SCIENTIFIC SYSTEMS CO INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: DTRA182-002
SCIENTIFIC SYSTEMS CO INC — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.
- Amount
- $149,858
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- DTRA182-002
- Solicitation
- 18.2
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- MA
- Period
- 2019-05-06 → 2019-12-05
Description
In response to the DTRA182-002 solicitation, we propose CANTEAN: Cave and Narrow Tunnel Exploration and Navigation, a flying system that employs the use of low-SWaP sensors and processors using advanced algorithms for rapid navigation and mapping of unknown, subterranean areas as part of a heterogeneous team. Bio-inspired obstacle avoidance and navigation and the efficient exchange and merging of submaps require only minimal sensors, processing, and periodic communications. CANTEAN will leverage SSCI’s existing, mature algorithms on low-SWaP-C commercial drone hardware to demonstrate subterranean exploration farther, faster, and more robustly than today’s state of the art systems. CANTEAN vehicles will extend the operational envelope of commercial drones to low-light and no-light environments and will return from exploration missions with a point-cloud based map of the explored regions which will be merged into a cohesive global map for follow-on mission.