Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N201-059

Description

To address the Navy’s need for an automated system to enable an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to tailor its navigation-safety active emissions and passive signatures to the current situation, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Automated USV Signature Controller (AUSiC). It is based on a new design utilizing POC-developed software and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Specifically, the innovation in contextual analytics (CA) will allow AUSiC to analyze multiple sources of data to determine a threat assessment. As a result, the USV will be able to automatically increase or decrease its active and passive signatures as the situation changes without human input. In Phase I, POC will develop the AUSiC concept to collect, analyze, and determine threat assessment using contextual analytics. It will be demonstrated through testing using a reduced-function prototype with COTS sensors and POC-developed hardware. In the Phase I Option period, we will develop AUSiC’s initial design specifications and capabilities in order to build a prototype solution in Phase II. In Phase II, we will develop two prototypes for testing and evaluation, spend the last three months testing and demonstrating them, and prepare a Phase III development plan for transitioning AUSiC to the Navy.