DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

Submission of Proposals

 

 

DARPA’s charter is to help maintain U.S. technological superiority over, and to prevent technological surprise by, its potential adversaries.  Thus, the DARPA goal is to pursue as many highly imaginative and innovative research ideas and concepts with potential military and dual-use applicability as the budget and other factors will allow.

 

DARPA has identified technical topics to which small businesses may respond in the second fiscal year (FY) 01 solicitation (FY01.2).  Please note that these topics are UNCLASSIFIED and only UNCLASSIFIED proposals will be entertained.  Although they are unclassified, the subject matter may be considered to be a “critical technology”.  If you plan to employee NON-U.S. Citizens in the performance of a DARPA SBIR contract, please inform the Contracting Officer who is negotiating your contract.  These are the only topics for which proposals will be accepted at this time.  A list of the topics currently eligible for proposal submission are included, followed by full topic descriptions.  The topics originated from DARPA technical program managers and are directly linked to their core research and development programs.

 

Please note that 1 original and 4 copies of each proposal must be mailed or hand-carried.  DARPA will not accept proposal submissions by electronic facsimile (fax).  A checklist has been prepared to assist small business activities in responding to DARPA topics.  Please use this checklist prior to mailing or hand-carrying your proposal(s) to DARPA.  Do not include the checklist with your proposal.

 

·                      DARPA Phase I awards will be Firm Fixed Price contracts.

 

·                      Phase I proposals shall not exceed $99,000, and may range from 6 to 8 months in duration.  Phase I contracts can not be extended.

 

·                      DARPA Phase II proposals must be invited by the respective Phase I technical monitor (with the exception of Fast Track Phase II proposals – see Section 4.5 of this solicitation).  DARPA Phase II proposals must be structured as follows: the first 10-12 months (base effort) should be approximately $375,000; the second 10-12 months of incremental funding should also be approximately $375,000.  The entire Phase II effort should generally not exceed $750,000.

 

·                      It is expected that a majority of the Phase II contracts will be Cost Plus Fixed Fee.  However, DARPA may choose to award a Firm Fixed Price Contract or an Other Transaction, on a case-by-case basis.

 

Prior to receiving a contract award, the small business MUST be registered in the Centralized Contractor Registration (CCR) Program.  You may obtain registration information by calling 1-888-352-9333 or internet: http://ccr.edi.disa.mil and www.ccr.dlsc.dla.mil.

 

The responsibility for implementing DARPA’s SBIR Program rests in the Contracts Management Office.  The DARPA SBIR Program Manager is Ms. Connie Jacobs.  DARPA invites the small business community to send proposals directly to DARPA at the following address:

 

DARPA/CMO/SBIR

Attention:  Ms. Connie Jacobs

3701 North Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203-1714

(703) 526-4170

Home Page http://www.darpa.mil 

 

SBIR proposals will be processed by the DARPA Contracts Management Office and distributed to the appropriate technical office for evaluation and action.

 

DARPA selects proposals for funding based on technical merit and the evaluation criteria contained in this solicitation document.  DARPA gives evaluation criterion a., “The soundness and technical merit of the proposed approach and its incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution” (refer to section 4.2 Evaluation Criteria - Phase I), twice the weight of the other two evaluation criteria.  As funding is limited, DARPA reserves the right to select and fund only those proposals considered to be superior in overall technical quality and highly relevant to the DARPA mission.  As a result, DARPA may fund more than one proposal in a specific topic area if the technical quality of the proposal(s) is deemed superior, or it may not fund any proposals in a topic area.  Each proposal submitted to DARPA must have a topic number and must be responsive to only one topic.

 

·                      Cost proposals will be considered to be binding for 180 days from closing date of solicitation.

 

·                      Successful offerors will be expected to begin work no later than 30 days after contract award.

 

·                      For planning purposes, the contract award process is normally completed within 45 to 60 days from issuance of the selection notification letter to Phase I offerors.

 

The DOD SBIR Program has implemented a streamlined Fast Track process for SBIR projects that attract matching cash from an outside investor for the Phase II SBIR effort, as well as for the interim effort between Phases I and II.  Refer to Section 4.5 for Fast Track instructions.  DARPA encourages Fast Track Applications ANYTIME during the 6th month of the Phase I effort.  The Fast Track Phase II proposal must be submitted no later than the last business day in the 7^th month of the effort.  Technical dialogues with DARPA Program Managers are encouraged to ensure research continuity during the interim period and Phase II.  If a Phase II contract is awarded under the Fast Track program, the amount of the interim funding will be deducted from the Phase II award amount.  It is expected that interim funding generally, will not exceed $40,000.

 

To encourage the transition of SBIR research into DoD Systems, DARPA has implemented a Phase II Enhancement policy.  Under this policy DARPA will provide a phase II company with additional Phase II SBIR funding, not to exceed $200K, if the company can match the additional SBIR funds with non-SBIR funds from DoD core-mission funds or the private sector; or at the discretion of the DARPA Program Manager.  DARPA will generally provide the additional Phase II funds by modifying the Phase II contract.

 

 

DARPA FY2001.2 Phase I SBIR

Checklist

 

1)   Proposal Format

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

      a.      Cover Sheet (formerly referred to as Appendices A and B) MUST be submitted electronically                              ______

               (identify topic number)

 

      b.      Identification and Significance of Problem or Opportunity                                                                                       ______

 

      c.      Phase I Technical Objectives                                                                                                                                      ______

 

      d.      Phase I Work Plan                                                                                                                                                      ______

 

      e.      Related Work                                                                                                                                                              ______

 

      f.      Relationship with Future Research and/or Development                                                                                           ______

 

      g.      Commercialization Strategy                                                                                                                                        ______

 

      h.      Key Personnel, Resumes                                                                                                                                            ______

 

      i.       Facilities/Equipment                                                                                                                                                   ______

 

      j.       Consultants                                                                                                                                                                 ______

 

      k.      Prior, Current, or Pending Support                                                                                                                            ______

 

      l.       Cost Proposal (see Appendix C of this Solicitation).  Ensure your cost proposal is signed.                                    ______

 

      m.     Company Commercialization Report (formerly referred to as Appendix E)                                                             ______

               MUST be registered electronically and a signed hardcopy submitted with your proposal

               (register at http://www.dodsbir.net/companycomercialization)

 

 

2)   Bindings

 

      a.      Staple proposals in upper left-hand corner.                                                                                                               ______

 

      b.      DO NOT use a cover.                                                                                                                                                ______

 

      c.      DO NOT use special bindings.                                                                                                                                  ______

 

 

3)   Page Limitation

 

      a.      Total for each proposal is 25 pages inclusive of cost proposal and resumes.                                                            ______

 

      b.      Beyond the 25 page limit do not send appendices, attachments                                                                                ______

               and/or additional references.

 

      c.      Company Commercialization Report (formerly referred to as Appendix E)                                                             ______

               IS NOT included in the page count.

 

4)   Submission Requirement for Each Proposal

 

      a.      Original proposal, including signed Cover Sheet (formerly referred to as Appendix A)                                            ______

              

b.         Four photocopies of original proposal, including signed Cover Sheet                                                                       ______

and Company Commercialization Report

(formerly referred to as Appendices A, B and E)

 

 

DARPA SB012-001 TITLE:  Spectral Cueing/Spatial Confirmation Targeting System

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics, and Battlespace Environment.

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a common optic system that will allow the capability to perform wide field of view spectral cueing and narrow field of view spatial confirmation on military targets of interest.  Spectral resolution should be on the order of 1nm in the visible.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Most current Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) systems utilize panchromatic spatial imagery.  Unfortunately, these systems require high resolution, i.e. many pixels on target (narrow field-of-view), and are susceptible to Camouflage, Concealment, and Deception (CC&D) techniques.  Multi/Hyperspectral Imagery, on the other hand, requires much more effort to perform effective CC&D since the techniques must be robust across many spectral bands.  Also, since spectral detection techniques do not require high spatial resolution, wide field of view searches are possible.  Tunable filter systems are of particular interest since they possess the capability to collect data in spectral regions-of-interest rather than gathering massive amounts of unutilized data.  Unfortunately, there is not a common optic system that can perform both tasks of spatial and spectral recognition.  This effort will focus on a system that can perform wide field of view spectral anomaly detection and narrow field of view spatial confirmation.

                PHASE I:  Draft a paper design system with common fore-optics that allow: 1) Wide field-of-view with selective spectral tuning from 400-1200nm and spectral bands having less than 5nm bandwidth.   2) Narrow field-of-view that has the capability to pan, or search, within the wide field-of-view.

                PHASE II:  Fabricate and demonstrate the system designed in Phase 1.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technology developed under this SBIR effort can be utilized in the commercial sector to monitor such areas as agricultural growth, geological formations, and water pollution.

 

KEYWORDS:  Automatic Target Recognition, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, Imaging Spectroscopy, Remote Sensing.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Chavez, P.S., Jr., Sides, S.C., and J.A. Anderson. (1991) Comparison of three different methods to merge multiresolution and multispectral data: Landsat TM and SPOT panchromatic. PE & RS., v. 57 (3),  295-303.

2.  Ehlers, M. (1991) Multi-sensor image fusion techniques in remote sensing.  ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing., v. 46, .19-30.

3.  Garguet-Duport, B., Girel, J., Chassery, J., and G. Pautou. (1996) The use of multiresolution analysis and wavelets transform for merging SPOT panchromatic and multispectral image data. PE & RS., v. 62 (9),  1057-1066.

4.  D. G. Goodenough, D. Charlebois, S. Matwin, and M. Robson (1994)  Automating Reuse of Software for Expert System Analysis of Remote Sensing Data  IEEE Trans. on Geos. and Rem. Sens., 32:525-533.

5.  Larsen, M. (1997) Crown modelling to find tree top positions in aerial photographs. International Airborne remote sensing Conference and Exhibition, Proceedings II-428-435.

 

DARPA SB012-002 TITLE:  Robust, No Power MEMS Sensors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment.

 

OBJECTIVE:  To develop robust, no power, low cost MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors for missile guidance and missile health monitoring applications.

 

DESCRIPTION:  With increasing developments in MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), new sensing techniques and devices are emerging rapidly.  However, three significant deterrents to military application of many of these devices exist: 1) the miniature size and, in some cases performance of the sensors, are nullified by the size and performance of the power supply for the MEMS sensing devices; 2) the fabrication of different sensors on a single substrate is often difficult or impossible due to the incompatibility of certain processes; or 3) the devices cannot withstand military environments (shock, vibration, humidity, temperature, etc.).  There is significant technical risk in all of the above areas; however, the pay-off if successful makes it well worth the investment.  The purpose of this topic is to identify and develop MEMS sensing technologies that address these issues.  Techniques such as Rayleigh surface wave detection or resetting latch banks have the potential for providing good performance while providing robust, no power, low cost sensors which can sense a variety of parameters and be fabricated in a single device.  A variety of sensors are needed, including inertial (gyroscopes and accelerometers), temperature, humidity, chemical/biological/ neurological agents, strain, shock, and barometric pressure and wind speed sensors.  Proposals should address as many of these sensor types as possible in accordance with each of the issues above.  Award consideration will be based heavily upon the completeness of addressing the named concerns, the innovative nature of the technology proposed, the economical advantages of the device(s) proposed, the applicability of the devices to both military and commercial uses, and the performance specifications/expectations of the sensor(s).

                PHASE I:  Identify specific design and fabrication techniques for MEMS sensors that address the enhancement of two or more application issues.  Develop a detailed approach and schedule and develop a design concept for integration of multiple sensor types.  Analytically demonstrate the capability of the proposed technology(ies) that will provide robust, low-cost, no power MEMS sensing devices for military applications.  Define theoretical limitations of, and any technological barriers to implementation of, your design (including such parameters as performance, size, reliability, cost, etc.).  Quantify the advantages of your approach, and conduct proof-of-principle experiments to verify proposed techniques.  Short-term performance goals for inertial sensors must achieve a bias of 30 °/hr, with a dynamic range of ± 2,000 °/sec, over a temperature range of 0°C to +50°C.

                Phase II:  Validate your robust, no power MEMS sensors for military applications by fabricating and demonstrating a brass-board prototype(s) of a no power m-sensor suite, m-Inertial Measurement Unit and/or m-sensor components.  Teaming with industry, or academia foundries as necessary is encouraged.  Confirm performance through laboratory testing and quantify performance specifications for the micro-devices.  Component-only demonstrations must be substantiated with judicious examination of integration issues.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The dual use potential of the product(s) from this effort is phenomenal.  Markets extend from numerous automotive, aeronautical and robotic applications to mining and oil-drilling applications to medical and food industry applications.  Potential market sales of small, low-cost conformal environmental and inertial sensing devices are astronomical.

 

KEYWORDS:  MEMS, Sensors, Inertial Measurement Units, Rayleigh Waves.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Department of Defense, “Microelectromechanical Systems: A DoD Dual Use Technology Industrial Assessment,” December 1995.

2.  Varadan, V. K. and Varadan, V. V., “Wireless Smart Conformal MEMS-Based Sensors for Aerospace Structures,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA-98-5244, 1998.

 

 

DARPA SB012-003 TITLE:  New Approach to Wave Oriented Radio Propagation Modeling

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Information Systems Technology

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a new wave-oriented approach to the simulation of terrestrial radio wave propagation in high bandwidth, high data rate channels, with greater physical accuracy, which can predict relevant channel parameters for end-to-end paths over a variety of terrain features and under different atmospheric conditions.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The computation of radio wave propagation over terrain of military and commercial wireless interest requires the simulation of end-to-end electromagnetic propagation over a variety of terrain and manmade features: hills, mountains, relatively flat earth, water bodies, rural areas, and suburban and urban areas.  Propagation paths into buildings and into and through foliage need to be considered.  Path configurations of interest include ground-mobile-to-ground-mobile, tower-to-tower, tower-to-ground-mobile, air or satellite-to-ground-mobile, and air-to-air.  Special cases such as propagation in tunnels also need to be modeled.  Path parameters affecting high bandwidth, high data rate communication channels must be simulated accurately.  Path loss, polarization effects, and multi-path effects, such as angle of arrival, path delay and delay spread, coherence lengths, and fading statistics are potentially critical parameters.  Existing methods of modeling such propagation paths include ray tracing approaches and the approximate full wave Parabolic Equation Method.  New propagation simulation approaches with greater physical accuracy and greater computational efficiency need to be developed.  Such approaches should be oriented to wave field propagation, but allow the expedient transition between wave-like and ray tracing or asymptotic techniques.  A suite of modeling EM engines should allow the selection of different levels of physical accuracy, with correspondingly different computation times.  The model must be capable of calculating the effect of atmospheric conditions on the propagation.  Interfaces must be provided for the major commercial and government terrain, urban, and foliage databases.  The model must be capable of analyzing narrow band frequency waveforms and arbitrary ultra-wideband waveforms.  The frequency range of interest is HF through 100 GHz.

                PHASE I:  Demonstrate an EM computational engine capable of predicting channel parameters in the limited case of hilly, rural terrain.  Demonstrate a graphical user interface optimized for radio wave propagation and radio channel parameter prediction.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate the full capability propagation code, capable of predicting the channel parameters noted above for end-to-end paths through a variety of terrain and manmade structures.

 

PHASE III: DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The resulting propagation code will be used by commercial wireless companies and government and military activities to design wireless communications networks and to design or procure the communications hardware.  It will be used to test new network and systems concepts for both military and commercial applications and to evaluate the ability of communications to support new military warfighting concepts such as the Future Combat Systems.  It will be used to develop and evaluate communications plans for specific military operational areas and emergency and disaster areas for government activities.  It will be used for en-route tactical communication planning by military and government contingency elements.  It will be used to inject realistic communications path characteristics in war gaming and training.  The market is expected to be wireless communications companies, government communications contractors, military communications planning and training activities, and the consultants supporting these activities.

 

KEY WORDS:  Radio Wave Propagation, Propagation Model.

 

REFERENCES:  None are provided because doing so will lead candidate proposals toward the use of existing propagation models, rather than the desired innovation.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-004 TITLE:  Processing Techniques for Dynamic Sources

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics, and Battlespace Environment

 

OBJECTIVE:  The work will develop innovative processing techniques for multiple moving acoustic sources.  The intent is to be able to suppress a field of moving acoustic interferers while simultaneously enhancing the signal from a weak source that is also moving.  The objective is to obtain significant passive sonar gains by extending coherent integration times by robustly compensating for source/receiver motion.  The goal is to obtain 10 dB better interference rejection and a 6 dB or more improvement in signal gain for passive sonar.

 

DESCRIPTION:  One of the fundamental limitations of adaptive signal processing stems from the need to estimate source statistics.  Standard techniques make stationarity assumptions that are demonstrably inappropriate for passive sonar.  In shallow water, the expected acoustic environment will include many discrete interferers that have appreciable range and bearing rates.  Standard processing techniques have a limited ability to suppress these interferers; weak signals of interest from sources that are also in motion are also difficult to enhance.  The goal here will be to develop processing techniques that significantly improve processing performance in this situation.  Motion compensation techniques have been developed for radar sensors, imagery (the MPEG standard), and are emerging in sonar, but complex propagation environments and the large number of sources complicate the sonar problem.  Emerging techniques for motion compensation in sonar are focused on narrowband models; the goal here is to develop compensation techniques that may be applied to broadband source signals.  There is substantial risk, as evidenced by the fact that there are as of yet no standard techniques for performing this function, and indeed it is unclear whether practical optimum techniques exist, especially for broadband passive sonar.  Generally, adaptive signal processing involves adaptively computing beam patterns by applying variable complex gains (weights) to individual sensor outputs, then summing the results.  The optimum adaptive weights require knowledge of the data covariance matrix.  This matrix is usually unknown, and therefore, must be estimated.  In a dynamic environment, the sources are temporally non-stationary, so the problem is not ergodic, and covariance estimates obtained by temporal smoothing are inherently mismatched.  There have been two approaches to this problem.  First, there are a host of techniques designed to more efficiently estimate the data covariance matrix.  At some scale, the problem becomes quasi-stationary; the amount of mismatch due to source/interferer mismatch negligible, and optimum performance may be recovered.  The issue for this approach is that coherent integration times are not extended, so coherent gain on the signal of interest is not improved, although interference may be adequately suppressed.  The second approach is to incorporate models of the source/receiver dynamics directly in the problem formulation.  This model-based approach has been much less explored.  One such approach is to model the time-varying behavior of the covariance matrix and incorporate this into adaptive weight estimators.  Regardless, issues associated with a dynamic signal, as opposed to dynamic interference, have not been thoroughly studied.

                PHASE I:  This phase will develop a feasibility concept and implement processing techniques that target source fields that are known to be in motion.  A software implementation of the concept will be tested on simulated data.

                PHASE II:  The task in Phase II is to more completely develop and test the processing developed in Phase I.  A software prototype should be developed and demonstrated on a sample data set.

                PHASE III:  A real-time software module suitable for production will be developed and tested at sea.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Candidate applications for the product of this SBIR range from medical ultrasonic diagnostics and therapy, marine biology/fisheries and non-invasive testing to military issues such as undersea sound navigation, threat detection, and weapons guidance.

 

KEYWORDS:  Acoustics, Adaptive Signal Processing, Motion Compensation.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Rapidly Adaptive Matched Field Processing for Nonstationary Environments and Active Sonars, J. Ward and A. Baggeroer, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 1998, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 1998.

2.  Multi-Rate Adaptive Nulling of Moving Interferers, H. Cox, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2000, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2000.

3.  Theory of Partially Adaptive Radar, S. Goldstein and I.S. Reed, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electonic Systems, Oct. 1997.

4.  Performance Analysis of the Derivative-Based Updating Method, M. Zatman, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2001, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2001.

5.  Multi-Rate Adaptive Nulling of Moving Interferers, H. Cox, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2000, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2000.

6.  Theory of Partially Adaptive Radar, S. Goldstein and I.S. Reed, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electonic Systems, Oct. 1997.

7.  Performance Analysis of the Derivative-Based Updating Method, M. Zatman, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2001, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2001.

 

 

DARPA SB012-005 TITLE:  RF Polymers for Integrated Sensors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop innovative uses for radio frequency (RF) polymers with application to integrated RF sensor technologies that provide increased functionality to reduce physical size, power consumption, signal loss, weight, and cost for structurally integrated apertures.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The research will explore revolutionary concepts and conduct feasibility demonstration efforts of RF sensors that employ RF polymers to provide a low cost manufacturing capability.  The effort will examine advanced RF polymer materials and RF aperture concepts for use on affordable, structurally integrated apertures.  The effort will consider ideas that lead to a working aperture demonstration at the end of Phase II.  This includes multi-function/integrated aperture concepts.  Also, the effort could focus on the RF polymer conductive, dielectric or magnetic properties that will dramatically improve the above type of integrated apertures for final demonstrations.  Limited material coupons or hardware breadboards will be fabricated to verify modeling results required.  Selection of the demonstration vehicles shall be based on the developed RF polymers suitability for a specific integrated aperture and the availability of suppliers transferring these technologies from a research to a production environment.  This program shall be divided into two phases.

                PHASE I:  Phase I will be the concept exploration phase that includes the verification of the novel integrated aperture architectures that make best use of the advanced RF Polymers.  Concept Validation and Verification.

                PHASE II:  Functional demonstration vehicles and design of potential products shall be completed, such as an RF Polymer with a magnetic property appropriate for use as part of a circulator in an integrated aperture.  It is expected that fabrication capability of commercial and military RF Polymer products will be established by end of Phase II.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL:  Commercial applications include portable electronics, wearable electronics, space-based systems, automotive electronics, and RF tags.

 

KEYWORDS:  RF Polymers, Integrated Apertures, RF on Flex.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  AFOSR Polymer Workshop, Dr. Charles Lee, AFOSR, 7-8 Dec, Hyatt, Chicago, IL.

 

 

DARPA SB012-006 TITLE:  Gun Launched Interceptors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Weapons (Conventional Weapons)

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop technologies to enable supersonic, highly maneuverable, gun launched, guided medium caliber projectiles.  Leap-ahead improvements are sought for survivable actuation devices, innovative flight control, inertial measurements and data links.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Dynamic engagement simulations have suggested that gun-based weapon systems utilizing guided hit-to-kill projectiles have a number of militarily significant applications.  A new generation of gun launched projectiles compatible with 12-40 millimeter weapons may be possible using recent advances in actuation technologies (materials/microfluidics/thrusters/synthetic jets), flight hardened electronics and packaging for +100,000g setback accelerations and power sources.  Advanced manufacturing processes and multi-layer fabrication techniques may make it possible to fabricate the fins or structure of the interceptor with embedded electronic or control components.  Of particular interest are technologies which enable the development of interceptors with greater than 50g’s of lateral acceleration and less than 20 millisecond time constants.

                PHASE I:  Develop a low fidelity, system-level concept employing gun launched, supersonic projectiles having an outer diameter less than or equal to 40 millimeters.  Demonstrate through analysis, models or detailed simulations the feasibility of the projectile.  Although the emphasis is on enabling technologies, the devices must correlate back to the constraints of the offerer-developed system level concept.  The hypothetical system concept must predict a system accuracy of less than 1 meter at 3000 meters downrange, be capable of exceeding 50 g’s of controlled lateral acceleration within 300 meters of barrel exit, survive over 100,000 g’s of firing setback and possess a minimum terminal velocity of 1000 meters per second at 3000 meters while carrying approximately 750 grams of payload.  The design must then focus on one or more of the specific component technologies required by the system concept to launch the projectile, track targets, provide fire control and communicate with the projectile, etc.  Continued development of the specified components will be the focus for Phase II.  The technical and manufacturing risks associated with the concept must be identified in this phase and a detailed risk reduction plan for follow-on development must be presented.

                PHASE II:  Design, fabricate and demonstrate the performance of critical components needed to achieve the required performance levels or a complete projectile.  Performance demonstrations will strive to utilize and demonstrate prototypes that are consistent with the volume and mass requirements of the offerer-developed system concept.  Teaming with munitions-related industrial partners who are funding relevant internal R&D efforts is encouraged.  Collaboration with munitions-related partners within government labs (at no cost to the SBIR program) is encouraged as a means to; 1) understand the launch and flight environments, 2) gain access to wind tunnels, air guns or other valuable development tools, 3) leverage advanced technologies developed under previous DoD-sponsored programs, and 4) facilitate commercialization/Phase III opportunities.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technologies for supersonic control, drag reduction, inertial sensors, projectile communications and power can be used as a basis to design civilian projectiles for law enforcement applications and aerodynamic flight bodies for the civil and military aircraft industry.

 

KEYWORDS:  Guided Projectiles, Micro-Fluidics, Controllable Drag, Inertial Sensors, Communications, Tracking, Fire Control, Supersonic Flight Control, High-G Maneuvers, Hit-to-Kill Lethality, Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles, Man Portable Air Defense Systems, Embedded Electronics, Structurally Integrated Devices, Smart Materials, Wind Tunnels, High-G Launch Setback.

 

 

DARPA SB012-007 TITLE:  Multi-Modal Command Interaction

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop multimode command interaction technology integrating speaking and sketching protocols with maps; these innovative interaction techniques must work in harmony with current command methods, significantly improving overall performance.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Computer systems and digital information in command posts often go unused or are used in tandem with paper-based systems because operators trust the paper-based system to a greater degree.  This lack of confidence in digital systems can largely be attributed to difficult-to-learn and difficult-to-use systems, or to the fact that systems go down if you lose power.  The overall goal of this research and development effort is to develop and test innovative new forms of multimodal human-computer interaction in command posts with a focus on improving overall confidence and performance.  Key factors that must be evaluated relative to performance are productivity gains, ease of training, fewer errors, flexible collaboration, and less susceptibility to power and communications failures.  In addition success will mean that the command post staff has significant confidence in the digital system and the specific user interface and interaction methods.  Special emphasis must be given to multimodal interfaces that allow users to speak and draw to maps in order to provide normal modes of interaction for operators.

                PHASE I:  Develop an architecture for multimodal interaction with emphasis on combining speech and sketching on maps.  Perform initial implementation experiments that provide evidence that the approach can be applied to map-based command post tasks operating in diverse hardware platforms and form factors, including wearable, wall-sized and paper-based systems.  Develop a set of metrics and an experimental paradigm for demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of the technology.

                PHASE II:  Develop and conduct experiments with a collaborative system based on the architecture from Phase I, which supports multimodal interaction with map-based systems.  The system should employ voice and sketching technologies, accept military symbology found in Army and Marine Corps field manuals, and should operate with a wide range of devices including:  Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablets, laptops, workstations, paper maps, and wall-sized systems.  The system should be usable by inexperienced military personnel, as well as by expert military users, with a minimum of training.  The system should be evaluated in US Army or US Marine Corps exercises according to the experimental paradigm established in Phase I.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technology developed under this SBIR can be used in the interfaces for a number of commercial technologies, including PDAs, cell-phones, as well as desktop and pen-based computers.  Applications that can utilize this technology include executive information systems, commercial command and control systems, and data-entry systems.

 

KEYWORDS:  Multimodal Interaction, Integrated Speech and Sketching.

 

 

DARPA SB012-008 TITLE:  Genetically Engineered Biofilms

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Biomedical

 

OBJECTIVE:  To determine the efficacy of genetically engineering biofilms for the detection of bacteriological warfare/chemical warfare (BW/CW) hazards and the potential for immediate warning and intervention at the site of the event.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Biofilms are common in the environment and represent a unique non- vegetative state of microbial existence.  In this state, many microbes exists in a lamellar protein matrix with greatly expanded metabolic and functional characteristics including the natural ability to sense other organisms via built-in signal transduction pathways.  Common occurrences of biofilms include dental plaque, fouled ship hulls and cooling systems, the protein matrix seen on indwelling catheters and the organic coating in most irrigation and plumbing systems.  Their ubiquitous nature, hardiness, and potential for genetic engineering, makes them a promising candidate for exploring their use as broad surveillance devices for the presence of hazardous substances such as pathogens or environmental contaminants.  A secondary application is in the potential to link detection and neutralization by the same genetically engineered biofilm.

                PHASE I:  Feasibility:  Explore the ability of natural biofilms to sense environmental contaminants and pathogens.  Genetically modify the physiology, biochemistry and structural features of biofilms to explore their possible use as simple detection systems; demonstrate safety of biofilm-based system.

                PHASE II:  Demonstration:  Characterize biofilm systems for specific detection; link detection and activation or neutralization; selection of specific agents of interest; broaden application to chemical agents.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Genetically engineered biofilms which are capable of detecting environmental hazards such as biological or chemical agents and initiating a neutralization process would shorten the time between detection and the safety of an area, food or water source.  Commercially, biofilms are relatively untapped and under utilized by both the medical and environmental scientists.  Applications include early detection of exposure to disease, ecological contaminants and increased food safety.

 

KEYWORDS:  Biofilm, Food Safety, Water Safety, Biological/Chemical Defense.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/research/Cell-cell%20communication/default.htm.

2.  Biofilms: Community Interactions and Control (Biofilm Club Publications) by Martin Jones, Hilary Lappin-Scott (Editor), Peter Gilbert (Editor), Pauline Handley (Editor), Julian Wimpenny (Editor).

 

 

DARPA SB012-009 TITLE:  Autogenous Repair of High Performance Materials

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Materials / Processes

 

OBJECTIVE:  Establish practical technology for fail-safe use of highly stressed materials/components of military platforms by development of rapid means for their automatic and autogenous repair or amelioration of damage.

 

DESCRIPTION:  All military platforms and weapons unavoidably contain inherent flaws in the materials of their construction.  It is these flaws and other damage sites introduced while in service, which grow and ultimately lead to either sudden catastrophic failures or to less dramatic, but very costly and performance-limiting aging/wear-out failures.  There is a need to avoid such failures for the sake of successful mission performance, safety and reduction of life cycle maintenance and repair costs.  Current means for achieving this are expensive, take assets out of service for prolonged periods for maintenance and require retirement of parts based on statistical criteria.  None of these deal with unanticipated conditions leading to failure while a system is in service.  To avoid all of these limitations, methods and technologies are needed which cause materials to self-correct damage features and damage effects automatically while in service.  Achievement of this goal for high performance materials requires innovations that can automatically and internally reinforce or repair them while in operation.  Materials to be considered must be relevant to military systems and include metals, polymers and composites.  Incorporation of capabilities into the microstructure of a material for its self-modification upon experiencing damage is to be emphasized.  Modifications leading to self-repair or self-patching of a material must be automatically and locally triggered by in-service conditions/effects (e.g., damage features, failure precursors, intensity of mechanical response, heat generation, chemical reactions, etc.)  Schemes that require external intervention when damage occurs, rather than those that are automatic and self-contained within a materials system are not included in this program.  Any such automatic schemes must be capable of being effective rapidly enough to offer hope for avoidance of catastrophic failure. Proposers must address this response/effectiveness time explicitly for specific materials.  In addition to self-healing concepts, this program also includes self-triggered, self-reinforcement considerations leading to increased capabilities for damping, stiffening, deflection and vibration control which would provide resistance to damage from dynamic loads.  There are many phenomena, which might be considered as the basis for self-repair/self-reinforcement of high performance engineering materials.  Practicality of implementation of a specific modification mode should be a major consideration in proposals.

                PHASE I:  Demonstrate efficacy of phenomena and approaches proposed to achieve automatically-triggered self-repair or self-reinforcement of high performance materials, or bringing damage propagation to a halt, or reinforcing sites undergoing damaging influences and even the restoration of soundness to damaged specimens.  Proposed approaches for self-healing and related effects should consider triggering phenomena, the self-contained character of a self-healing materials system, shelf life concerns and measurements of the extent of restoration of property levels for materials investigated.  Laboratory specimens of selected materials with seeded, controlled damage features (or potential damage initiation sites) should be evaluated as demonstration of proof principle of any proposed concepts.  Analyze rate at which triggering and self-repair can occur for the approach proposed.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate integrity of self-repair/self-reinforced specimens by testing after their exposure, under mechanical loads to relevant environmental conditions.  Analyze load-carrying capability of self-repaired/self-reinforced materials and functions of time and imposed stress.  Demonstrate best approach on specimens damaged under simulated in-service conditions.  Identify and evaluate most suitable non-distractive evaluation (NDE) method for evaluation of self-repaired/self-reinforced materials under practical (non-laboratory) conditions.  Modify approach to self-repair/self reinforcement as needed. Document approach and test procedures.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Successful development will result in processes, methods and systems with multiple applications in military aircraft, ships, and other vehicles.  Commercial applications can be found, among many others, in the aircraft and propulsion industries, heavy machinery, chemical and other plants, power generation systems, and civil structures which will be subjected to combined influences of mechanical stresses, cyclic loads, humid and harsh chemical environments and perhaps vibration and seismic loads.

 

KEYWORDS:  Materials Failure, Fracture, Self-Repair, Fatigue, Damage Accumulation, Fail-Safe Operation, Reliability, Metals, Composites, Polymers, Crack Growth.

 

 

DARPA SB012-010 TITLE:  Portable Lifts

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE:  Development of a chemical-mechanical powered machine that would enable a small unit of soldiers to scale buildings quietly and quickly in the urban terrain.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Military doctrine in the urban terrain recommends that buildings be cleared from the top down, allowing the adversary to escape rather than force a confrontation.  Current tactics rely on folding ladders, which can be bulky and awkward to carry and assemble in battlefield conditions.  Other more traditional approaches utilize grappling hooks and a soldiers climbing ability.  Either approach leaves soldiers exposed for an extended period of time.  The energy required for lifting a soldier is rather modest, i.e., the potential energy change is equivalent to a small amount of hydrocarbon fuel.  The Carnot efficiency of engines, power transmissions, heat transfer, noise generation and engine controllers all contribute to the technical challenge and will ultimately limit the achievable performance of such a machine.  Creating a reasonably efficient and power dense conversion device that is capable of creating 1-2 hp of mechanical work quietly will be a tremendous challenge.  Designing and developing a man-portable lifting device places stringent constraints on mass and volume.  Moreover, a device should not exceed 50 decibels of volume and probably be less than 40 dB for special operations.  The device should be capable of lifting soldiers with fighting load (~ 100 kg) at a rate of approximately 1 meter per second.  It should be compact, approaching and exceeding 1 kWatt per kilogram and be as efficient as possible to minimize the fuel weight and thermal signature.  There are a variety of new approaches that can be developed for efficient and quiet operation of chemical-mechanical devices utilizing advances in smart materials, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), modern controls, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and materials technology to develop efficient, power dense, quiet, mesoscale power plants.

                PHASE I:  Design a power conversion device, providing analysis that proves the feasibility of the overall design.  Critical subsystems or a complete system should be demonstrated.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate the use of the system to carry the equivalent of a fire team of soldiers (e.g., 4) with fighting load, ~100 kg, up the side of a multiple story building.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  This device would have a number of applications in power generation, the construction industry, law enforcement, fire fighting and rescue equipment.  Power generation is always a concern for the military.  A quiet, nearly silent small efficient power generation system could be developed from the power plant developed herein.  The recent development of chemical-mechanical powered nail guns has given new capabilities to the construction industry.  Developing other compact sources of power generation will enable other devices that could operate without being tethered to power sources.  Applications to rescue equipment such as the “jaws of life,” could be created which are man-portable and are self-contained units, such devices might include powered jacks and cutting devices.

 

KEYWORDS:  Chemo-Mechanical Power, Power Plant, Man-Portable.

 

 

DARPA SB012-011 TITLE:  Use of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) in Pathogen Elimination, Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Biomedical

 

OBJECTIVE:  To develop technology that ensures rapid elimination of skin or wound pathogens and accelerates wound healing in a sterile environment.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Light emitting diodes (LED) are semiconductor devices that convert electricity to colored light in a very efficient fashion.  The LED is currently used in the commercial market for applications such as brake lights, advertisement displays and stoplights.  There has been very little research of their use in clinical medicine.  However, because of the ability to control their wavelength exposure, low temperatures and broad-beam characteristics, LED’s might be useful in military medicine.  For example, a major risk to military personnel includes contaminated traumatic skin wounds.  Recent evidence has shown that LED might make a significant contribution in several critical areas for protecting soldiers including the detection and/or elimination of bacteria and the acceleration of wound healing.  This includes the use of LEDs for thermal, radiation and chemical burns.  As compared to traditional suturing or lasers, LED induced wound closure and healing would be superior because the controlled coagulation, a painless procedure requiring no anesthesia, is a desirable alternative to conventional treatment of open wounds.  In addition, it might be possible to use alternative wavelengths in conjunction with a light sensitive (chromophores) topical detergent to show a physician or medic that bacteria has been eliminated from the wound area prior to closure.

                PHASE I:  LEDs will be studied at various wavelengths to display a skin presence of pathogens and the elimination of bacterial agents.  The effective depth of penetration of the LED treatment will be determined for cellular stimulation.  Particular bacterial agents contain color sensitive chemicals such as chromophores that can be stimulated by LEDs to alert an exposed individual of a physical presence.  The use of LED’s for wound healing would also be studied.

                PHASE II:  The inactivation of bacterial pathogens will be determined at specific wavelengths.  This will lead to a mechanism for determining wound cleanliness to begin the healing process.  LEDs will be studied at various wavelengths to find the effective in vivo stimulation of tissue growth, factors such as keratinocyte growth factor, transforming growth factor and platelet derived growth factor.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The commercial application of LEDs includes newer products to be used in effective sterilization of contact surfaces in a medical treatment facility without any residual chemical by-products.

 

KEYWORDS:  Light Emitting Diodes, Pathogens Identification, Wound Healing, Tissue Growth Factors, Vascular Regeneration, Tissue Regeneration.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-012 TITLE:  Electronic Market-Based Decision Support

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Information Systems Technology

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop electronic market-based methods and software for decision analysis, to aggregate information and opinions from groups of experts.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The goal of this SBIR topic is to demonstrate market-based methods applied to analyses of interest to the DOD.  Strategic decisions depend upon the accurate assessment of the likelihood of future events.  This analysis often requires independent contributions by experts in a wide variety of fields, with the resulting difficulty of combining the various opinions into one assessment.  Market-based techniques provide a tool for producing these assessments.  Futures markets are used in the commercial world to mitigate risks involving the future prices of commodities.  As a side effect, they can provide accurate predictions of those future prices, by aggregating the diverse knowledge and expertise of all market participants.  Experimental futures markets have been successful in some non-financial contexts, such as election predictions.  Typically, the market maker issues a basket of contracts covering a set of events that is mutually exclusive and exhaustive.  (In the election context there would be one contract for each candidate, which pays off if the candidate wins.)  Market participants trade the issued contracts freely, buying and selling individual contracts through an electronic market.  When the outcome is known, the market maker pays off only the winning contracts; before the outcome is known, the prices reflect market opinion of the probability of each outcome.  Benefits of market mechanisms like this for aggregating the judgment of experts include:  incentives to make the best judgments; self-selection by the experts themselves of the best-informed market participants; and rapid reaction to events that occur during decision analysis.  These may include analysis of the likelihood of events that motivate the Quadrennial Defense Review, prediction of the timing and impact on national security of emerging technologies, analysis of the outcomes of advanced technology programs, or other future events of interest to the DOD.

                PHASE I:  Design one or more markets to predict events in a limited domain of interest to the DOD.  This will include selection of a domain for assessment, identification of a group of knowledgeable market participants, design of an incentive system for experts in that domain, integration of hardware and software for market operations and management, and establishment of an electronic market among the participants.

                PHASE II:  Manage the markets established in Phase I until the outcomes are known, and analyze their performance.  Evaluate the accuracy of market predictions against predictions of the same events by other institutions.  Develop more general techniques and software for motivating market participants, trading, managing the market, and extracting information from market events.  Prepare to establish markets in broader contexts.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Technology developed under this SBIR topic can be used in strategic analysis for business, technology prediction for engineering, and other analyses of decision outcomes.  Techniques and software for extracting information from market events will be useful in commercial analysis of markets in products, services, commodities and financial instruments.

 

KEYWORDS:  Decision Making, Electronic Markets

 

REFERENCES:

1.  http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem/

 

 

DARPA SB012-013 TITLE:  Robot Beacon Module for Minimum-Resource Mapping and Navigation

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment (Phase I) and Information Systems Technology (Phase II)

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a low-cost beacon transmitter/receiver module for robot localization.  Triangulation of beacons mounted on individual robots will support a “minimum resource” approach to indoor navigation and mapping by identifying areas of free space and areas containing beacon-occluding obstacles.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The creation of a large number of small inexpensive mobile robots to perform tasks has been motivated in part by the perceived “industry” of swarm systems such as ant or bee colonies.  Research is still needed to achieve the simplicity of these systems in order to be cost effective.  One approach to minimize resources is to eliminate the need for the detection or perception of objects by mounting on each robot a beacon module that includes an omni directional beacon (probably IR), and a beacon detection sensor that can simultaneously detect multiple beacons on other robots and measure the bearing of each to less than one degree.  Beacon triangulation (combined with knowledge of some baseline distance) will allow the determination of the position of any robot (and any object next to it) relative to the others.  Occlusion of a robot's beacon will indicate the presence of an intervening object, while lack of occlusion identifies a “ray” of free space.  Parallels can be drawn to coastal piloting (in the use of landmarks and navigational aids), aviation navigation (from beacon to beacon), traditional pre-GPS surveying (networks of triangulation stations), as well as robotic navigation using artificial landmarks.  Besides the beacon module, each robot will include basic mobility, crude odometry, and very simple and inexpensive contact or near-contact object/obstacle detection sensors, perhaps implemented as an array of whiskers.  The focus of this topic is the development of a minimum cost high performance beacon module itself.  A highly integrated module will incorporate the beacon transmitter (capable of software-controlled modulation) and a beacon detection sensor coaxially mounted in the same package, with optical elements that provide gain in the horizontal plane for both the transmitter and detector.  Processing integrated with the annular photodetector focal plane array will allow the module to provide the robot’s main processor with the beam width and integrated intensity of each detected beacon, to provide some measure of its distance and each detected beacon’s bearing and rate of change of bearing, to support triangulation.  In addition, several modes of communication could be encoded in the beacon modulation, including transmitter ID, signboard/pheromone display, and broadcast messaging, as well as traditional connection-oriented communications services.

                PHASE I:  Perform the required technology tradeoffs and develop first the conceptual design and then the detailed design for a highly integrated version of the beacon module.  Through analysis, simulation, and/or subsystem bread-boarding, determine the target performance specifications for the module in terms of detection distance, bearing resolution, communications bit rate, power requirements, etc.

                PHASE II:  Design and fabricate an integrated detector/processing chip, realizable with standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication technology, as the core for the beacon module.  In large quantities, the manufacturing cost of the complete module should be targeted for less than $10.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technology developed under this SBIR can be used in a distributed system of very simple robots capable of performing a useful real-world mission such as mapping the interior of a building overnight with a swarm of possibly hundreds of cockroach-sized robots.  This would provide rapid-response information to groups such as emergency first responders, security guards, and search and rescuers.

 

KEYWORDS:  Distributed, Robots, Navigation, Mapping, Beacon.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  D. W. Gage, “Minimum-resource distributed navigation and mapping”, SPIE Mobile Robots XV, Boston MA, November 2000 (SPIE Proceedings Volume 4195)

2.  A. M. Flynn, “Gnat Robots (And How They Will Change Robotics)”, Proceedings of the IEEE Micro Robots and Teleoperators Workshop, Hyannis MA, 9-11 November 1987.  Also appeared in AI Expert, December 1987, pp. 34 et seq.

3.  L. E. Parker, “Current State of the Art in Distributed Autonomous Mobile Robotics”, in Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 4, L. E. Parker, G. Bekey, and J. Barhen eds., Springer-Verlag Tokyo 2000, pp. 3-12.

4.  N. Stephenson, The Diamond Age, Bantam Books, New York, 1995.

5.  C. DeBolt et al, “Basic UXO Gathering System (BUGS): Multiple Small Inexpensive Robots for Autonomous UXO Clearance”, Proceedings of Third International Symposium on Technology and the Mine Problem, Monterey CA, 6-9 April 1998.

6.  D. W. Gage, "Command Control for Many-Robot Systems", AUVS-92, the Nineteenth Annual AUVS Technical Symposium, Huntsville AL, 22-24 June 1992.  Reprinted in Unmanned Systems Magazine, Fall 1992, Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 28-34.

7.  H. R. Everett, D. W. Gage, G. A. Gilbreath, R. T. Laird, and R. P. Smurlo, "Real-world Issues in Warehouse Navigation," SPIE Mobile Robots IX, Vol. 2352, Boston MA, November 1994, pp. 249-259.

8.  J. G. Blitch, “The Tactical Mobile Robotics Program,” SPIE Mobile Robots XIV, Vol 3838, Boston MA, September 1999.

9.  S. Thrun, W. Burgard, and D. Fox, “A Real-time Algorithm for Mobile Robot Mapping with Applications to Multi-Robot and 3D Mapping,” Proc. 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, San Francisco CA, April 2000.

10. C. F. Chapman, Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling, 51^st Edition, Hearst, New York, 1974.

11. R. E. Davis, F. S. Foote, J. EM. Anderson, and E. M. Mikhail, Surveying Theory and Practice (Sixth Edition), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1981.

12. R. Kurazume, S. Nagata, and S. Hirose. “Cooperative Positioning with Multiple Robots”, Proc. 1994 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Los Alamitos CA, 8-13 May 1994, volume 2, pp. 1250-1257.

13. R. Kurazume, S. Hirose, S. Nagata, and N. Sashida. “Study on Cooperative Positioning System (basic principle and measurement experiment), Proc. 1996 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Minneapolis MN, 22-28 April 1996, volume 2, pp. 1421-1426.

14. R. Kurazume, and S. Hirose. “Study on Cooperative Positioning System: Optimum Moving strategies for cps-iii”, Proc. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Leuven Belgium, 16-20 May 1998, volume 4, pp. 2896-2903.

15. http://www.ri.cmu.edu/projects/project_343.html.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-014 TITLE:  Interaction with Experiences

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREAS:  Information Systems Technology

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop, demonstrate and evaluate methods that enable people to query and communicate a captured record of shared human and robot experiences.  The focus is on capturing experiences from what one hears and sees, as well as from associated sensor data and electronic communications.  Specifically this work should transform experience into a meaningful and accessible digital information resource that can be used to augment the cognition of humans.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Military futurists are envisioning battlefields where humans work at a distance to control events on the battlefield.  A key technical challenge is to improve the cognitive memory and rehearsal abilities of operators.  In fact, interaction with experiences where the human can interact with past experiences holds promise to increase the cognitive performance of humans.  This improved performance must translate into improved readiness and survivability for the research to pay off for the military.  A key technical challenge is to focus on improving cognitive performance so that one operator can effectively control and monitor multiple Knowbots to meet mission needs.  Normally the cascading interruptions, or mounting demands from complex operations will overcome the attention capability of a human operator.  However, there is evidence that this situation may be reduced with information technology that will augment the cognition capabilities of both the human operator and the distributed 'bots.  Needed is information technology to provide efficient and effective means of integrating groups of non-human systems into battlefield operations.  Such a capability may indeed redefine the nature of the battlefield, and ensure that a commander can influence events by forcing future adversaries to react to us.  A specific concern is to enable human combatants be able to dynamically task and monitor a large and diverse set of active assets, particularly under the stresses of the battlefield.  To investigate this question, this innovative research will extend the conceptual foundations of computer-human interfaces through exploring ways to augment methods of tasking, monitoring, and communicating.  A key interest is development of experimental methods to evaluate adaptive trade-off strategies between humans and groups of non-human systems in the presence of limited attention and bandwidth resources.

                PHASE I:  Conduct a feasibility study focus on an innovative information processing technology that enables the capture and analysis of experiences, and then coordinates actions of distributed group activity using multiple synchronized streams of incoming observations to produce an effective schedule.  For example, one might use the setting of a medical crisis, with an associated emergency response team to construct a collective experience, and then develop a synchronized schedule for action.  The feasibility study should also identify the critical issues use for evaluating performance gains due to augmented cognition factors.

                PHASE II:  Develop a prototype system for understanding experiences giving emphasis to methods and experiments used to evaluate and augment the cognitive capabilities of both the human operator and 'bots.  The focus of the prototype should be on memory enhancement, perceptional off-load of cognition, and context tracking.  Specifically measure and evaluate the effectiveness of enhanced memory of individuals gained from an intelligent assistant utilized to tag and store information automatically extracted from events and relationships.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  This technology would enable systems development of (1) medical crisis response teams controlling semi-autonomous agents in disaster areas that are difficult to reach or cover large geographical areas; (2) law enforcement officials operating in dangerous urban areas to more effectively use remotely-operated systems; (3) automobile and aircraft manufacturers developing safer navigation and control systems; and (4) people with disabilities extending their capabilities to better interact with mechanical and digital prostheses.

 

KEYWORDS:  Information Technology, Augmented Cognition, Human Systems Interface, Mixed Initiative Interaction, Control and Monitoring.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-015 TITLE:  New Event Detection

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Information Systems Technology

 

OBJECTIVE:  Demonstrate technology able to detect new events and/or significant new information about known events from continually flowing streams of news, electronic correspondence, et cetera.  Sources may include audio and text data.

 

DESCRIPTION:  For many defense and intelligence applications, it would be extremely helpful to find out quickly when new events occur or when new information appears about known events.  Traditional information retrieval and search engine technology can help people locate information that they know to look for, but cannot detect that something new has happened.  DARPA-sponsored research in the area of Topic Detection and Tracking (TDT) has achieved good results on Tracking (finding more stories about a known event) but has not done so well on Detection, especially First Story Detection (finding the first reference to an unexpected new event) and New Information Detection (identifying the new information in a series of stories about an event).  Innovative approaches are required to solve the latter two problems.  Robust, accurate, general-purpose, language-independent approaches are desired.  It is important to minimize both false alarm and miss rates, and it would help to have a way to trade off those errors.  The technical risk is high, but there are many possible approaches, including a wide variety of statistical pattern matching, clustering, language modeling, and content understanding approaches.  It may also be possible to exploit multiple data streams simultaneously to good effect.  We hope to stimulate creative thinking to solve this important problem.  Although we are seeking high accuracy and a general approach, even a partial solution could be quite valuable.

                PHASE I:  Develop, then evaluate through an appropriate test, a promising capability for new event detection using English language data.  (TDT corpora and evaluation metrics may be used.)

                PHASE II:  Extend work to include additional sources and at least one foreign language.  Enhance algorithm as necessary.  Build a technology demonstration system.  (Must work on flowing data rather than static corpora.)

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  New event detection technology would be very useful in a wide variety of business applications (to alert decision makers to threats and opportunities arising from economic developments and from actions by competitors and government agencies), news gathering operations (to determine what is newsworthy), trend analysis, e-mail filtering, and call-center monitoring.  Health applications include the tracking of infectious disease outbreaks.  Defense applications include message prioritization, force protection, and intelligence gathering.

 

KEYWORDS:  Topic, Event, Language, Speech, Text, Alerting.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Wayne, C.  Multilingual Topic Detection and Tracking: Successful Research Enabled by Corpora and Evaluation.  Second International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, May 2000.  Available at http://www.nist.gov/TDT/research_links/Wayne-LREC2000.ps

2.  Allan, J. et al.  First Story Detection in TDT is Hard.  Ninth International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, November 2000.  Available at http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/pubfiles/ir-206.pdf.

3.  Allan, J. et al.  Topic-based Novelty Detection 1999 Summer Workshop at CLSP Final Report.  August 1999.  Available at http://www.clsp.jhu.edu/ws99/projects/tdt/final_report/report.pdf.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-016 TITLE:  Engineered Bio-Molecular Nanodevices

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Chemical/Biological Defense and Nuclear; Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment; Biomedical

 

OBJECTIVE:  Development and demonstration of hybrid bio-molecular assemblies that operate as devices with controlled inputs and outputs.  Input/Output (I/O) mechanisms may include electrical, optical, chemical, mechanical, thermal or magnetic phenomena.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Ongoing leading edge nanotechnology research is enabling remarkable precision in observing, manipulating and controlling phenomena at the molecular scale.  Cleverly engineered assemblies of organic and inorganic molecules are starting to function as nanodevices that have specific inputs and outputs.  Biological systems show remarkable sensitivity, specificity and efficiency due to the selective evolution of molecular mechanisms over millions of years.  It is anticipated that hybrid molecular assemblies involving bio-molecules would enable the exploitation of these unique aspects of biological systems while affording the control that is possible through nanotechnology.  This would lead to ‘smart’ bio-molecular assemblies with new functionalities (e.g., nanosensors, nanopower generators, nanochemical factories, etc.) and significant advantages (over conventional engineering systems) in terms of size, power consumption, efficiency and ease of fabrication.  The development of this technology will revolutionize sensing and detection, in-vivo diagnosis and drug delivery, repair of tissue/cell damage, integrated mechanical/electronic/chemical devices at the nanoscale, etc. This would also enable ‘smart’ large-scale integrated systems consisting of several millions of such devices that will enable automated adaptivity/reconfigurability, feedback control and compensation at the system scale.  This topic seeks innovative ideas for designing, fabricating and demonstrating different kinds of novel bio-molecular assemblies that form transducing elements between chemical, electrical, optical and mechanical phenomena.  These would typically result in many functions at the molecular scale such as chemically induced nanomechanical motion, optically/electrically induced chemical synthesis, chemically induced optical/electrical reporting mechanisms, etc.  This topic emphasizes the ability to control and manipulate these functions at the molecular scale.  Preference will be given to proposals that clearly identify target areas of impact and present a plan to transition research results to these applications.

                PHASE I:  Demonstrate feasibility of designing, fabricating and operating hybrid bio-molecular assemblies capable of performing mechanical/chemical/electrical/optical transducing functions at the molecular scale.  Feasibility studies may include experimental demonstrations as well as modeling and simulation.  Quantify performance metrics of the proposed device in terms of efficiency and power consumption.  Phase I must demonstrate feasibility of control of the device at the molecular scale.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate design, fabrication, operation and control of devices developed during Phase I.  Fabrication methods may include top-down photolithographic methods as well as bottom-up self-assembly processes.  Develop and demonstrate methodologies to enable large-scale integration of the devices analyzed in Phase I.  Demonstrate performance, controllability and robustness of device/system during operation.  Complete documentation of the data, test cases, test results and the demonstration studies must be delivered upon completion of the contract.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  This effort will form the groundwork for the development of a new generation of nanodevices that will perform desired functions at the molecular scale, from altering molecular properties to enabling active dynamic control of large scale systems consisting of integrated nanodevices.  These developments will have a revolutionary impact on almost every discipline, especially health care and medical treatment, sensing/diagnosis and actuation, micro and nanoscale power generation, materials with controlled molecular properties, molecular computing and information processing systems, etc.

 

KEYWORDS:  Molecular Assemblies, Bio-Molecules, Molecular Engineering, Large Scale Integration, Self-Assembly.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  National Nanotechnology Initiative, internal NSTC/CT/IWGN report, reviewed by the President’s Committee on Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Nanotechnology Panel ( http://www.nsf.gov/nano/ ).

2.  Nanostructure Science and Technology (NSTC report).  R.W. Siegel, E. Hu, and M.C. Roco, eds. 1999.  Worldwide study on status and trends; available on the Web:  http://itri.loyola.edu/nano/IWGN.Worldwide.Study/, on CD-Rom from WTEC, and as hardcover publication from Kluwer Academic Publishers (1999).

3.  Nanotechnology Research Directions:  IWGN Workshop Report.  M.C. Roco, R.S. Williams, and P. Alivisatos, eds. 1999, available on the Web: http://itri.loyola.edu/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/

4.  Nanotechnology – Shaping the World Atom by Atom (NSTC report).  I. Amato.  1999.  Brochure for the public (this report); available on the Web: http://itri.loyola.edu/nano/IWGN.Public.Brochure/.

5.  R&D Status and Trends in Nanoparticles, Nanostructured Materials, and Nanodevices in the United States Proceedings published in January 1998, R.W. Siegel, E. Hu and M.C. Roco, eds., WTEC, on the Web: http://itri.loyola.edu/nano/US.Review/.

 

 

DARPA SB012-017 TITLE:  Nanoimprint Tooling

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREAS:  Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop nanoimprint machines that are suitable for patterning structures with critical dimensions in the nanometer regime.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is becoming an important method for low-cost and high-throughput patterning of nanostructures.  No imaging optics is needed so many of the limitations associated with projection optical lithography are eliminated.  In NIL, patterns are formed directly in a thin deformable layer by pressing a master (stamp) into the layer.  This is accomplished at elevated temperatures (up to 150 C) and pressures (up to 300 pounds per square inch (psi)).  However, no commercial tools are currently suitable or available for NIL.  For example, commercially available presses cannot achieve the large-area uniformity needed for NIL and are not suitable for operation in a clean room environment.  Furthermore, current commercial presses have a cycling time that is orders of magnitude longer than that required for a reasonable throughput with NIL.  To make NIL a real manufacturing technology, it is essential to develop presses with the appropriate characteristics.

                Phase I:  Perform a design study of NIL tools that offer the needed large-area uniformity (>4”, scalable to 8”), cycling time (<5 min, scalable to <2 min), imprint pressure (max 300 psi) and imprint temperature (max 150 C), with clean-room compatibility.  Identify the key parameters and application areas for such tools.  Perform key sub-system proof of principle demonstration.

                Phase II:  Develop the NIL tool prototype(s) according to the design study in Phase-I.  Build and test prototype, and refine the design.  Perform application driven demonstration.  Design and develop automatic control system.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATION:  The new NIL tools will enable the manufacturing of many key military and civilian high-performance nanodevices, which are currently too expensive to manufacture with conventional technology.  These devices include high-frequency Metal Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MESFETs), mass storage, optical filters, and other optical signal processing elements.

 

KEYWORDS:  Sensors, Nanostructures, Imprint, Nanodevices.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Several papers describing NIL can be found in the Journal of Vacuum Science of Technology volumes B16(6), Nov/Dec 1998, and B17(6), Nov/Dec 1999.

 

 

DARPA SB012-018 TITLE:  Virtual Ultrasound Transducer Control for Telemedicine, An Application of Flexible MEMS Arrays

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Biomedical and Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a flexible substrate of transducer elements suitable for adaptive beam forming to serve as the foundation of a telemedical ultrasound system.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Ultrasound is an extremely useful and prevalent medical diagnostic technique.  The value of diagnostic ultrasound could be significantly extended with a carefully designed system to enable a centrally located medical expert to remotely evaluate patients in both civilian and military paramedical triage.  Critical to the utility of a telemedical ultrasound system is the ability for the specialist to remotely manipulate a virtual transducer while evaluating the ultrasonic image.  In echocardiography for example, the cardiologist requires subtle manipulation of both the placement and orientation of the ultrasonic transducer to effectively develop and interpret the diagnostic image.  This remote manipulation could be accomplished with a two-dimensional transducer array applied to the patient’s skin, which is capable of remote electronic beam steering.  The specialist at the centralized location could manipulate a “virtual reality” pointing device which would transmit the required control signals to electronically steer the ultrasound beam, effectively creating a virtual transducer at the remote location.  The critical technology required to implement a telemedical ultrasound system is a 2-D array of transducers on a flexible substrate integrated with a signal processing computer system capable of adaptive beamforming.  A technician with limited specialized skills could apply the flexible substrate, or sheet of transducers to a patient in the general area for evaluation.  Once the transducer array is applied to the patient a specialist at a remote location could transmit commands to the adaptive processor to remotely steer the ultrasonic array, simulating the physical manipulation of a traditional ultrasonic transducer array.  In addition, it may be possible to achieve a significant improvement in image quality by the appropriate use of the full aperture of the adaptive array.  Interactive manipulation of the transducer while viewing the diagnostic image in real-time is an integral component of diagnostic ultrasound.  A preliminary demonstration of this technology might start with the replacement of the manually manipulated transducer of current systems with an advanced transducer array capable of virtual manipulation via remotely transmitted commands.  This transducer array can incorporate MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) technology to achieve a flexible sheet form factor, which would allow it to create an ultrasonic image equivalent to the image acquired by a traditional transducer in almost any position or orientation along the torso.  The flexible nature of the transducer array will readily conform to the shape of the torso, and further will be able to move and flex as the torso moves, for example, during respiration.  Algorithms and techniques will need to be developed in order to accomplish the required beamforming in this dynamic environment.

                PHASE I:  Develop a detailed performance requirement specification for both the transducer array and the processing system to achieve a sheet of electronically steerable transducers elements compatible with diagnostic ultrasound.  Develop concepts and algorithms for achieving the adaptive beamforming in a dynamic environment.

                PHASE II:  Build and demonstrate a prototype system which at a minimum includes a flexible substrate of transducer elements and algorithms and a processing system capable of demonstrating adaptive beamforming in a dynamic environment compatible with diagnostic ultrasound.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  This technology has military implications for distributing the expertise of well-trained personnel to the frontlines of conflict when needed.  The commercial uses and benefits of this technology have the potential to surpass even those of the military.  Once the principles of remote ultrasonic diagnostics have been demonstrated, the same thinking can extend to other remote diagnostics and even correction of human ailment.

 

KEYWORDS:  Telemedicine, Ultrasound Systems, Beamforming Arrays, MEMS, Paramedical Triage, Echocardiography.

 

 

DARPA SB012-019 TITLE:  Clutter-Limited, Collaborative Electromagnetic Sensors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment

 

OBJECTIVE:  Demonstrate self-orienting and calibrating, low frequency (emphasis below 2 kilohertz), field-deployable electromagnetic sensors (B field and/or E field) that perform near or below atmospheric noise levels and are characterized as small (size and weight), low-power devices with supporting algorithms.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Highly sensitive, low frequency electromagnetic sensors are needed for military applications addressing target location, planning, and movement.  Desired sensor measurements include both total field and vector field components.  These devices and supporting algorithms must be capable of performing at sensitivity levels near or below the natural (atmospheric) electromagnetic (EM) clutter background.  Some low-power technologies are promising but still have sensitivities above the EM clutter background.  Examples include magneto-resistive devices such as Spin-Dependent-Tunneling (SDT).  Other sensors with adequate sensitivity such as Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) and conventional laser-pumped quantum devices continue to be quite large or to consume significant power for cooling.  Responses are invited that are capable of supporting long-baseline (100’s of meters) gradiometry, including self-orientation and calibration (at a minimum, relative calibration among spatially separated sensors) – whether by exploiting the background, by absolute, independent calibration, or exploitation of a common reference.  Critical noise performance elements to be addressed include both self-noise and sensor-placement noise, such as coupling to real-world vibrations (seismic, acoustics).  In addition, the sensors should address some or all of the following performance goals: (A) Modest size: individual receivers should have maximum dimension of 10 cm or less; (B) Low power: less than milliwatt of average power per receiver;  (C) Broad band: 10 Hertz to 2000 Hertz (although higher frequencies – up to 30 KHz are of interest); (D) High sensitivity: for B field, noise equivalent performance less than 5 picoTesla/root Hz in the 10 Hz to 300 Hz frequency range, noise equivalent performance less than 0.5 picoTesla/root Hz in the 300 Hz to 2000 Hz frequency range; noise equivalent performance of electric-field sensors should be below the clutter background.  (E) High dynamic range: receiver linearity and dynamic range (not digitizer) - capable of a linear output over a range of 80 dB; (F) Robust outdoor performance: insensitive to likely levels of insitu vibrations (wind noise, seismic noise) or to significant changes in ambient temperature (-20 degrees to 50 degrees C) and humidity variations (5 -100% relative), and insensitive to shock (less than 100 g's).  The characteristics presented above do not include the power source (e.g. batteries), digitizing electronics, local processing or communications.  Those responding may expand beyond the above listed desired capabilities or justify a limited-performance concept.

                PHASE I:  Develop self-calibrating, self orientating concepts to measure magnetic field and/or electric field meeting or approaching significant elements of the above goals.  Identify critical technology elements and conduct laboratory-type measurements to confirm the soundness of the highest risk elements for prototype development.  Present a top-level design concept.

                PHASE II:  Design, fabricate, and demonstrate sensors and supporting algorithms (self-orienting, self-calibrating) to measure magnetic field and/or electric field in robust outdoor environments.  Demonstrate long-baseline (100’s of meters) gradiometry, including independent, relative self-orientation and calibration.  Demonstrate small size, low power, low weight, impact tolerant packaging.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Low frequency electromagnetic sensors have both military and commercial applications in detecting and monitoring electrical machinery, vehicular traffic, and personnel movement.  Commercial applications include law enforcement, security surveillance, geophysical exploration, and planetary exploration.

 

KEYWORDS:  Magnetic Field, Electric Field, Sensor, Low Frequency.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Lenz, J. E.; “A review of Magnetic Sensors”, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 78, p. 973-989, 1990.

2.  ITU, report PI. 372-6, “Radio Noise”, circa 1994.

3.  Lanzerotti, L. and Maclennan, C. “Background Magnetic Spectra: 10^-5 to 10^5 Hz”, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 17, no. 10, 1990.

 

 

DARPA SB012-020 TITLE:  Inlet Injection of Oxidizer for Turbojet Acceleration

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Space Platforms, Air Platforms, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop, modify and test a conventional afterburning turbojet engine to operate to higher Mach numbers, to higher altitudes and with higher thrust by injecting oxidizer mass into its inlet.  Using older, surplus military afterburning turbojet engines, this can be done within the scope of an SBIR Phase I and II.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Despite numerous focused efforts at low-cost solutions, the high cost of access-to-space remains a stressing mission constraint in developing the space environment.  One approach that has received little attention to date concerns the use of compressor pre-cooling resulting from inlet oxidizer mass injection into an afterburning turbojet.  An afterburning turbojet engine modified in this way could be the propulsion for the first stage of a reusable launch system.  In short, compressor pre-cooling resulting from inlet oxidizer mass injection will allow a turbojet engine to fly to higher Mach numbers, have higher thrust, and operate to higher altitudes.  Turbojet cycles have been previously investigated for use as the first stage engine in both single-stage-to-orbit and two-stage-to-orbit systems.  These mission studies have demonstrated that the high specific impulse offered by turbojet engines nearly negates the disadvantage of accelerating the turbo machinery to high speed during the portion of a mission where the turbine engine is not operating.  When consideration of aborts options and powered landings are considered, the turbojet offers many benefits compared to alternate concepts.  One of the main issues associated with operating a turbojet at high Mach number concerns the excessive compressor outlet temperature (T3) that typically results.  Similar problems with T3 occur under warm day conditions at takeoff and climb with older turbojet engines.  Pre-cooling with water injection for take-off and climb performance under warm day conditions was very common in the early history of turbojet operations.  Water injection not only provided pre-cooling of the compressor flow, but also added mass to the flow that resulted in an increase in thrust.  Mass injection of cryogenic oxidizer, or expansion of compressed oxidizer, could be used in existing turbojets in the same way as water injection was used in the past for pre-cooling to high Mach Numbers and for enhancement of thrust.  The use of an oxidizer for pre-cooling also has the advantage of allowing the turbojet combustor to remain in operation to higher altitude.  The use of cryogenic propellants could potentially allow the staging Mach number to be increased to Mach 6.  The higher staging Mach number would also allow the used of a more optimal rocket.  A turbojet engine that is modified to have inlet pre-cooling can be operated at low altitude and Mach number conventionally, with pre-cooling progressively increased with rising Mach number and altitude, where humidity will be low (avoiding icing effects).  As the Mach number and altitude increases the injection of cryogenic propellant can be added to both pre-cool the compressor, increase engine thrust, and to keep the combustor lit.  As more mass is added to the flow, more fuel can be added to the combustor, again increasing thrust.  Also the addition of oxidizer to the flow will result in more oxygen in the afterburner.  This will allow the engine to produce yet more thrust in the afterburner section.  Although several more complex engine cycles have been proposed, this approach has the advantage of directly utilizing the significant technical and economic investment made in existing turbojet engines for the last sixty years.  Assuming the reusable first stage of a launch vehicle using this technology is basically a high-speed airplane with a modified engine, this approach allows the launch vehicle’s concept of operations to evolve from familiar aircraft type operations.

                PHASE I:  Perform engine cycle analysis modeling engine behavior with various candidate oxidizer injection fluids and schemes.  Demonstrate basic feasibility on a small turbojet engine.  An approach that avoids modifications to existing engine bearings, seals and hot sections while providing reliable and smooth operation is the primary challenge.

                PHASE II:  Modify an existing afterburning turbojet engine and characterize performance.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  An accelerator afterburning turbojet engine that is capable of flight to high Mach number and high altitude has significant commercial and military markets in space launch applications.  This technology can also be applied to high-speed, long-range, rapid response missiles.  Super-sonic business jets also have the need to accelerate quickly to their cruise altitude and speed.  This technology could enable the engines of these vehicles to be optimized for cruise, while still have the capability to climb and accelerate with the assistance of this technology.

 

KEYWORDS:  Afterburning Turbojet Engines, Pre-Cooling, Mass Injection, Air Breathing Propulsion, Reusable Launch Vehicle.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Henneberry, H.M, Snyder, C.A., “Analysis of Gas Turbine Engines Using Water and Oxygen Injection to Achieve High Mach Numbers and High Thrust,” NASA TM-106270, July 1993.

2.  Burkardt, L., Norris, R., “The Design and evolution of the Beta Two-Stage-To-Orbit Horizontal Takeoff and Landing Launch System,” AIAA 92-5080, Dec. 1992.

3.  Trout, A.M., “Theoretical Turbojet Thrust Augmentation by Evaporation of Water During Compression as Determined by use of Mollier Diagrams,” NASA TN 2104, June 1950.