model selected by the Army for installation. Adapt or modify the design provided to the Army, to suit civilian use as for civilian munition transportation trucks which cross the US continent every day, and may be subject to the new international terrorism attacks and ambushes using RPG-type weapon. Consider alteration for other civilian use in protection under high speed, but non-ballistic impacts. Consider variation in methods to enclose and protect both small (like the 2.75-inch rockets) as well as large missiles either bare under aircrafts or in their launch tubes on board navy ships, or inside their pods on Army/ Marine helicopters. Also protective shields for mine clearing personnel who are subjected to possible premature detonations. Civilian applications include jet engine interior protective shield on civilian airliners (against the separation of fast rotating turbine blade pieces) for vital engine parts. Also, in providing shields between machine operators and their machinery which produces unexpected small chips at high speed that resembles bomb fragments. The thermal protection aspect can be used for protection of fuel
tanks in military as well as civilian vehicles.
REFERENCES:
Due to the nature of the topic, most reports are either classified or of
limited distribution. However, the following references are provided for general information and as background material.
1) Cook, M. D., P. J. Haskins, and H. R. James, ?Projectile Impact Initiation of Explosive Charges,? Ninth Symposium (International) on Detonation, Portland, OR, OCNR 113291-7, Office of Chief of Naval Research, Arlington, VA, 1989, pp. 1441-1449.
2) James, H. R. ?Critical Energy Criterion for the Shock Initiation of Explosives by Projectile Impact,? Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics, Vol. 13, 1988, p. 35.
3) de Longueville, Y., C. Fauguignon, and H. Moulard, ?Initiation of Several Condensed Explosives by a Given Duration Shock Wave,? Sixth Symposium (International) on Detonation, San Diego, CA, 24-27 Aug 1976, pp. 105-114.
4) Bahl, K. L., H. C. Vantine, and R. C. Weingart, ?The Shock Initiation of Bare and Covered Explosives by Projectile Impact,? Seventh Symposium (International) on Detonation, Annapolis, MD, 15-19 June 1981, pp. 325-335.
KEYWORDS: IAV vehicle, FCS vehicle, crew survivability, injury, ammunition protection, explosion, schock,fragments, heat
A03-033 TITLE: Novel Hierarchical Hybrids for Transparent Armor
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Soldier
OBJECTIVE: Design, develop and optimize hybrid hard/ductile composites through exploiting emerging nano-materials technology to impart multi-functionalities as well as enhance ballistic performance for transparent ballistic shields Armor.
DESCRIPTION: Incorporation of nanomaterial additives to polymers and other structures is an area of intense interest to the Army for the design of next generation transparent lightweight armor with enhanced survivability against emerging threats. The reduction of materiel weight of new armor systems can be realized through hybridization with proper morphological control of material hierarchy. These include system integration and optimization of existing transparent polymeric materials, development of new, higher performance ultra-lightweight nano-composite materials, as well as incorporation and integration of multiple functionality into the hybrid systems. The role of mesophase structures on the overall physical and mechanical properties needs to be determined. Interphase between the nanofiller and host polymer matrix is critical, therefore, interphase optimization with proper surface chemistry needs to be demonstrated to ensure the desired mesophase strength. The goal of this effort is to demonstrate Materials-By-Design strategy for the development of transparent shields with enhanced ballistic performance for personnel protection as well as with EMI shielding capability for vision blocks for ground vehicle protection.
PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of exploiting emerging nano-materials technology and identify nano-fillers, material components, advanced synthetic routes, compounding processes, and fabrication methods for incorporating into polymer matrix systems. Quantify the effect of nano-materials on the overall durability of the hybrid composites and demonstrate the success of overall ballistic performance against the high velocity 9mm hand gun threats. Identify the pathway for providing enhanced EMI shielding capability without degrading other desired physical properties and mechanical integrity. Provide candidate hybrid composites for the Army for property validation.
PHASE II: (a) Scale up fabrication and assemble process for producing prototype of at least 12" x 12" in size. (b) Modify as required and quantify ballistic impact performance with respect to the areal density of the nanocomposites. (c) Integrate the EMI shielding capability into the optimized hybrid nanocomposite structures.
PHASE III: Potential dual use applications include vision blocks for helicopters and aircrafts, armored cars for counter-terrorism protection, VIP vehicle protection, and Government buildings.
References:
1) LeBaron, P. C., Wang, Z., Pinnavaia, T. J., Appl. Clay Sci. 15, 11, Sept. (1999).
2) Dietsche, F., Mulhaupt, R., Polym. Bull., 43, 395 (1999).
3) Kasuga, T.; Hiramatsu, M.; Hoson, A.; Sekino, T.; Niihara, K., Langmuir 14, 3160 (1998).
4) Siegel, R. W., Chang, S. K., Ash, B. J., Stone, J., Ajayan, P. M., Doremus, R. W., Schadler, L. S., Scripta Mater. 44, 2061 (2001).
5) Hernandez, B. A.; Chang, K. S.; Fisher, E. R.; Dorhout, P. K.; Chem. Mater. 14, 480 (2002).
KEYWORDS: nanomaterials; hierarchical hybrids; multi-functionalities; EMI shielding; transparent armor; ballistic performance.
A03-034 TITLE: Non-Imaging Disposable Sensor System
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Develop a complete sensor system that includes several disposable sensor nodes that communicate with a hand-held display. Each disposable node should include one (or more) transducer(s) with suitable amplifier/filter(s), a signal processor, and a communication device, all in a single package for under $10 (projected unit price, quantities of 1-10 million/year). These sensor nodes should be extremely small (1-10 cm^3), lightweight (1-30 gm), and consume extremely low amounts of power (0.1-1 mW). It is anticipated that such sensors could be used by individual soldiers for surveillance and/or self-protection, by small groups of soldiers operating in an urban environment, and/or as "feelers" in a large sensor network.
DESCRIPTION: The specific sensor modalities are not specified in this topic, but could include acoustic, seismic, magnetic, E-field, non-imaging passive infrared (PIR), passive RF, chem/bio, and/or any other transducer(s) that could be used to detect any targets or threats of military significance, and that could be built at a unit production cost that is on the order of $1/transducer. Individual sensors could be multi-modal, and/or a mix of individual sensors with different modalities could be used to detect a wide range of targets and/or threats on the battlefield, including: personnel (armed, unarmed); ground vehicles (wheeled, tracked); aircraft, including unattended arial vehicles (UAVs) and micro-air vehicles (MAVs); explosions, including gunfire, artillery, and rocket launches; chemical and/or biological threats, and/or monitoring of power lines, local communications, etc.
Performance goals for individual disposable nodes are secondary to the size, power, weight, and cost objectives listed above. Examples of desired performance include the following: one month continuous operation using internal batteries and/or energy harvesting, low false-alarm rate (Pfa < 1 false alarm/hour in quiet military training environments, and Pfa < 3 false alarms/hour during normal military training operations), detection of personnel (Pd >0.9 @ 2 m, >0.7 @ 5 m, >0.3 @ 10 m, <0.01 @ >50 m), classification of soldiers (Pc > 0.5 @ 2 m), detection of large vehicles (Pd >0.9 @ 20 m, >0.7 @ 50 m, >0.3 @ 100 m, <0.01 @ >500 m), classification of wheeled/tracked/airborne vehicles (Pc > 0.5 @ 20 m). Other desirable performance goals include detection and/or classification of other targets and/or threats, including: unattended air vehicles (UAVs), micro-air vehicles (MAVs), and other robotic or autonomous vehicles; gunshots, mortar/artillery/rocket launches, and/or explosions; power line activity, telephone activity (wired, cell phone, satellite phone, tactical radio, etc.); chemical and/or biological threats; node tampering, etc. Target and/or threat reports should be on the order of 100 bits long (excluding communications overhead), and should include a timestamp, sensor node ID, target/threat detection/classification code; it is desirable to also include a confidence level estimate.
The type of signal processor is also not specified in this topic, but must consume exceptionally low amounts of power (e.g., 100 uW average). This may be achieved through a combination of power-efficient processor design, low clock rate or asynchronous computing, efficient algorithm(s), and/or low duty cycle(s). The processor output should include a sensor ID, timestamp, target type (simple classification), and confidence level. To process disparate signals from an extremely wide range of sources, multi-modal, or "orthogonal" sensor fusion is anticipated at some level. If possible, the processor/algorithm should be adaptable (to environment) and/or programmable (for a particular mission).
The communications mode is not specified, although very low bit rates (<1 bps average), duty cycles (<1%), and ranges (<100 m ground-to-ground, <1000 m ground-to-air) are anticipated. The communications source may be acoustic/ultrasonic, RF, or IR, or it may resonate or reflect "on command" from an external receiver. One-way communication is presumed to exfiltrate data to end-users and/or more capable sensors, gateways, etc.
Knowledge of the sensor location and/or orientation is often necessary; however, this topic does NOT address this issue. Under this topic, it can be assumed that such knowledge is available or can otherwise be determined during emplacement of the low-cost sensors. This topic also does NOT address issues related to information assurance (i.e., encryption, authentication, non-repudiation, etc.). It may be desirable to assimilate reports from multiple sensors over time, correlate this target and/or threat information with topographic and/or tactical features, and build one or more user interface(s) that provide(s) real-time situational awareness to individual soldiers and/or other C4I (command, control, computers, communications, and intelligence) assets; however, this topic does NOT address issues related to network-level information fusion, communications, and/or displays.
PHASE I: Develop an overall system design that includes specification of low-cost, low-power sensors (modalities, transducers, amplifiers, filters), signal processors (sampling issues, processing mode(s), sensor fusion), and communications (type, duty cycle). Particular attention should be placed on unit production cost; other important issues include: power and energy consumption; size and weight; and robust operation (detection of a wide variety of targets under a wide variety of operating conditions).
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system in a realistic environment. Conduct testing to prove feasibility over extended operating conditions. The "system" should include at least 10-20 low-cost, low-power sensor/processor/transmitter nodes, and at least one hand-held interrogator/receiver/display unit.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This system could be used in a broad range of military and civilian security applications where automatic surveillance and tracking are necessary – for example, in overseas peacekeeping operations or in enhancing security in industrial facilities.
REFERENCES:
1) Larry B. Stotts, "Unattended ground sensor related technologies; an Army perspective", Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 4040, pp. 2-10, April, 2000.
2) John Eicke, "Disposable sensors: a vision of the world ahead", Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 5090, April, 2003.
KEYWORDS: disposable sensors, non-imaging sensors, tripwire sensors, low-cost, low-power, multi-modal, sensor fusion
A03-035 TITLE: Cross-Layer Designs for Energy-Efficient Sensor Networking
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Intell., EW and Sensors; Command, Cntrl., and Comm
OBJECTIVE: To develop cross-layer approaches to radio design for energy-efficient ad hoc sensor networking.
DESCRIPTION: Traditional designs of random access protocols and the physical layer radio have been separate, with each viewing the other component as a black box. Advances in signal processing at the physical layer dictate that the medium access control (MAC) layer take these advances into account. Benefits of a cross-layer design are evident in some recent designs such as the 802.11 standard. The Army vision for Future Combat Systems (FCS) envisages the deployment of large scale sensor networks to provide timely and reliable information to the soldier. Designing peer-to-peer communication systems for these radios faces several challenges such as mobility, uncertain terrain/channel conditions, scalability issues, and severe constraints on bandwidth and energy. The communication link will be asymmetric, and the users will be asynchronous, the sensors may be duty-cycled, and the load on the network may vary from quiescent to heavy loads. Thus the traditional single TDMA or CSMA/CA protocol, and the traditional barriers leading to separate design of networking, medium access and physical layer functions will not be adequate.
A successful cross-layer design should lead to a robust low-complexity radio transceiver that can cope with potentially time- and frequency-selective channels, undesired interference, as well as thermal noise. The cross-layer design should be amenable to implementation and should be robust to reasonable variations in the environment (channel, users, interferers, etc.). The protocols should be energy-efficient and scalable.
PHASE I: Propose, and analyze, novel cross-layer design techniques leading to robust scalable architectures for sensor networks, operating under varying system loads. Analyze the computation and implementation complexity of the joint design vs. traditional separate designs. Conduct robustness analyses. Demonstrate feasibility via limited software simulations.
PHASE II: Develop working prototype radios based on the cross-layer protocols developed; demonstrate performance in a real-time environment.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The wireless medium is continually challenged by demands for new services. It is expected that emerging technologies will lead to significant decrease in the size, weight, and power (SWAP) requirements of sensors, as well as their cost. Hence, systems with possibly large numbers of embedded sensors will be developed and will play significantly increased roles in applications ranging from monitoring (traffic, habitats, factory floors), telemedicine, ensuring infrastructure integrity (roads, bridges, power plants), as well as in tactical battlefield communications (sensor networks are envisaged to have a key role in FCS). Constraints on bandwidth and power will become more severe as the demand from applications increases. Successful cross-layer radio designs should lead to efficient usage of bandwidth and power. Radio architectures with energy efficient medium access protocols coupled with low-complexity signal processing at the physical layer will thus be in demand in many commercial situations. Thus the development of novel cross-layer protocols for radios will have significant commercial potential.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Successful development of cross-layer protocols should lead to efficient use of bandwidth, and thus savings in cost.
REFERENCES:
1) NSF/ONR/ARO-CTA Workshop on Future Challenges to Signal Processing and Communications in Wireless Networks, 5-6 September 2002, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
2) NSF/ONR Workshop on Cross-Layer Design in Adaptive Ad Hoc Networks: From Signal Processing to Global Networking. 31 May - 1 June 2001, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
3) Special Session on Cross-Layer Issues, Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, 3-6 November 2002, Pacific Grove, CA.
4) A. Swami and B. M. Sadler, "Issues in military communications", IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 16(3), 31-33, March 1999.
KEYWORDS: Sensor networks, wireless communications, cross-layer designs.
A03-036 TITLE: Human Behavior Architecture Interface for Integrated Cognitive and Task Performance Model Development
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Future Combat System
OBJECTIVE: In order to account for the full range of soldier performance expected under the Army's Objective Force vision, a single interface must be developed for modeling both cognitive and task behaviors. The Future Combat System and the Objective Force Warrior acquisition programs are relying heavily on simulation-based acquisition and "Human Systems" are listed as a key enabling technology for those programs. It follows, then, that human behaviors as diverse as commander decision making, the monitoring of robotic devices, soldier situation awareness, and the performance of combat tasks must be represented in Army models and simulations. The most urgent need is for models and simulations used in force design and system acquisition although testing and training models also share this requirement. So that behaviors are considered in appropriate combinations, it is critical that a unified framework and a single software interface exist for model development. Consideration of task-level behaviors separate from the underlying cognitive processes can lead to inadequate organizational and design solutions and also duplication of effort. What is required by the rapid pace of the Army Transformation is that new, efficient, and cost-effective technical solutions be developed for the representation of human performance in models and simulations. The type of innovative solutions sought would increase the accessibility of tools and techniques for military force development and system design, and, therefore, also increase design effectiveness resulting in better system solutions for the Objective Force.
DESCRIPTION: As noted in the National Research Council review (Pew & Mavor, 1998), the state-of-the-art of modeling human and organizational behavior is lacking. Currently there are reasonable approaches for representing task performance, which are used broadly today for human engineering (e.g., Allender, 2001); however, they require further maturation to adequately support representation of highly cognitive activities. Also, the application of cognitive modeling architectures to Army issues is becoming more prevalent and their value for representing cognition and for predicting human error performance, and thus, for system design has been demonstrated (e.g., Kelley, Patton, & Allender, 2001). However, cognitive architectures are notoriously difficult development environments, requiring expertise in both computer and cognitive science. Technology solutions must be developed that combine the detailed and theoretically-driven power of cognitive architectures with the broad descriptive and explanatory power of task network modeling (e.g., Lebiere, Biefeld, Archer, Archer, Allender, & Kelley, 2002). Such solutions must be applicable to both standalone modeling and human behavior representations federated with other models and simulations.
There are multiple challenges to creating an interface for a human behavior architecture for integrated model development. First, selection of reasonable, robust, and validated available cognitive and task architectures for further development and/or integration is required given that development of an entirely new architecture is likely to be prohibitively costly and result in unnecessary duplication of efforts. Interface development must meet criteria of sound programming, efficient as well as psychologically plausible model-to-model communications, and, most importantly, inherent portrayal of a common foundation for representing both human cognitive and task-level behavior. In particular, this single, unified interface for accessing the cognitive and task architectures must meet standard usability guidelines for consistency, but it also must guide and compel users to develop unified models that use both the cognitive and task modeling functionality in appropriate and balanced combinations (e.g., Avraamides & Ritter, 2002; Taylor, Jones, Goldstein, Frederiksen, & Wray, 2002).
PHASE I: The Phase I product will include the identification of task performance and cognitive architectures suitable to serve as the foundations for a unified interface. The documented rationale will be theoretically-grounded in accepted psychological principles including, but not limited to learning, memory, recall, recognition, decision making, and performance under a variety of stressors and individual difference parameters. A concept will be developed and application to an Army Objective Force-relevant case will be shown to be feasible. Within these requirements, there is considerable room for innovation and scientific advancement.
PHASE II: At the conclusion of Phase II, a fully-capable unified interface for accessing task performance and cognitive architectures and for developing a seamless human behavior representation will be developed. Supporting experimental and field-practical findings will be provided showing that modelers are able to develop behavior representations of appropriate combinations of cognitive and task performance. Applications to both standalone and model federations are required.
PHASE III: Prospects for Phase III applications are numerous: equally as well as in the military, and, for the first time, cost-effective tools and techniques for representing cognitive and task performance will be available to other government, industry, and even academia. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Transportation could take apply the resulting innovations to their own research, development, and regulatory efforts. Applications to the information systems, telecommunications businesses, and medical equipment industry also could be immediate as could implementation as a research tool in universities and colleges.
REFERENCES:
1) Richard W. Pew & Anne S. Mavor, Eds. Modeling Human and Organizational Behavior. Applications to Military Simulations. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C., 1998.
2) Laurel Allender. Modeling human performance: Impacting system design, performance, and cost. In Proceedings of the Military, Government and Aerospace Simulation Symposium, 2000 Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference, M. Chinni, Ed., Washington, D.C., 2000, pp. 139-144.
3) Troy D. Kelley, Debra J. Patton, & Laurel Allender. Predicting situation awareness errors using cognitive modeling. In Proceedings of Human-Computer Interaction International 2001 Conference: (Vol. 1) Usability Evaluation and Interface Design: Cognitive Engineering, Intelligent Agents and Virtual Reality, Eds. M. J. Smith, G. Salvendy, D. Harris, R. J. Koubek. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001, pp. 1455-1459.
4) Christian Lebiere, Eric Biefeld, Rick Archer, Sue Archer, Laurel Allender, & Troy D. Kelley. IMPRINT/ACT-R: Integration of a task network modeling architecture with a cognitive architecture and its application to human error modeling. Proceedings of the 2002 Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference, Simulation Series Vol. 34 (3). San Diego, CA: SCS, April 2002, pp. 13-18.
5) Marios N. Avraamides & Frank E. Ritter. Using multidisciplinary expert evaluations to test and improve cognitive model interfaces. Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference on Computer Generated Forces and Behavior Representation, May 7-9, 2002, Orlando, FL, pp. 553-561.
6) Glen Taylor, Randolph M. Jones, Michael Goldstein, Richard Frederiksen, & Robert E. Wray, III. VISTA: A Generic Toolkit for Visualizing Agent Behavior. Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference on Computer Generated Forces and Behavior Representation, May 7-9, 2002, Orlando, FL, pp. 157-167.
KEYWORDS: human behavior representation, modeling and simulation, cognitive modeling, task performance modeling, cognitive architecture
A03-037 TITLE: Non-Fuel-Cell, Ultra-Low Emission/Signature Engine Capable of Exhaust Water Extraction
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: NASA
OBJECTIVE: Develop non-fuel-cell propulsion engines/concepts with ultra-low
emissions (both pollutants and heat), that are amenable to exhaust water extraction.
DESCRIPTION: The propulsion engine for advanced versions of the FCS (Future Combat System) must have many diverse attributes. Besides compactness, high power density and high efficiency, the engine must have the lowest possible pollutant and thermal signatures (both of which can be detected on the battlefield). In addition, in remote areas of the world, the ability to extract water from the engine exhaust is very desirable. Since (in an ideal combustion process) every gallon of fuel produces approximately an equal quantity of water, the ability to extract water from the exhaust would greatly reduce the logistics burden of delivering large quantities of water to the battlefield.
The described, desirable attributes could, perhaps, be met via fuel cell powered systems. While such (fuel cell) systems are already being examined under on-going programs, it is not obvious, at this time, that a fuel cell system will be able to meet the expected, difficult engine compactness and power density goals. Therefore, this solicitation seeks new, innovative ideas/concepts and/or modifications to conventional (e.g., internal combustion, or gas turbine) heavy fuel engine cycles which will result in the following desired attributes: 1) high fuel efficiency; 2) high power density; 3) ultra low signature; and 4) water recovery potential which does not compromise the power density of the engine.
PHASE I: The proposer must demonstrate a thorough understanding of conventional, heavy-fuel engine cycles. The proposer must also demonstrate the ability to analytically model his/her proposed concept(s), and show understanding of the underlying physical principles.
In Phase I the proposer shall demonstrate (analytically, or, preferably, via experiments) the feasibility of his/her approach to meet the program goals of ultra-low engine pollutant and thermal emissions, along with the ability to condense water from the engine?s exhaust. The proposed water extraction mechanism must not compromise the power density of the engine. The proposed concept(s) must be based on variations of, or modifications to, conventional (e.g., internal combustion, or gas turbine) heavy fuel engine cycles. Proposals based on fuel cell technology are specifically excluded from this solicitation.
The proposer shall submit a comprehensive plan for follow-on work to be performed under a Phase II program. The proposer shall also submit plans for commercializing his/her concept(s) under a Phase III program.
PHASE II: The proposer shall design, build and test his/her engine concept and conclusively quantify reduced engine pollutant and thermal emission levels. The proposer shall also demonstrate and quantify the ability to extract water from the engine's exhaust.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Engines with ultra-low emissions and the ability to extract water from the exhaust have many uses besides powering Army vehicles. The described attributes are ideal for military and/or civilian power generation at remote sites, for both large, fixed- site, as well as for small, portable, distributed power applications. The ability to extract water is also ideal for ship-board propulsion or power applications.
REFERENCES:
1) Panting, J. R., “Optimizing the Super-turbocharged Aeroengine”, Professional Engineering Publishing Limited, 1998.
2) Acurio, J., “Small Gas Turbines in the 21st Century”, Tenth Cliff Garrett Turbomachinery Award Lecture”, SAE SP-981, 1993.
KEYWORDS: Heavy-Fuel, Propulsion, Emissions, Water Extraction
A03-038 TITLE: True Time Delay Multiple Beam Antenna System Design Tool
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Electronics
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate
OBJECTIVE: To develop an integrated electromagnetic simulation and computer aided design (CAD) software package for multi-wavelength structures that enables the user to complete an end-to-end design for true time delay multiple beam antenna systems.
DESCRIPTION: Multiple beams and electronic scan over a broad band offer significant improvements in system performance for future Army combat system applications. Millimeter wave frequency operations (i.e., Ka-Band) of such systems are desirable for many operational applications. True time delay beam forming networks, such as a Rotman lens, can provide multiple beams over a wide instantaneous bandwidth. However, the current state of the art in electromagnetic simulation tools does not provide a single synthesis, design, analysis, and layout tool for multiple wavelength structures such as a Rotman lens. An integrated software package capable of handling multiple wavelength structures, where different scales of the structure are modeled using an appropriate numerical technique (i.e., method of moments (MoM) or finite element method (FEM) for small scales, and physical optics (PO) or geometrical optics (GO) for larger scales), as well as a CAD output capability such as generation of a dxf file is desired. Commercially available products should be leveraged as much as possible to reduce the development time and cost.
PHASE I: Develop a baseline for the integrated numerical techniques for multiple scales in a structure, demonstrate the capability of the design tools, and their functionality with the CAD environment.
PHASE II: Advance the baseline design tools by leveraging commercial products and demonstrate the functionality of the final product by the design of a stripline Rotman lens.
PHASE III: The development of the simulation package capable of multi-wavelength applications will significantly reduce the design time and cost for complex structures such as Rotman lens antennas, which has been receiving attention from military (i.e., Multi-Function Radio Frequency System) and commercial applications (such as multiple beam satellite communication systems).
REFERENCES:
1) B. Scheiner et al, “Architecture of a Multi-function System Based on Army Requirements,” 26 June 2002, 48th TSRS, Monterey, CA.
2) E. Adler et al, “Low-Cost Technology for Multimode Radar,” IEEE AES Magazine, June 1999, pp. 23-27
KEYWORDS: antenna system, electronic scan, multibeam, multi-wavelength, radar, communication, electromagnetic simulation, CAD, FCS, MMW
A03-039 TITLE: High Energy, Fast-Rise Film Capacitors
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
OBJECTIVE: Develop materials and technology for film capacitors to be used in pulse-forming networks for electromagnetic defense and electric weapons.
DESCRIPTION: For the applications mentioned above, a single capacitor may be of 100-1000 joules capacity with a voltage of 1 kV when fully charged. A rise-time of <100 microseconds and an energy density greater than 2.5 J/cc are required, with good charge retention. The present baseline capacitor provides 0.6 J/cc and utilizes polypropylene film. Such film provides a dielectric strength of 700-1000 V/micrometer and a dielectric constant of 2.2. What is required is identification/development of a new dielectric film material with higher dielectric strength and/or dielectric constant and associated manufacturing technology, including impregnants, surface treatments, metallization, etc., to accomplish high energy density, fast rise-time, good charge retention, high reliability, etc.
PHASE I: Prove feasibility by identifying a new film material and demonstrating dielectric properties required for the applications mentioned above. The research can include development of impregnants and other associated technology and/or the demonstration of a scaleable laboratory prototype capacitor.
PHASE II: Develop all required technology for the capacitor requirement and demonstrate a scaleable capacitor.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: High potential for use in compact defribrillators, other medical electronic implants, electric utility energy storage, filtering component for a variety of civilian electronic circuits.
REFERENCES:
1) LAGHARI J R, IEEE T NUCL SCI 39 (1): 21-24 FEB 1992 .
2) Andreyev A M, IEE P-SCI MEAS TECH 147 (2): 95-96 MAR 2000.
KEYWORDS: film capacitor, dielectric film, energy storage capacitor, capacitors
A03-040 TITLE: Mixed Signal for Multifunction RF (Radio Frequency) Sensor
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Electronics
OBJECTIVE: The Army has a documented need to develop enabling RF technologies that are both affordable and flexible with growth potential to address many radar and communication requirements. An area that best demonstrates a need for both affordable and flexible technology is in the transmitter architectures. Digitally generating highly complex wide bandwidth waveforms at the highest possible frequency instead of down near baseband would considerably reduce the transmitter architecture in terms of size, weight and power requirements as well as cost. These waveforms are used for high range resolution radars in sorting targets from clutter and low probability of intercept communication applications.
DESCRIPTION: A digital synthesis approach operating at carrier frequencies of greater than 10 GHz and bandwidths of greater than 1 GHz would greatly reduce transmitter complexity while improving the opportunity to pursue more multi-purpose RF sensors. Another issue to be addressed is spectral purity in which a goal of greater than 60 dB over the modulation bandwidth is suggested. Waveform configurations should include chirp, step frequency, phase modulation, limited impulse, pulsed RF and other hybrid modulations.
PHASE I: The goals for a Phase I study should explore the feasibility of emerging technologies (e.g., sigma-delta) that can meet the above specifications. Highly linear ultra fast D/As, integrated control and memory, and modularize construction (e.g., VME/VXI/PCI).
PHASE II: Design, build, test, deliver and report on the chosen synthesis approach. Performance as well as addressing affordability should be the emphasis of this effort.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: High potential in many commercial RF systems, like satellite HDTV, air traffic and weather radars and other wireless communication networks.
REFERENCES:
1) M. Conn, E. Adler, R. Innocenti, “Digital Excitation and Signal Extraction for Modern Low-Cost Radars
KEYWORDS: direct digital synthesis, sigma delta
A03-041 TITLE: Efficient Atmospheric Extinction Algorithms for Line of Sight Transmission
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO-C3S
OBJECTIVE: Develop rapid and efficient algorithms, and implement modular computer software to allow calculation of Beer's law atmospheric transmission losses for path segments near the earth's surface, for infrared window bands.
DESCRIPTION: Parameterized approximations to the obsolete LOWTRAN transmission model are being used to calculate line of sight transmission losses in target acquisition software. The current MODTRAN software has implemented a new correlated-k capability that could be used to provide Beer-Lambert law compatible extinction coefficients suitable for calculating transmission loss for a series of path segments through a layered atmosphere describing the temperature, pressure and humidity structure. In order to provide rapid calculations in deployed target acquisition and mission planning software an optimized set of wavelength intervals covering the visible, near-, mid-, and far-infrared atmospheric windows is needed. The atmospheric transmission for these intervals can then be captured in a new parameterization with only a few terms suitable for representing transmission for sensor wavebands. These atmospheric transmission models must be suitable for covering a layered atmosphere extending from sea level to 15 km in addition to horizontal and near-earth paths and path lengths ranging from 100 meters to 50 kilometers.
The goal is an accurate (within 2%) fast running (100 times faster than MODTRAN's 1-inverse cm resolution) calculation capability.
PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of a fast running transmission calculation by generating accurate Beer-Lambert law compatible representation of the mid IR (3.0 -- 5.0 micron) atmospheric window region. Quantify the number of sub-bands required, and their individual contribution to the total error budget. Develop an efficient implementation of a parameterization of the optimized band calculations suitable for use in a line of sight ray tracing application.
PHASE II: Extend the process to cover other atmospheric window regions (vis, near and far IR).
Potential benefits for the government and contractor are demonstrated through a full understanding of the optimization process documented in detailed reports and/or prototype software implementations.
PHASE III: The resulting analysis tools will be valuable in speeding up and simplifying weather dependent atmospheric transmission effects calculations needed for determining sensor coverage or placement decisions for other military or commercial surveillance applications. It may also be adapted to modeling of infrared imaging simulations.
The resulting phase 3 products will be a valuable analysis tool used by designers and analysts to include atmospheric transmission effects in system design efforts such as simulation based acquisition for the Army's Future Combat System multi-sensor trade-off.
REFERENCES:
1) Bernstein, L. S., A. Berk, P. K. Acharya, D. C. Robertson, G. P. Anderson, J. H. Chetwynd and L. M. Kimball, Very Narrow Band Model Calculations of Atmospheric Fluxes and Cooling Rates, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 53, No. 19, pp. 2887-2904 (1996).
KEYWORDS: Atmospheric Transmission; MODTRAN; Target Aquisition Weather Software TAWS)
A03-042 TITLE: Agent-Based Knowledge Enablers for the Unit of Action
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
OBJECTIVE: Development of tools and methodologies to support network centric warfare (NCW) that effectively target software agents technology against the critical information requirements associated with the Army’s Unit of Action (UA).
DESCRIPTION: A key tenet to NCW is the translation of information superiority to combat power [1]. With that, the US Army has euphemistically traded 70 tons of rolled homogeneous steel for 70 tons of information. Consequently, tomorrow’s digitized battlefield will not only provide unprecedented access to data and information, but threatens to overload commanders and staff with this information [2]. One of the challenges to effective NCW is the development of systems that will provide accurate, relevant and timely information to the right entities at the right time. Knowledge is the key enabler of the Objective Force [3].
The scope of this effort is the development of an agent-based system that improves a commanders ability to collect, process, manage and answer the critical information requirements (CCIRs) associated with a UA. CCIRs are designed to feed important, time-sensitive information to the commander so important decisions can be made that dramatically affect the fight. Needed are improved methods in retrieving and disseminating data, information and knowledge across the battle functional areas (BFAs) that do not require direct user intervention. Structured and semi-structured data sources from across disparate sources will need to be monitored, filtered, and fused against the CCIRs with appropriate alerts given the UA commander/staff. Areas of related research include: clustering and categorization algorithms, advanced data mining and fusion techniques, adaptable human-computer interfaces, dynamic ontology development, and knowledge management.
PHASE I: Identify and document a systematic approach for codifying and capturing the CCIRs against selected major sources of information. An appropriate data representation (ontologies) and agent architecture will be designed and proof-of-concept demonstrated.
PHASE II: Design, build and demonstrate a prototype agent environment that fully demonstrates the monitoring and management of all battlefield functional information sources against a UA’s CCIRs.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATION: The system will be integrated with current Future Combat System/Objective Force systems and provide real-time data monitoring/filtering against the UA CCIRs. The development of an agent-based knowledge discovery system that operates across disparate sources of information would have huge applicability for the commercial market.
REFERENCES:
1) David Alberts, John Garstka, Frederick Stein, Network Centric Warfare, CCRP, July 2002.
2) NATO Research & Technology Organization Report 8, “Land Operations in the Year 2020 (LO2020)", March 1999.
3) Battle Command O&O (draft) -- Annex D Appendix D, 14 Jun 02.
KEYWORDS: Software Agents, Knowledge Discovery, data fusion
A03-043 TITLE: Natural Hearing Restoration for Encapsulating Helmets
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems
OBJECTIVES: Develop a system that will restore natural hearing to a soldier wearing a fully encapsulating helmet.
DESCRIPTION: Current designs for future Army's helmets, e.g., the Objective Force Warrior (OFW) helmet, focus on a fully encapsulating helmet integrated into the war fighter ensemble. It has been historically shown that soldiers performing tasks that require listening for auditory queues will doff their helmet so they can use their own natural hearing to its fullest capability. Directional information about the dynamically changing acoustic environment is critical to their mission execution and force protection. Encapsulation of the soldier's head will greatly reduce their situational awareness and thus their ability to complete their mission. The hearing restoration system can be integrated into or developed as a part of an encapsulating helmet. A soldier wearing this system would perceive the acoustic environment around himself or herself as if they were hearing it without a helmet. The system is intended to restore natural listening ability of the soldier wearing an encapsulating helmet without affecting the ballistic or Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) protection provided by the helmet.
Restoration of natural hearing can be accomplished by physical design or electrical means. Special molded forms or microphones or microphone arrays can be used to capture the surrounding acoustic environment. The sounds from these systems can be further processed or filtered to restore the effects of the soldier's head and torso on the received natural sounds. The particular avenue for development of the acoustically transparent helmet is left up to the contractor. Additional capabilities of the system such as noise reduction and selective signal filtering should be considered if feasible.
Along with development of the system, the contractor will also devise a test to measure the attenuation, speech intelligibility, and signal localization of their system in realistic noise conditions. The test data should include bare head and un-restored encapsulating helmet measurements for comparison. The contractor may perform these tests in-house or use government furnished equipment and expertise.
PHASE I: Develop and provide a working concept demonstration of natural hearing restoration. The demonstration can use proprietary or commercial off the shelf (CoTS) devices. Deliverables shall include a written report that includes the expected values of signal loss (attenuation), speech recognition and sound localization of the proposed system as compared with bare head measurements. As a minimum, the proposed design should provide significant performance improvement over the un-restored encapsulating helmet with the bare head measurements being the goal.
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a cost effective prototype system that incorporates the findings from phase I into an encapsulating helmet. The government can provide the encapsulating helmet if so required. Deliverables at the end of this phase will include the prototype system and technical documentation describing the system and providing operational data.
PHASE III: Integrate the prototype system into the current OFW encapsulating helmet. This phase will include utilizing mil spec components, ruggedizing any of the hardware, and miniaturizing the system. Devise and execute testing procedures to evaluate the subjective and objective measures of the system including attenuation of the restored sounds, helmet attenuation of natural sounds, speech recognition, and degrees of accuracy of signal localization in azimuth and elevation.
DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: There is a current need in military and civilian applications for the development of a system that restores natural hearing in an encapsulating helmet. The OFW has a current specification for an encapsulating helmet. This system can also be used for civilian operations such as HASMAT operations and search and rescue where the operators are wearing head encapsulating gear.
REFERENCES
[1] Shinn-Cunningham, B. G., Lehnert, H., Kramer, G., Wenzel, E. M., and Durlach, N. I. (1997) Auditory Displays. In R. Gilkey and T. Anderson (Eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 611-664.
[2] Durlach, N. I., and Wenzel, E.M. (1994) Auditory displays. In Durlach, N. I. and Mavor, A. S. (Eds.) Virtual Reality: Scientific and Technological Challenges. Report of the Committee on Virtual Reality Research and Development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
[3] Durlach, N. I. (2003) Supernormal Listening Systems, accessed at http://pellicle.mit.edu/Audio/sls.html.
[4] Vause, N.L., and Grantham, D. W. (1999) Effects of Earplugs and Protective Headgear on Auditory Localization Ability in the horizontal Plane, Human Factors 41(2), 282-294.
KEYWORDS: Natural Hearing, Encapsulating Helmet, Sound Localization
A03-044 TITLE: Polymers for Lightweight Small Arms Cartridge Cases
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Joint Services Small Arms Program (JSSAP) Office
OBJECTIVE: The objective is to assess the performance of polymer materials or filled-polymer systems, exposed to a range of environmental conditions, when used as a cartridge shell casing that is subjected to normal feed, firing, and extraction operations.
DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Army currently utilizes brass as the material of choice for cartridge cases for small caliber (5.56mm and 7.62mm) ammunition. Significant weight savings could be attained if a lightweight material were substituted for the cartridge shell body. These rounds are widely used in a variety of weapon systems and any material or design changes must be such that no modifications to the weapon system are required.
PHASE I: Propose and assess candidate materials capable of withstanding all the various load conditions experienced by a 5.56mm cartridge case. Guidelines for appropriate polymer materials include a minimum Tg of 150º C, a modulus reduction of less than 15% over the temperature range of -55º C to 65º C, and water uptake of less than three (3) weight percent at room temperature saturation. At a minimum during Phase I, coupon testing of samples shall be done to fully characterize candidate materials mechanical and thermal properties to assess their utility in a cartridge case application. Development of this material property database will provide information to allow for determination of the feasibility of a given material for cartridge applications. Also, processing issues related to the level of effort and cost associated with producing a particular candidate material in a cartridge-like configuration should be addressed.
PHASE II: Demonstrate the feasibility of candidate materials with appropriate sub-scale testing that simulates extraction loads on the cartridge base, feed loads on the cartridge neck, and the internal pressure loads imparted on the cartridge body. Design and fabricate demonstration rounds that are 35% less massive than the complete round weight of the M855, 5.56mm cartridge case while providing at least 90% of the internal volume currently available for propellant in the M855. The rounds should then be experimentally tested under a variety of environmental conditions that mimic the service environment. This should, at a minimum, include subjecting materials to long-term exposure to moisture, as well as examining performance when thermally conditioned at hot (65º C) and cold (-55º C) temperatures prior to firing.
Phase III: Material solution may be applied to various small and medium caliber munitions, including 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and 50 cal.
DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Development of composite cartridge shell cases would have application to other caliber ammunition that is sold commercially for use by police and security agencies. The technology would also be applicable to the sporting goods industry for use by hunters and target shooters.
REFERENCES:
1) Alan Hathaway and Jeff Siewert (Arrow Tech Assoc, Inc) & Dr. Nubil Husseini and Laura Henderson (AMTECH, Inc.) “Design, Analysis, and Testing of a 5.56mm Polymer Cartridge Case,” Proceedings from the NDIA 2002 International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Section Symposium, Exhibition, and Firing Demonstration, web site: http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2002infantry/index.html, Atlantic City, NJ, 13-16 May 2002.
2) C. Feng and Stacey Clark, “Malfunction and Failure Analysis Investigation of C26000 (Cu-30% Zn) Brass Cartridge Cases,” Materials Characterization, Vol. 32, pp. 15-32, January 1994.
3) Marlo K. Vatsong, “Composite Cartridge for High Velocity Rifles and the Like,” U.S. Patent No. 5,151,555, 29 September 1992.
KEYWORDS: polymer, cartridge case, small caliber weapon, medium caliber weapon
A03-045 TITLE: Configurable Tooling Systems for Complex Structures for Objective Force Survivability
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
OBJECTIVE: The need for optimized materials performances to meet ballistic damage tolerances in multifunctional materials has lead to a number of challenges in the fabrication of test articles for ballistic structures. A significant limitation of fabrication methods is the ability to adapt tooling to meet applicable uses and achieve high mechanical tolerances when switching between liquid molded and bonded ballistic structures and woven prepreg with bonded structures. It has been observed that tolerance variations in materials designs can lead to substantial changes in performance in a ballistic environment. Further, the additional need to replace damaged ballistic sections in the field environment require equivalently high tolerances, which will be difficult to achieve using current molding technologies, and decrease survivability and effectiveness of repaired ballistic structures. Current technologies are not available for rapidly developing replacement components at the depot level to sustain composite platforms. One solution could involve rapid prototyping and tooling technologies that could be implemented during fabrication and replicated for depot level to allow multiple technical components to be prepared in a single tool. The complexities of polymer matrix composites for ballistic structures have demonstrated that custom tooling or fixturing is required for vehicle surfaces, substructure, panel and hatch development, repair, and replacement. The time and cost burdens of these activities, even with traditional molding technologies, can often involve modification or repeated tool fabrication before the activity is completed. Currently available configurable tooling solutions do not allow fabrication of multiple material forms on a single platform, driving up development costs in the search of survivable structures. Further, whether the final tool set is for a single use or for repeated use, there are additional cost burdens for disposal or storage and maintenance of the tool sets.
DESCRIPTION: The Army is seeking innovative approaches that will significantly increase production rate and reduce program costs for vehicle structure developments and designs. Ideal tooling solutions might furnish "universal" tooling capabilities. For example a reusable, reconfigurable or reformable tooling system could: 1) take a precise and accurate impression from a master-qualified composite part; 2) provide a hardened tool that has physical properties tailored to reproduce the part from a variety of polymer-matrix composite materials systems; and 3) enable the hardened tool to be returned to a reformable, impression-taking condition after the production of one or more parts which are identical to a master-qualified replacement part.
A universal tooling system would meet the following criteria: 1) aid fabrication of parts at any scale, from 10 centimeters up to 10 meters in length/width/depth; 2) replicate compound-curved or complex shaped parts such as vehicular panels (hoods, doors, bumpers) or integral ribbing with corner radii of less than 10 millimeters; 3) be suitable for removable mandrel, insert or trapped-tool applications as for the repair or reconstruction of ducting or ribbed structures; 4) be durable enough to hold precise tolerances during hand fabrication and debulking processes including prepreg, roving, knit and woven material, and VARTM; and 5) tolerate, without deterioration, cure cycles of up to 375F.
PHASE I: Demonstrate, at laboratory or benchtop scale (10 centimeters minimum length/width/depth), approaches to creating one or more tooling material systems that can be formed into precise negatives of test shapes, that can be hardened to produce usable tools that will not degrade or lose tolerances under vacuum bag infusion processing. The tool should be returned to formability and be capable of repeated (>50 cycles) form/reforming without degrading or losing properties of conformability.
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype tooling system which replicates a master-qualified composite part, in a composite materials system requiring autoclave cure up to 100PSI and 375F, with dimensions of 2 meter minimum for length and width, with one foot depth.
PHASE III: Phase III will require DoD component sponsorship. For successful advance to this phase, a successful Phase II proof-of-concept must have been demonstrated, and the program sponsor for this SBIR effort will have coordinated transition to demonstration/validation. The contractor must support a successful Phase III transfer by maturing the tooling system to a point for commercial viability including manufacturability and cost.
REFERENCES:
1) G. Shoeppner, "Analysis and Repair Design Tools," DoD Advanced Composites End-Users Conference, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH, 27-31 August 2001.
2). Plumer, J. R., J. McElman, N. R. Schott, S. B. Driscoll, "Design and Fabrication of FRP Truck Trailer Side Racks," Program Final Report AMMRC-TR-83-50, 1983.
3) G. Thomas, "Manufacturing Affordable Composite Structures for Ground Combat Vehicles, Defense Manufacturing Conference 1999, Session IV, Miami Beach, FL, 29 November - 2 December 1999.
4) Baker A. A.; Callus P. J.; Georgiadis S.; Falzon P. J.; Dutton S. E.; Leong K. H., "An affordable methodology for replacing metallic aircraft panels with advanced composites," Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, May 2002, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 687-696(10).
5) Cloud D.; Norton J. "Low-cost tooling for composite parts: the LCTC process," Assembly Automation, 12 October 2001, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 310-317(8).
KEYWORDS: composite fabrication, vehicle armor, configurable tooling
A03-046 TITLE: Breathable, Chemical Resistant, Elastomeric Protective Clothing Material
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Chemical/Bio Defense
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Soldier
OBJECTIVE: Design, synthesize, fabricate and evaluate an economical and lightweight chemical protective clothing that demonstrates flexibility, durability, and selectively permeable properties.
DESCRIPTION: The U. S. Army requires that all fielded systems be survivable in a chemical warfare environment. Butyl rubber is currently used for protective gloves because it is an excellent barrier material against chemical threats. Although butyl rubber is an excellent barrier, it does not allow water vapor transport needed for maximum comfort. Current protective clothing materials are based on activated carbon that is effective for chemical protection but can be heavy during long periods of wear, potentially placing a weight burden on the soldier. Outfitting the soldier in accordance with new Future Combat System (FCS) and Objective Force guidelines requires that the materials be lightweight and flexible, enabling the soldier to move freely. New advanced materials that are flexible, lightweight and selectively permeable will offer significant improvement in both reduced weight and reduced heat stress (increased water vapor transport) for the soldier. In an effort to address these multiple requirements, the Army Research Laboratory has developed a series of sulfonated tri-block copolymers. The novel polymers are comprised of polyisobutylene as a major component to afford inherent barrier properties to the block copolymer. The novel block copolymers exhibit flexibility over a broad temperature range and selectively permeable “membrane-like” characteristics. Although it is not required that a proposal for this solicitation specifically utilize the tri-block copolymer approach developed by the Army, this material is mentioned because it has shown some very desirable properties for breathable protective clothing such as high moisture vapor transport rates and flexibility at low temperatures.
PHASE I: Research efforts should focus on the design and synthesis of a copolymer/ionomer comprised in part of an impermeable block and an ionic block, that exhibit numerous properties that are critical for chemical protective field operations. These properties include: flexibility over a broad temperature range (~ -60ºC-100ºC), economical processing as membranes for coated or woven fabrics, gloves, tenting, or stacked fuel cells, exhibit high levels of water vapor transport and simultaneously block transport of organic compounds such as chemical warfare agents. Results from the Phase I effort should demonstrate the above characteristics and define a clear and feasible synthetic route that will enable production of the elastomeric membrane at the pilot plant level. The synthetic routes of preparing the polymer must be in accord with methods that are amenable to large scale domestic (U.S.) manufacturing facilities. That is, solvents used must be in compliance with environmental laws in the chemical and textile industries and an environmentally friendly route to manufacture such as water-based processing is preferred. Economic analysis shall be performed and outlined to determine the estimated cost to produce the membrane at pilot plant level. The elastomeric membrane should exhibit durability, flexibility and selective transport properties necessary for use in military field operations and chemical warfare environments. That is, the membrane should “breathe”, allowing water vapor to transport away from the soldier, thereby reducing heat stress, while simultaneously blocking penetration of harmful substances in liquid or vapor form. Water vapor transport values should be as a minimum, competitive with commercially available “breathable” fabrics used for sports and recreation.
PHASE II: With candidate materials identified in Phase I, the Phase II program should address scale-up of the elastomeric membrane as woven textile, gloves, or tenting. The copolymer shall be used in the fabrication of prototypes to include a coated fabric or woven fabric outer garment and breathable, elastomeric chemically protective gloves. Testing of the prototypes will be performed to demonstrate flexibility, durability, breathability, and protection against actual chemical warfare agents. Detailed fabrication procedures for the prototypes shall be established. Economic analysis shall be performed to determine the cost of fabricating a full body protective suit for military applications, utilizing the polymer membrane. All processing and fabrication procedures must be in compliance with environmental laws in the chemical and textile industries.
PHASE III Dual Use Applications: Successful development of the polymeric membrane may have numerous applications as biomedical materials that require selective water transport (i.e., wound dressings) and as alternative fuel cell membranes. Economically feasible chemical protective suits would be useful in numerous. Industries that could potentially benefit from commercialization include companies that supply raw materials, block copolymers polymers and fibers such as Shell Chemical and Dupont Corporations.
REFERENCES:
1. Lee, Yang and Wilusz; Polymer Engineering & Science, 1990, 36, 1217.
KEYWORDS: copolymer, membrane, ionomer, protective clothing, water transport, barrier, elastomer
A03-047 TITLE: Long Wave Infrared Acousto-Optic Materials
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO CHEM/BIO DEFENSE & NBC Defense Systems
OBJECTIVE: To develop novel materials for fabricating acousto-optic tunable filters in the 8-12 micron spectral region for multispectral and hyperspectral imaging applications as well as for remote sensing and monitoring of environmental pollutants and chemical and biological agents.
DESCRIPTION: The US Army Research Laboratory is seeking innovative approaches for the development of a no-moving-parts, electronically tunable spectral imaging system for 8 to 12 micron spectral region for a number of multispectral and hyperspectral applications for detection of targets, backgrounds, and stand off chemical and biological agents. Such a hyperspectral imager is based on using an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). This long wave infrared (LWIR) technology is particularly relevant to detection of buried mines and is an essential part of achieving the hyperspectral imaging technology goals set in the Army's 3rd Generation Science and Technology Objective (STO). So far only a small number of nonlinear crystals have been identified that have high acousto-optic figure of merit and can be used in the fabrication of an LWIR AOTF. At the present time, only a couple of such crystals are grown (thalium arsenic selenide (TAS) and mercurous chloride) by a single source. In addition to the applications for designing AOTFs for high quality LWIR spectral imaging systems, there are a number of other commercial applications for designing active and passive optical components such as frequency doublers, polarizers, lenses, retarders, windows, etc. The first components of this work will be to develop novel anisotropic materials for designing AOTF cells operating in the long wavelength infrared spectral region (8-12 micron). These materials must be easy to work with, nonhygroscopic, have high acousto-optic figure of merit (M2), high birefringence, and relatively high transmission in the desired wavelength region. The second component will be integration of such AOTF cells with infrared imagers. Desired materials include tellurium, mercurous halides, and TAS.
PHASE I: Identify suitable materials, produce device quality material for the most promising candidate, study low-temperature properties of this material, and demonstrate an acousto-optic modulator in such a material for operation in 8 to 12 micron spectral region.
PHASE II: Optimize the growth parameters for candidate material, grow high quality crystals, fabricate an AOTF for operation in the 8 to 12 micron region at low-temperature, integrate this AOTF with high performance commercially available infrared imaging systems procured via government sources to demonstrate a hyperspectral imager operating in the 8 to 12 micron region with image processing capability. Delivery of an AOTF and high quality crystals is required.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Development of such material and devices is very important for a variety of civilian applications such as fabrication of various active and passive components as well as for applications in pollution detection, environmental monitoring and mapping, auto emission monitoring, better process and quality control in manufacturing of food, beverages, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and better medical diagnoses.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Army can substantially reduce the cost of vehicle maintenance by real-time monitoring of exhaust plumes and the condition of engine oil. Also, the Army will have a no-moving-parts, compact multipurpose imaging spectrometer that so far does not exist.
REFERENCES:
1) M. S. Gottlieb, "Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter", Design and Fabrication of Acousto-Optic Devices, A. P. Goutzoulis and D. R. Pape, eds., Marcel
Dekker, New York, pp. 197-283 (1994).
2) N. Gupta, R. Dahmani, M. Gottlieb, L. Denes, B. Kaminsky, and P. Metes, "Hyperspectral Imaging using Acousto-Optic Tunable Filters," Proc.
SPIE 3780, pp. 512-521 (1999).
3) V. B. Voloshinov, "Elastic Anisotropy of Acousto-optic Interaction Medium," Proc. SPIE 4514, pp. 8-19 (2001).
4) D. Souilhac, D. Billeret, and A. Gundjian, "Photoelastic tensor of tellurium", Appl. Opt. 28, pp. 3993-3996 (1989).
5) N. B. Singh, D. Suhre, N. Gupta, W. Rosch, and M. Gottlieb, "Performance of TAS Crystal for AOTF Imaging" Jour. Crystal Growth 225, pp.
124-128 (2001).
KEYWORDS: cousto-optical interactions; acousto-optic tunable filters, acousto-optical devices, long wave acousto-optic materials, tellurium, mercurous halides, thalium arsenic selenide, TAS, Hyperspectral imager, polarization imager, chemical/biological agent detection, mine detection
A03-048 TITLE: Ultra-Compact Doppler LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for Unmanned Aerial/Ground Vehicles
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Battlespace
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO Aviation
OBJECTIVE: Design and build an ultra-compact, Doppler LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) for use on medium to light unmanned aerial/ground vehicles that has multi-use capabilities for remote sensing of volumetric vector winds, topography, and aerosol plume detection.
DESCRIPTION: Recent advances in solid-state lasers and compact signal processing systems have made possible new, ultra-compact “pocket” LIDAR systems for remote sensing of the environment. In particular, the operational needs for eye-safety have led to development of low-energy, high pulse rate laser systems operating in the short-wave infrared region. The use of airborne Doppler LIDAR has been demonstrated but with LIDAR systems that were too large for most UAV platforms. The development of “pocket” LIDAR systems enables the technology for use on medium to lightweight UAV/UGV platforms that will be part of the Future Combat System. The use of airborne Doppler LIDAR for real-time detection of air hazards such as wind shear, microbursts, and clear-air turbulence will greatly extend airborne operations and capabilities.
PHASE I: Develop an overall system design for a “pocket” Doppler LIDAR that includes a specification for laser source, transmitter/receiver, detection system, and signal processing.
PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype “pocket” Doppler LIDAR system. Conduct feasibility study to determine effectiveness in UAV/UGV operations.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This system could be used in a broad-range of military and civilian applications where information of 3-dim winds and turbulence are necessary, such as: airport operations, clear-air turbulence detection in-flight, and pollution monitoring.
REFERENCES:
1) J. Rothermel, et. al., "Remote sensing of multi-level wind fields with a high-energy airborne scanning coherent Doppler lidar," Opt. Express 2, 40-50 (1998).
2) M. J. Post, R .E. Cupp, "Optimizing a pulsed Doppler Lidar," Appl. Opt., 29, 4145-4158 (1990).
KEYWORDS: lidar, remote sensing, battlefield environment, wind sensing, topographic lidar, aerosols
A03-049 TITLE: Blast and Shock Damage Analysis
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles
OBJECTIVE: To develop a method/tool to characterize equipment failure to high frequency shock environments. This new tool shall be capable of analyzing full size equipment (that may be mounted inside a vehicle) to the effects of high frequency shock induced by a conventional blast/shock environment.
DESCRIPTION: Future Army systems are becoming more lightweight and thus are becoming more susceptible to the blast and shock effects of conventional weapons. The thinner walled vehicles allow a greater transmission of energy to the internal components and are also more vulnerable to rupture due to the blast environment. The Army has been utilizing computer aided design (CAD) modeling tools with complex survivability analysis tools, like MUVES S-2 (Modular Unixed-Based Vulnerability Estimation Suite) to determine the survivability of ground vehicles to conventional weapons effects for many years. The blast and shock effects from these weapons have largely been ignored because the ground targets have been so robust. The Future Combat Systems (FCS) will be a lighter weight system of systems and blast and shock effects will have a greater impact then ever before. A stand alone module that can determine the damage to vehicle equipment due to a blast/shock induced environment is needed to complete the overall MUVES-S2 modeling suite. Through physical damage, or functional loss, the degraded state of the impacted equipment will be used as input to the MUVES S-2 code for an overall system analysis.
The time duration for blast/shock environments of interest are typically in the range of .5 to 1.0 ms, with loadings in the range of several thousands of pounds per square inch.
PHASE I: 1. The contractor shall investigate the feasibility of a methodology/tool to determine the damage induced to Army equipment by a high frequency blast/shock environment. The damage can be either a physical damage or loss, or a loss of function of the equipment. The results shall be represented by an Equipment Fragility Spectra (EFS) as depicted in TM 5-855-1, or in a similar manner.
2. The contractor shall develop a preliminary version of this new method through the use of test cases and demonstrate how it can be linked to the MUVES S-2 computer code.
PHASE II: For Phase II, the contractor shall extend the Phase I methodology to the full capability of a productive tool for blast/shock analysis. The tool shall be capable of identifying the shock mitigation levels needed to reduce and/or eliminate damage and also be capable of using various shock mitigation values as input to the analysis. A complete verification and validation program should be incorporated in the development program with limited validation experiments being conducted to support the results. The contractor shall also demonstrate the prototype version on an actual Army system exposed to potential blast/shock environments. The new tool shall be a final design that meets the requirements set fourth in Phase I.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATION: The new tool can be interfaced with the MUVES S-2 Computer code for greater survivability modeling for the Department of Defense. This new tool will also have a broad range of commercial applications. Not only will it directly impact blast/shock modeling capabilities, it will also enhance the commercial application of shock mounted equipment. Commercial sectors that will benefit from such a tool range from the airline industry to the computer industry. High frequency shock problems are becoming potential problems as equipment is more complex and lighter weight.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST REDUCTION (OSCR): Development of such a tool will greatly enhance the overall survivability analysis process. This increased capability will have great impacts upon the operation of equipment on the battlefield, and its survivability levels.
REFERENCES:
(1) MUVES Software Manual, June 7, 2001,
(2) MUVES Analyst's Guide, May 27, 1994.
KEYWORDS: blast, shock, survivability analysis, MUVES S2, ballistic shock
A03-050 TITLE: Research and Development of Stochastic Optimal Control Algorithms for Mobile Communications Systems
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this SBIR is to solicit research and development of computational algorithms for stochastic optimal control of mobile communication systems with randomly time varying channels. The algorithms shall address the optimal energy-time allocation and admission control policies that maximize the expected system data throughput and minimize the expected system delay in a weighted combination manner.
DESCRIPTION: It is evident that the utilization of mobile communications systems has played a decisive role in the outcome of modern military operations at the tactical and strategic levels. In military applications, the communication channels of these systems are often randomly time varying and the arrivals of data are often random but bursty, partly due to the dynamic reconfiguration of transceivers in the battlefield environment (see [6], [7]). Due to the complexity of the physical problems, systematic and rigorous mathematical modeling and control of these networks are still in their infancy. Currently, the modeling and optimal control studies have only been done in an ad hoc manner for some simplified networks (see [3], [5]). In particular, heavy traffic and fluid flow analyses (see [1], [4]) have been used to provide diffusion approximations for some aspects of these problems and the dynamic programming principle (see [2]) has been used to characterize the optimal energy allocation and admission control policies for a simplified discrete-time satellite communication system (see [5]). The rigorous modeling and optimal control problems for the currently available commercial and military communication systems remain largely unsolved. Some important issues facing the military and industry include the effective management of these networks. These problems include the optimal energy and time allocation to the communication channels and the optimal admissible control of the channel users so that the mean data throughput will be maximized and the mean network delay will be minimized in a weighted combination manner. This SBIR topic solicits the application of research and the development of computational algorithms for the currently available optimal control policies in the form of computer software that can be implemented in the existing networks. The algorithms shall take into account partial as well as complete observable channel states and data queue size in each channel. The program is to be carried out in the following three phases.
PHASE I: Phase I of this SBIR project shall focus on the assessments, combinations, and extensions of currently available optimal energy and time allocation as well as optimal admission control policies that will maximize mean data throughput and minimize mean delay in a general continuous-time mobile communication network.
PHASE II: In Phase II, the following shall be done:
a. Design of computational algorithms in terms of temporal and spatial discretization schemes and establishment of its convergence for the results obtained in Phase I.
b. Analyses of error bounds and convergence rates for the computational algorithms.
c. Computer coding in the form of software for the algorithms obtained in this project.
d. Demonstration of feasibility and practicality of the prototype software developed for available commercial communication networks.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL: The research and development of new stochastic optimal control algorithms in real-time environment will contribute to the effective management of both military and commercial mobile communications systems. Specifically, the implementation of the end products of this project will have tremendous potential in increasing mean network throughput and decreasing energy cost and mean network delay. The awardee(s) shall have the copyright of the algorithms and software developed and shall have the responsibility for the commercialization of the products.
REFERENCE:
1) Altman, E. and Kushner, H. J. (2002) “Control of polling in the presence of vacations in heavy traffic with applications to satellite and mobile radio systems”, SIAM J. Control and Optimization, 41:217-252.
2) Bertsekas, D. P. (1986) Dynamic Programming: Deterministic and Stochastic Models, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
3) Buche, R. and Kushner, H. J. (2002) “Stability and control of mobile communications systems with time varying channels”, IEEE Conference on Communication, 2002, New York City.
4) Buche, R. and Kushner, H. J. (2002) “Control of mobile communications with time-varying channels in heavy traffic”, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 47:992-1003.
5) Fu, A., Modiano, E., and Tsitsiklis, J. (2002) “Optimal energy allocation and admission control for communications satellites”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, June 2002.
6) Fu, A., Modiano, E., and Tsitsiklis, J. (2002) “Transmission scheduling over a fading channel with energy and deadline constraints” in Conference on Information Sciences and Systems 2002. (Princeton, NJ, March 20-22, 2002).
7) Hanly, S. V. and Tse, D. H. C. (1998) “Multiaccess fading channels-part I: polymatroid structure, optimal resource allocation and throughput capacities”, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 44:2796-2815.
KEYWORDS: mobile communications systems, heavy traffic, dynamic programming, optimal energy and time allocation, admission control
A03-051 TITLE: Mixed-Feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Electronics
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Soldier Systems
OBJECTIVE: Develop a compact 20-W direct methanol fuel cell system that utilizes mixed-reactant feed of air + methanol (aqueous) to one or both electrodes of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The system should include all balance-of-plant auxiliaries, such as fluid moving equipment, heat exchangers, and storage vessels. The power system should be compact (> 1 kW/L and >1 kW/kg), energy dense (> 1kWh/kg), and supply 1 kWh of energy.
DESCRIPTION: The Army has need for high-energy, lightweight power sources for the solider. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM FCs) are candidates to fill these needs. Such FCs may be powered by direct electrochemical oxidation of methanol, a so-called direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). In state-of-art DMFCs, an aqueous solution of methanol fuel is fed separately to the anode compartment of the FC and air (oxidizer) is fed to the cathode compartment. The two compartments are physically separated by the PEM, which is a barrier to bulk movement of liquid or gas in addition to its function as the electrolyte. In this cell configuration, a minimum of two fluid-motive devices are required (blower and pump), and heavy (and bulky) bipolar plates are used in the cell stack to prevent intermixing of the two reactant feeds. Recently, it was reported that a mixed-reactant feed of an aqueous basic solution of methanol and air fed to a cell without separator yielded polarization characteristics similar to that when the two reactant streams are not purposely mixed (1). It has also been reported that the performance of a single-cell PEM DMFC is enhanced by mixed-feed of air and aqueous methanol solution fed to the anode compartment (2). The efficacy of using innovative modes for mixed-reactant feed to a PEM DMFC stack is unexplored, and the system implications on requisite auxiliary components is unresolved. Examination of these issues is the focus of this SBIR topic.
PHASE I: Design, construct, and characterize a 20-W fuel cell stack that uses mixed-reactant feed of air + methanol (aqueous) to one or both electrodes of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell that operates nominally at atmospheric pressure. Report voltage and power density as a function of current density at operating temperature. Define, explore, and discuss system concepts to be addressed in a Phase II effort with emphasis on those that are unique to mixed-reactant feed.
PHASE II: Using results from the Phase I effort and the Objectives stated above, design, construct, and evaluate a 20-W direct methanol fuel cell system based on mixed-reactant feed to the fuel cell stack.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Developments in fuel cell power sources will have immediate impact on a wide range of commercial power sources from computer power to emergency medical power supplies to recreational power uses.
REFERENCES:
1) Priestnall et al., “Compact mixed-reactant fuel cells,” J. Power Sources, 106 (2002) 21-30.
2) Shukla et al., “A solid-polymer electrolyte direct methanol fuel cell with a mixed reactant and air anode,” J. Power Sources, 111 (2002) 43-51.
KEYWORDS: Fuel cell, soldier power, methanol, electrooxidation of methanol
A03-052 TITLE: Self-Decontaminating Coatings
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Chemical/Bio Defense
OBJECTIVE: Identify and explore innovative paints or paint additives capable of detoxifying chemical and biological molecules on surfaces on a long term, sustained basis. Such a paint or paint additive must also meet present military specifications for coatings. The coating will preferentially reduce or eliminate the need for any additional decontamination procedures, and reduce or eliminate the risk of introducing additional pollutants into the environment. The coating will however be compatible with all presently used or contemplated chemical decontamination treatments. Such a paint or paint additive will weather with present military repainting schedules. It will have the potential to address as many threat agents as possible.
DESCRIPTION: Certain paints presently utilized by the U.S. Military address the problem of chemical agent contamination by using veneers that either shed or enhance removal of agent from surfaces. Decontamination procedures require additional manpower and materials, and in worst case scenarios actually introduce additional pollutants into the environment. Other surfaces painted by the armed services without the benefit of chemical agent shedding veneers, such as buildings, electronic equipment, etc. do not address chemical agent decontamination in any regard. The interiors of aircraft and vehicles are key areas where a reactive coating could be immediately used. Cost effective paints that decontaminate chemical agents and their residues on a wide range of surfaces painted by the military are needed. The references to this topic contain information on possible simulants for the chemical warfare agents. Decontamination contact exposure levels on the coating should be reduced at minimum to the following: Nerve-G, <16.7 mg/m2; Nerve-V, <0.78mg/m2; Blister-H, <100mg/m2.
PHASE I: Identify and demonstrate the ability of a coating or paint additive to detoxify a range of simulants of chemical warfare agents and toxic chemical and determine the capacity of that coating. Relatively toxic additives/catalysts are less desirable for a coating. This part of the effort should provide evidence that their concept is viable.
PHASE II: Conduct testing to demonstrate real-world utility of the coatings on different surfaces and equipment and their effectiveness against chemical agent simulants and if possible live chemical agents. Characterize the new coatings with respect to traditional means of evaluations for example durability, gloss, and flex among other tests.
PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: A simple to use and apply protective coating has numerous applications in the military and domestic preparedness community. A reactive coating can be used for protection in the event of a domestic terror attack with chemical agents or for protection in an industrial accident. Public buildings, monuments, and military facilities could use the coatings in a preemptive nature to protect national assets. Demonstrations of live agent capabilities in operational settings in phase III is appropriate.
REFERENCES:
1) Yu-Chu Yang, James A. Baker, and J. Richard Ward "Decontamination of Chemical Warfare Agents", Chem.Rev. 1992, 92, 1729-1743.
2) Yu-Chu Yang "Chemical Detoxification of Nerve Agent VX" Acc.Chem.Res. 1999, 32, 109-115.
KEYWORDS: coatings, decontamination, reactive coating, chemical warfare agents
A03-053 TITLE: Detection of Drugs/Narcotics and Processing Components Using “Sniffing” Devices
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Chemical/Bio Defense, Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative “sniffing” sensor devices for the detection of drug/narcotics or the compounds used to render them, characterize specific chemical compounds, time-stamp the detection, and perform some elementary function to identify the occurrence. The envisaged devices are small, lightweight, and operate under no power or their own on-board low power (e.g., small battery). They can be easily inconspicuously placed in the field or can be hidden. The sensor suite will be combined initially with a readout system that permits on-site inspection of the device. Later versions of the system will be able to transmit needed information to a command center in near real time through adverse environmental conditions, such as triple canopy tropical foliage.
DESCRIPTION: Sniffing technologies have demonstrated potential for locating the existence of “out gassing” explosive chemical compounds and these technologies have the potential to be extended to develop “sniffers” for other chemicals. This innovative and creative approach has the potential to establish and validate a suite of sensors and their characterizing algorithms to detect, analyze, and report movement of drugs and drug rendering chemicals as part of point and area surveillance programs. The system may be based upon multiple integrated or single detector elements and/or chemical reaction devices. Sensors should be inconspicuous and initially deployed by hand. A mission life of no less than 180 days is desirable, and the system should allow for retrieval. The sensor suite should require no power or carry it’s own power, be self-organizing and provide continued operation in the event that an individual detector becomes inoperable. Sensors/algorithms and communications should be transferable to allied foreign entities for emplacement and monitoring.
PHASE I: Demonstrate a laboratory prototype sensor mix and algorithms to detect the presence of specific chemical compounds associated with drug/drug producing compounds. The prototype shall demonstrate the ability of the final product to meet the requirements of small size, light weight, operation without an external power source and the capability to detect the chemical(s) of interest. Identify path for optimization in potential follow-on work and show expected probability of detection versus false alarms. Also, identify a device “reading” capability, or communication system – sensor combination that permits transmission to a command center in near real time under adverse environmental conditions.
PHASE II: Optimize, assemble, and test a sensor suite that is lightweight, inconspicuous and meets conditions of deployability, self-configuration, and does not require an external power source. The system should have high probability of detection with low false alarms. At end of Phase II, system should be available for testing by DOD personnel. Investigators may assess and analyze the effectiveness of single, and multi-technology devices for detecting and characterizing nearby chemical signatures.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Phase III work would involve development of ruggedized sensors for actual deployment. Different sensor suites may be developed to allow for changing scenarios. Intelligence and homeland defense applications could directly benefit from having a standoff detection device for counterdrug activities as well as terrorist movements along land and water lines of communications in both the US and allied nations.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT (O&S) COST REDUCTION (OSCR): Optimized sensors will be more reliable and will have a faster response time, and provide a substantial force multiplication factor by using machines instead of humans to monitor water borne activities
REFERENCES:
1) Catalytic buffers enable positive-response inhibition-based sensing of
nerve agents, Alan J. Russell, Markus Erbeldinger, Joseph J. DeFrank, Joel Kaar, Geraldine Drevon Biotechnology and Bioengineering Volume: 77, Issue: 3, Date: 5 February 2002, Pages: 352-357.
2) Fluorescent Porous Polymer Films as TNT Chemosensors: Electrnoic and Structural Effects, Y-S Yan and T.M Swager, J. Am.Chem.Soc. 1998, 120, 11864-11873.
KEYWORDS: Surveillance, algorithms, networked sensors, drugs, narcotics, drug laboratory, infrared, olfactory
A03-054 TITLE: Large Scale Biomaterial Production
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this SBIR is to develop and exploit technologies for the very large-scale production of transgenic protein fibers in a cost-effective robust plant, microbial or animal system. Suitable quantities would be produced for manufacturing protective clothing, body armor, surface coatings, wound healing protectants, bioartificial grafts, or other applications requiring large quantities of material.
DESCRIPTION: Biological materials have evolved very specialized roles as a consequence of four billion years of natural selection and adaptive mechanical design. These "smart" products have properties of durability, strength, stiffness, toughness, reliability, resilience, self-assembly, and biodegradability. Such attributes can be modulated independently to achieve a distinctive biological function. Protein fibers, that have evolved to perform extraordinarily diverse structural and physiological functions, are synthesized from a pool of twenty low molecular weight renewable precursors, amino acids, in an aqueous environment at ambient temperatures. The high efficiency and unique functionalities of these fibers are achieved by the distinctive sequences of the amino acids in the assembled proteins. For military and civilian applications, advantage can be taken of the billions of years of natural selection that evolved proteins with unique structural, mechanical, or physical properties. By molecular biological manipulation of the amino acid sequences, proteins with altered characteristics can be produced. However, while these proteins can currently be produced in sufficient quantity for research and medical applications, the current production technologies are not economic enough to provide the tons of material necessary for widespread DoD and civilian use. The major impediment to exploiting these natural or genetically altered substances is the inability to economically produce the material on a large scale.
This SBIR solicits the research and development of protein-producing systems that have the capability of generating very large quantities of specific transgenic proteins. Heretofore, most recombinant proteins have been produced in small, expensive bioreactors, producing relatively small quantities of the specific protein. The product often was deposited in inclusion bodies, making it difficult to purify and reconstitute to its native properties. The plant, microbial, or animal system that would be developed under this SBIR should be versatile, robust, and cost-effective. Properties of the system would include stability of the structural gene for the protein being produced, minimal toxic effects of the protein product on the host system, limited degradation or post-translational modification of the product, and easy recoverability of the product. The system also should be sufficiently versatile to be capable of being engineered to manufacture a diverse series of recombinant proteins.
Examples of proteins that could be produced include, but are not limited to, collagens, glycoproteins, elastin, proteoglycans, keratins, viral capsid proteins, actin, tubulin, and various silks. These have applications in fabricating tendons for muscle repair, contractile proteins for unique mechanical properties, structural proteins with strength and resilience for protective clothing, smart proteins for self-assembly systems in producing complex protein composites, filamentous proteins for capture systems of high strength and durability, and the production of bioartificial grafts.
The technology to be developed under this SBIR would have many advantages over most current systems in that a product would be produced in sufficient quantity and purity for high volume applications. Products, systems, or composites that exploit the native or genetically altered properties of the transgenic proteins could be produced to protect the warfighter, and in a multitude of military and civilian applications. In addition, sufficient materials could be produced to allow research in the development of innovative fibers such as: highly thermostable proteins; protein systems mediating oxidation:reduction processes or electronic conduction; proteins with unique and reversible adhesive properties, etc.
PHASE I: The output of phase I will be a report summarizing the data on the flexibility, production capacity, and cost of the proposed bioproduction system, and a comparison of the merits of the proposed system relative to other bioproduction systems.
PHASE II: The investigators will establish that the system is stable, specific, and reliable in producing large quantities of recombinant proteins by producing a large amount of a bioproduct.
PHASE III: This technology could be licensed to other companies seeking to produce large volumes of biomaterials at low cost, to produce a variety of products that are currently uneconomical to produce. Potential products include: tendons for muscle repair, contractile proteins with unique mechanical properties, structural proteins with strength and resilience for protective clothing, smart proteins for self-assembly systems in producing complex protein composites, filamentous proteins for capture systems of high strength and durability, and materials for bioartificial grafts.
REFERENCES:
1) Brink, M. F., M. D. Bishop, and F. R. Pieper. 2000. Developing efficient strategies for the generation of transgenic cattle which produce biopharmaceuticals in milk. Theriogenology 53, 139-48.
2) Butler, D. L., and H. A. Awad. 1999. Perspectives on cell and collagen composites for tendon repair. Clin. Orthop. 367, S324-32.
3) Currie, L. J., J. R. Sharpe, and R. Martin. 2001. The use of fibrin glue in skin grafts and tissue-engineered skin replacements: a review. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 108, 1713-26.
4) Desai, U. A., G. Sur, S. Daunert, R. Babbit, and Q. Li. 2002. Expression and affinity purification of recombinant proteins from plants. Protein Expr. Purif. 25, 195-202.
5) Fernandez-Otero, T. 2000. Biomimicking materials with smart polymers. IN Structural Biological Materials,M. Elices, Ed., Pergamon. Pp. 187-220.
6) Franken, E., U. Teuschel, and R. Hain. 1997. Recombinant proteins from transgenic plants. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 8, 411-16.
7) Harvey, A. J., G. Speksnijder, L. R Baugh, J. A. Morris, and R. Ivarie. 2002. Expression of exogenous protein in the egg white of transgenic chickens. Nat. Biotechnol. 20, 396-9.
8) Hinman, M. B., J. A. Jones, and R. V. Lewis. 2000. Synthetic spider silk: a modular fiber. Trends Biotechnol. 18, 374-9.
9) Jeronimidis, G. 2000. Structure-property relationships in biological materials, and Design and function of structural biological materials. IN Structural Biological Materials, M. Elices, Ed., Pergamon. Pp. 1 ? 16 and 17 ? 29.
10) Lazaris, A., S. Arcidiacono, Y. Huang, J-F. Zhou, F. Duguay, N. Chretien, E. A. Welsh, J. W. Soares, and C. N. Karatzas. 2002. Spider silk fibers spun from soluble recombinant silk produced in mammalian cells. Science, 295, 472-6.
11) Phelps, D. K., B. Speelman, and C. B. Post. 2000. Theoretical studies of viral capsid proteins. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 10, 170-3.
12) Surrey, T., F. Nedelec, S. Leibler, and E. Karsenti. 2001. Physical properties determining self-organization of motors and microtubules. Science, 292, 1167-71.
KEYWORDS: biomaterials, protein production
A03-055 TITLE: Cross-Layer Wireless Networking for Low Energy Sensor Networks
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Sensors
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this SBIR is to develop an integrated cross layer wireless network protocol suite for low power, low duty cycle sensor radios.
DESCRIPTION: One component of the Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) will be networks of sensors, with finite energy capacity and extended lifetime. For more detail on the vision this sensor web, see [1]. There will be a large number of low cost simple sensors (acoustic, seismic etc.), for which the data will need to be aggregated, compressed, and fused. Normally, there will be very little data required to be communicated between the sensors. However, when one sensor detects an event, many sensors will detect the same event and there will be a sudden flurry of activity in the network. The networking protocol should be independent of the sensor type, but should be optimized for small data packets such as from an acoustic, magnetic, or seismic sensor as opposed to the large bandwidths required for images (video, IR, radar, etc.).
Conventional IP networking is highly inefficient and unnecessary for the sensor network; however, the sensor network must be able to interface with an Internet Protocol (IP) network. There may be some, but many fewer, more capable gateways within the network, able to assist with data fusion and the IP network interface. Similarly, TCP has been found to be inefficient in ad hoc networks and will be even worse in sensor networks. Therefore alternatives to TCP at the transport layer are required, with the possibility of some of the functionality being moved into the lower protocol layers. Routing protocols have been developed for ad hoc networks, but need to be revisited under the very low energy requirements of sensor networks. Also, medium access control and link layer protocols can be optimized under the sensor network paradigm. Although not a main objective of the program, some assumptions on the physical layer design must be made. (Two possible physical radios are described in [1] and [2].)
Therefore a complete protocol suite is required from the data link layer to the transport layer. These protocols should be designed in a true cross layer manner, optimized to the specific application of the sensor web. In order to further reduce power, after network initialization, packets required for synchronization and net maintenance should be minimized or eliminated.
PHASE I: Research, development, and trade-off analysis of cross layer networking protocol design for very low energy sensor network. Develop simulation tools to evaluate the various approaches. Perform the analysis and simulation of the proposed protocols and provide the results in a report. This report will also include a summary of potential commercial applications and the projected benefits from the use of this technology that could form the basis of commercial business opportunities.
PHASE II: Further develop the most promising design from Phase I. Use the results to implement cross layer networking software for a target sensor radio. Demonstrate a moderately sized sensor network with simulated sensor data. In addition to the software, a useable protocol specification will be produced.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Refine the software and interfaces to be useable for commercial as well as DoD applications. Suggested non-DoD applications: Sensor networks for homeland defense of critical infrastructure and other security related applications.
REFERENCES:
1) J. Gowens and J. Eike, “Networked Sensors: Armor for the Future Force”, Proceedings of 2001 SPIE AeroSense Conference, vol. 4396, pp. 1-7.
2) http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust/.
KEYWORDS: Sensor networks, communications protocols, cross layer design
A03-056 TITLE: Man Portable Personnel Detection Device for MOUT
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM NV/RSTA
OBJECTIVE: To design, build and test a man-portable sensor or sensor system that will enable a team of soldiers to rapidly determine the presence of individuals in a room, suite, or an entire building from the outside with minimal risk to the team.
DESCRIPTION: In military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT), teams of soldiers need to secure buildings by rapidly moving through the hallways and determining the presence and location of occupants, if any. A man-portable device or devices is sought that can determine the occupation of the room within a few seconds and before entry. A single, man-portable sensor would be ideal, however, multiple man-portable sensors would be acceptable if they were not too cumbersome and did not decrease team survivability. Also acceptable would be the use of an external device outside the building, either by itself or in conjunction with sensors inside the building. Possible sensor technologies include, but are not limited to, acoustic, olfactory, millimeter-wave imaging, RF/radar or combination thereof. It is envisioned that acoustic technology may be able to detect the human function of a heartbeat or respiration, although there is a severe problem with background noise and false alarms. Olfactory sensing would have to detect through the walls, or, possibly, be slipped under the door. Millimeter-wave, radar or RF sensors can see through walls and may be able to detect a heartbeat or breath, although resolution and portability are challenges. Signal processing that takes advantage of periodic events may be useful for sensors that monitor heartbeats or respiration. The room occupant(s) may not be moving, which reduces the value of large-scale motion detection as the primary detection mechanism. In addition, more than one occupant may be present and multiple signals should not confuse the decision process. Note that the device would have to distinguish team members outside the room from the room occupant(s). The final device will, more than likely, combine two or more different technologies and multi-sensor data fusion should be developed to produce synergies among the selected sensors. Since different physical phenomena are involved it is expected that sensor independence would increase the probability of detection and mitigate false alarms.
PHASE I: Demonstrate a prototype sensor or sensor mix and algorithms that can determine the occupation status of a room from the outside, or with minimal intrusion that does not put the soldier in harms way. The rooms may consist of different construction, ranging from drywall or plaster to concrete. Using reasonable assumptions, determine expected probability of detection versus false alarms for an optimized system in both calm situations and battlefield operation. Identify path for improvements to meet conditions of man-portability, rapid time response, and battlefield operation.
PHASE II: Assemble and test an optimized sensor suite and display/readout that is man-portable and has a high probability of detection with low false alarms. Identify different system configurations for different building construction, if possible. At end of Phase II, prototype system should be available for testing by DOD personnel in urbanized terrain.
PHASE III DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Follow-on activities are expected to be aggressively pursued by the offeror and involve development of ruggedized and robust devices for actual use by military personnel. Different sensor suites may be developed to allow for changing construction and different battlefield scenarios. Civilian police and private security personnel would find this device useful to determine if a room was occupied before entry. This may also enable firefighters to locate unconscious people in burning or smoke filled rooms.
OPERATING AND SUPPORT (O&S) COST REDUCTION (OSCR): The key advantage of such a sensor system is that it would take the soldier out of harm’s way in the restricted confines of urban terrain. This will improve survivability and yield a corresponding force multiplication effect by enabling faster and safer operations in urban terrain.
REFERENCES:
1) Detection and Identification of Visually Obscured Targets, C. E. Baum, (ed.), Taylor and Francis, 1999.
2) G. Grenaker, “Radar sensing of heartbeat and respiration at a distance with security applications,” Proc. SPIE, Radar Sensor Technology III, V. 3066, 1997, p22-27.
KEYWORDS: MOUT, personnel detection
A03-057 TITLE: High Power, High Efficiency Diode Sources for Pumping Eye-Safe Solid State Lasers
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors
OBJECTIVE: To develop and fabricate high power, high efficiency diode sources for efficient resonant pumping of eye-safe, erbium-doped, solid-state lasers.
DESCRIPTION: High gain, high energy solid state lasers that operate in the eye safe region (wavelength > 1.5 microns) are in demand for military and commercial applications. These lasers, which are based on crystals doped with erbium (Er) atoms, are expected to be more compact and efficient than currently available lasers obtained with frequency conversion from shorter wavelengths. There are several military requirements for such lasers. One is the augmentation of fire control systems with the capability to identify the target (Target ID) using 3D laser radar (LADAR) imaging techniques. Another is the development of ultra-high power lasers for improved missile defense systems. Commercial applications of eye safe lasers include the development of free space communication nodes of conventional fiber optic networks and laser cutting/welding systems for manufacturing.
Eye-safe solid-state lasers are based on Er-doped crystals which have a number of absorption bands located from the visible to the near infrared spectral regions. Presently, such lasers are pumped by semiconductor diode sources operating at ~ 0.98 microns. Since the eye-safe lasers operate at ~ 1.5 microns, the difference in energy between pump beam and laser emission gives rise to heat within the laser medium. Thermal management becomes a critical issue in developing high power, eye-safe solid-state lasers. Diode sources operating within the spectral ranges of either 1.47-1.48 and 1.53-1.54 microns would provide much more efficient pumping of the Er-doped crystals. This would lead to higher energy, higher gain operation with minimal energy loss to the host medium. Such diode lasers are not commercially available at present. A compact, high efficiency diode semiconductor source capable of delivering high energy pulses near 1.5 microns to Er-doped crystals needs to be developed. This will require precise control of the material composition and the electronic properties of