Submission of proposals
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A02-042 TITLE: Position and Orientation for Distributed Sensors TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM for Mines, Counter Mines and Demolitions (PM-MCD) OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate novel devices capable of robustly and automatically determining the position and orientation of future deep/randomly deployed networked Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) relative to other randomly deployed UGS that also contain this novel device. The developed device should be able to work when no Global Positioning System (GPS) coverage is available, such as inside buildings and caves and under dense foliage. This device must be able to be manufactured at extremely low cost, draw very little power and be extremely small in order to be compatible with future microsensor based UGS systems. This device could be used in many military applications such as UGS, next generation mine fields, robotics, soldier locating systems for Military Operation Urban Terrain (MOUT), etc. DESCRIPTION: Future UGS will be automatically deployed up to 60km forward of the Forward Line of Own Troops (FLOT) from various airborne platforms or missiles. UGS sensors deployed in this manner will land on the ground in random orientations and positions. The effectiveness and performance of a UGS sensor field is greatly diminished when the location and orientation of the individual sensors are not accurately determined. These microsensor based UGS systems are envisioned to employ bistatic radars, acoustics, seismic, magnetic, radios, optical devices, chemical sniffers and other sensing technologies. The spacing between individual UGS sensors in a sensor field ranges from 30 meters to nearly 500 meters. The individual UGS sensors may not have a line of sight (los) to any of its neighboring UGS sensors. This SBIR proposal addresses the specific problem of automatically mapping a field of UGS in a timely fashion. Some current methods either rely on soldiers to hand emplace the sensors (not practical for forward deployed sensors in most cases) or GPS (not robust in many areas such as mountains, urban, and jungles). Currently no device exits that meet the accuracy, size, power, weight, cost and robustness constraints required for an orientation and location device to be compatible with the next generation of microsensor based UGS systems. Innovative concepts can include (but not required or limited to): (1) self-calibration techniques, (2) low power acoustic or RF based timing techniques, (3) communications link based techniques, and (4) low cost imager based techniques. The developed devices will be evaluated using simulations and during field experiments. This device will enable low cost deep deployed microsensor based UGS to provide accurate targeting information to the warfighter in areas where other national assets are blind. PHASE I: Develop the concept for an orientation and location determining system and demonstrate that the concept has the ability to determine the relative orientation and location of a group of randomly deployed sensors. The technique shall work when no GPS signal is present. The concept shall be demonstrated using simulations and laboratory hardware. Determine if the concept has the capability to meet the power, size, accuracy and cost goals. PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype localization and orientation system in a realistic environment where GPS is unavailable. Conduct testing to prove feasibility of the device to meet the power, size, accuracy and cost goals in various environments. PHASE III: The devices developed could be used for any application that requires the locating of objects or people without GPS. This device could be used to locate firefighters in a burning building. It also could be used to locate low cost biosensors that could warn officials of a biological threat in a building. Other possible applications are locating hikers in the woods or in caves, search and rescue, object tracking and other sports activities to name a few. This device would have application to APL-A and Future Combat Systems (FCS) and the objective force. This device also has application in the military for bistatic radars, unattended ground sensors, mines/mine replacements, chemical sensors, etc. REFERENCES: 1) “Self-organizing distributed networks”, L. P. Clare, G. P. Pottie and J. R. Agre, Proc. SPIE, vol. 3713, Mar. 1999, pp. 229-237. 2) “Next century challenges: scalable coordination in sensor networks”, D. Estrin, Proc. Mobicom, 1999, pp. 483-492. 3) “Self-calibration of unattended ground sensor networks”, R. Moses et al, Proceeding Advanced Sensor Consortium, ARL Federated Laboratory 5th Annual Symposium, Mar 2001, pp 63-70. 4) “Callaborative Information Processing”, IEEE Signal Processing magazine, March 2002. KEYWORDS: Position, Orientation, location, Self Mapping, Microsensors, Deployment, Communications, Unattended Ground Sensors, Mines A02-043 TITLE: Novel Display Devices TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Electronics OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate new devices, which can provide True Three Dimensional viewing, or Direct View and Head Mounted Displays with ultra-high efficiency and resolution (information content). True Three Dimensional viewing is distinguished from current Three Dimensional projections using Two Dimensional displays in that a virtual image is created which may be viewed and interacted with from any perspective. These display devices would be used in a number of military applications including: command post, simulation, the individual soldier, sensor analysis, mission planning, and remotely piloted vehicles. DESCRIPTION: Advances in sensors and computing are providing more information that the war fighter needs to view and assimilate in order to fight and win. This information transfer is accomplished via a number of different types of displays. Each implementation has different requirements based on the application. True Three Dimensional displays will provide the war fighter with new capabilities for mission planning, command post, simulation, and battle space management. Direct view and head mounted displays have a wide range of applications, which encompass all types of military systems including the soldier, avionics, and simulation. The issues with these displays are the amount of information that can be displayed, efficiency, luminance, bandwidth, ruggedness and lifetime. Orders of magnitude increases in the amount of information displayed are needed. Innovative technology solutions for Three Dimensional and very high resolution and efficient displays have to be developed. The data transfer rate and for the technology developed has to be taken into account. Evolutionary advances on existing technology solutions will not be considered. PHASE I: Develop a display concept and demonstrate the basic technology in a moderate resolution. Determine if technology has the capability of meeting goals for resolution, efficiency, and environmental ruggedness from measurements on test devices. The novel display devices must exceed the current state of the art in one or more areas. PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype display system in a realistic environment. Conduct testing to prove feasibility over extended operating conditions. PHASE III: The display devices develop could be used in a broad range of military and civilian display applications. By their nature, displays have dual use. True Three Dimensional Displays may be used by the military for battlespace management and squad urban assault planning. The commercial analog for these applications is Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control and engineering or modeling using three-dimensional visualization. Head mounted displays are required for avionics applications and Land Warrior, Future Combat Systems (FCS), and the Objective Force. A large commercial application is video games. For direct view displays the military and commercial applications are the same. REFERENCES: 1) Review of defense display research programs, SPIE. 2001 2) "Active optoelectronics using thin-film organic semiconductors" S.R.Forrest IEEE Jour of Selected Topics in Quan Elect. 6 (6): 1072-1083 NOV-DEC 2000 3) "Organic Based Light Emitting Devices", E. W. Forsythe and A. J. Campbell, SID Seminar Series, San Jose CA (2001). 4) "Volumetric three-dimensional display system with rasterization hardware" G. Favalora, R. K. Dorval, D. M. Hall, M. Giovinco, J. Napoli, Proc. of SPIE V 4297A, SPIE at Photonics West in San Jose CA (Jan. 2001). KEYWORDS: display, true three dimensional, resolution, efficiency. A02-044 TITLE: Development of a Field Portable Acousto-Optical Ultrasonic Evaluation System TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Develop, demonstrate and deliver a field portable acousto-optical (A-O) ultrasonic evaluation system employing a next generation, real-time, large field of view, flexible, acousto-optic sensor to assess damage/degradation of advanced materials (i.e., metals, composites, ceramics and adhesives) used on a variety of US Army platforms. The new A-O inspection system shall be nondestructive and non-intrusive, and have the capability of single-side evaluation. Thus able to assess complex shapes and structures, such as rocket and missile motor cases, launch tubes, mortars, spar and tail sections of helicopter rotor blades, small arms protective inserts (SAPI) used in body armor, sandwich structures and vehicle integral armor systems. Due to its versatility, the A-O inspection system shall be able to perform equally well in the field and on a process production line for the quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) of fabricated parts/components. DESCRIPTION: Acoustography is a vast improvement over conventional ultrasonic techniques, although further exploration and development of the technology is needed. A-O sensors are produced with a mesophase material sandwiched between glass plates. This makes the sensor fragile, heavy, rigid and limited in size. In addition, current A-O ultrasonic inspection systems still need to employ a water medium to transfer ultrasound to the part, to retrieve data, and are only near real-time. This effort would expand the technological development of A-O sensors to be incorporated with a flexible polymer material, making them low cost, lightweight, and durable for field assessment. The resulting inspection system would contact the part (single-side inspection), thus excluding the use of an immersion tank, and provide a wide area (ft2), real-time, full-field ultrasonic image. The system shall also include an automated archival system to increase reliability and efficiency. Quick assessment of the part's integrity over prolonged use could be conducted. Overcoming the technical barriers are challenging. Though, successful for a flat rigid parallel sensor, a flexible A-O sensor poses several technical challenges, such as amplitude and/or visual loss through the polymer, maintainability of ultrasonic resolution and sensitivity during bending, and the differentiation and elimination of birefringence response from bending and flexing. A new type of mesophase material may need to be developed. Thus, the technical risk for this endeavor is high. This work will advance the acousto-optic sensor technology for acoustography, and develop a new generation of highly portable, low-cost and efficient nondestructive evaluation (NDE) tools for ultrasonic inspection of produced, fielded and aged structures. PHASE I: The Phase I effort will concentrate on developing a flexible and rugged acousto-optic sensors suitable for ultrasonic inspection in the field and address technical barriers. The emphasis will be on showing the feasibility of the acousto-optic sensor to provide simple, compact, low-cost, and hand portable acoustography-based tools for the ultrasonic evaluation of damaged and aging structures in the field. PHASE II: The Phase II effort will refine the acousto-optic sensors further and extend the Phase I feasibility concept and develop a prototype flexible A-O ultrasonic evaluation system suitable for inspection of damaged and aging structures. The emphasis will be to develop acoustography-based methodology for detecting and quantifying anomalies such as cracks, corrosion, disbonds and delaminations that compromise structure integrity. Comparison tests with conventional ultrasonic techniques will be performed to determine relative efficiency and performance levels of the new A-O inspection system. PHASE III: Develop an automated A-O ultrasonic evaluation system suitable for marketing; employing and enhancing the technology gains in Phase II. COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: The system will be well suited for application to commercial aerospace, transportation and automotive industries, as well as use in the medical fields. REFERENCES: 1) A.Bond Thorley, H. Wang, and J. S. Sandhu, "Application of Acoustography for the Ultrasonic NDE of Aerospace Composites," in Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Materials and Composites IV, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 3993, p 23, March 2000. 2) J. S. Sandhu, H. Wang, W. J. Popek, "Acoustography for Rapid Ultrasonic Iinspection of Composites." Proceedings SPIE conference on NDE, Az, Dec. 1996. 3) J. S. Sandhu, H. Wang, W. J. Popek, "Recent Progress on Ultrasonic NDE Using Acoustography" Proceedings Second NTIAC Conference on NDE Applied to Process Control of Composite Fabrication, St. Louis, MO, 1996. KEYWORDS: Acousto-Optical, Ultrasonic, Nondestructive, Evaluation, Field Portable A02-045 TITLE: Oil-Free Thrust Bearings for Army Turboshaft Engines TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative lightweight, high load capacity, and compact Oil-Free thrust bearings for foil air bearing supported gas turbine engine shafts in a size class suitable for application to Army air and ground vehicles. DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks innovative Oil-Free thrust bearing technology for foil air bearing supported gas turbine engine rotors. Recent developments in journal foil air bearing rotor support technology enable Oil-Free gas turbine systems. However, Oil-Free thrust bearing technology requires further development to enable support of rotor axial loads anticipated in Army gas turbine engine propulsion systems. This topic seeks innovative concepts for lightweight, high load capacity, and compact Oil-Free thrust bearings to realize a completely Oil-Free gas turbine engine. The proposed research must push Oil-Free thrust bearing technology beyond the current state-of-the-art level into higher load capacities and higher temperature environment applications relevant to turbine engine requirements of Army vehicle systems. Proposers are encouraged to conceive and explore any relevant Oil-Free thrust bearing technologies. Innovative solutions involving hydrostatic pressure balancing, electromagnetic, passive magnetic, compliant foil, combination hybrid approaches or other new concepts are anticipated. The proposed innovation must feature lightweight characteristics for the complete thrust bearing system including any engine parasitic secondary airflow or electrical power draws. The proposal must identify the critical technology barriers that the proposed research effort must overcome to succeed in developing, applying and commercializing the technology. The proposal must discuss the innovation and technical risks involved in overcoming the critical technology barriers and present a reasonable basis, approach, and timeline for success. The proposal must address anticipated benefits of the technology (such as efficiency, cost, power density, reliability, and maintainability) to the vehicle system. The proposal must include information on potential spin-off military applications and commercial dual-use applications. Research emphasis under this topic must focus on Oil-Free thrust bearing technology including integration of the technology within the geometrical constraints of a gas turbine system. For purposes of laboratory technology demonstration, two configuration examples (A-Small and B-Large) are given below with minimum continuous steady-state operating parameters. Configuration "A" - Small Thrust Bearing: - Shaft diameter = 2.0 inches; Cavity diameter = 4.0 inches; Cavity length = 2.0 inches - Idle Condition: Thrust load = 400 lbs; Shaft speed = 25,000 rpm; Ambient temperature 500 F; Secondary air flow 0 lbm/s; Electrical power = 0 Watts - Maximum Condition: Thrust load = 1,000 lbs; Shaft speed = 50,000 rpm; Ambient temperature 700 F; Secondary air flow 0 lbm/s; Electrical power = 0 Watts Configuration "B" - Large Thrust Bearing: - Shaft diameter = 3.0 inches; Cavity diameter = 7.0 inches; Cavity length = 3.5 inches - Idle Condition: Thrust load = 400 lbs; Shaft speed = 15,000 rpm; Ambient temperature 500 F; Secondary air flow 0 lbm/s; Electrical power = 0 Watts - Maximum Condition: Thrust load = 3,000 lbs; Shaft speed = 25,000 rpm; Ambient temperature 700 F; Secondary air flow 0 lbm/s; Electrical power = 0 Watts Emphasis is placed on lightweight, high load capacity and compact design. For comparison and evaluation, the estimated weight of proposed innovative Oil-Free thrust bearings must be presented. Weight estimates include all hardware (rotating and static) in the cavity space including the shaft. If electrical power is required, the power conditioning, controllers and wiring harnesses may exist outside the cavity but the weights must be included in the weight estimate. Secondary air flow, electrical power and cavity length requirements beyond the conditions specified in the above configurations are considered integration penalties and for comparison purposes must be factored as follows: Secondary Air Flow (at 300 F, 25 psi): 30 lbs of weight per pound mass per second of air flow needed Electrical Power: 3 lbs of weight per kilowatt of electrical power needed Cavity Length: 15 lbs of weight per inch of cavity length needed beyond cavity length specified above
1) Agrawal, G. L.; "Foil Gas Bearings for Turbomachinery", Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE Paper 901236, 20th Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems, Williamsburg VA, 9-12 July 1990. 2) DellaCorte, C.; and Valco, M.; "Load Capacity Estimation of Foil Air Journal Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery Applications", NASA/TM-2000-209782, ARL-TR-2334, October 2000. 3) Emerson, T. P.; "The Applications of Foil Air Bearing Turbomachinery in Aircraft Environmental Control Systems", ASME 78-ENAS-18, 1978. 4) Heshmat, Hooshang, "Role of Foil Bearings in Advancement and Development of High-Speed Turbomachinery", Presented at the Second Pumping Machinery Symposium, Washington D.C., 20-24 June 1992.
6) Iordanoff, I.; "Analysis of an Aerodynamic Compliant Foil Thrust Bearing: Method for a Rapid Design", ASME Journal of Tribology, Vol. 121, pp. 816-822, 1999. 7) Licht, L.; "Foil Bearings for Axial and Radial Support of High Speed Rotors - Design, Development, and Determination of Operating Characteristics", NASA CR-2940, January 1978. 8) Walton, James F.; Heshmat, Hooshang; "Application of Foil Bearings to Turbomachinery Including Vertical Operation", ASME, 1999.Keywords: Oil-Free, foil bearing, thrust bearing, gas turbine, auxiliary power unit, power generation, turbomachinery KEYWORDS: Oil-Free, foil bearing, thrust bearing, gas turbine, auxiliary power unit, power generation, turbomachinery
DESCRIPTION: 1) Rechargeable Batteries - Improved Li-Ion or Li battery chemistries are being sought for energy storage for electronic equipment, small electrical equipment and for use in hybrid power for robotic platforms and future lightweight vehicles. Operation over the full military temperature range (-40o to 70o C) is required. The highest possible energy and power densities, minimal degradation and maximal charge retention in storage is being sought. We are seeking new (including nanophase) electrode materials and new electrolytes (including polymeric electrolytes) to achieve desired improvements over the present state of art. Of interest also, are new all-temperature battery formulations that would allow packaging of cells in soft plastic by dint of high chemical stability of cell components and the absence of gas production during use and storage.
b) The development of novel activation methods. Such methods would release a highly conducting electrolyte within milliseconds after gun launch with 15,000 to 30,000 setback and 45-500 rps spin. The methods could include phase change, the use of a container material which pulverizes on impact, the use of frangible microencapsulated electrolyte, etc. 3) Lithium/Air Batteries - Lithium/air batteries could provide the relatively high energy densities required for future "soldier systems". New concepts and materials are being sought to cope with anticipated problems of slow oxygen reduction kinetics, atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide contamination, user safety, etc. As Li/air batteries would probably be used primarily to recharge more conventional lithium batteries, moderate power densities (< 40 W/kg), operation in a higher range of internal temperatures and delayed start could be tolerated. PHASE I: Phase I should result in the identification/synthesis of at least one of the major cell components for a chemistry which could provide performance exceeding the present stare-of-art. PHASE II: Phase II will provide for further exploration of cell components and for the formulation and demonstration of a complete prototype cell or battery. PHASE III: The energy storage components under consideration here are of great potential value for use with cellular phones, laptop computers, camcorders, many other commercial electronic equipment and for civilian electric-drive vehicles. OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: The new primary batteries (for use in combat) being sought are to be "dual use" as compared with present Li/SO2 primaries which are not. The commercial base is expected to foster competition and reduced costs. The new rechargeable batteries (to be used mainly for training) could provide power for a fraction of the operating cost of primary batteries. The substitution of active for reserve batteries could provide power for smart munitions applications at a fraction of the cost of the latter power source. REFERENCES: 1) Wolfenstine, M. Shictman, D. Foster, J. Read, and W. K. Behl, J. Power Sources, 91, 118 (2000). 2) Wolfenstine and W. Behl, J. Power Sources, 96, 277 (2001). KEYWORDS: batteries, reserve batteries, anodes, cathodes, electrolytes Directory: osbp -> SBIR -> solicitations solicitations -> Army sbir 09. 1 Proposal submission instructions dod small Business Innovation (sbir) Program solicitations -> Navy sbir fy09. 1 Proposal submission instructions solicitations -> Army 16. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Air force 12. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Army 14. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program submitting Proposals on Navy Topics solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program solicitations -> Armament research, development and engineering center solicitations -> Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy 11. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions Download 1.78 Mb. Share with your friends:
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