Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N162-102

Description

To address the Navy need for an innovative and low-cost wind measurement system for air-capable ships and aircraft carriers, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Compact Wind Radar (CoWiR) with a new electronically scanning antenna allowing for wind measurements in any vertical plane up to an altitude of 200 ft. The CoWiR will be an all-weather system capable of providing precise information about the distribution of wind velocity vectors with accuracy of better than 1.5 kn, range resolution of 10 ft, and data update rate over 10 Hz. The CoWiR will be a weather-proof, rugged, easy to install device with dimensions of 6.25 in. x 6.25 in. x 5 in. Several CoWiRs will be sufficient for mapping wind speed and direction for the entire ship airspace in order to improve the safety of launch and recovery operations for manned and unmanned aircraft. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the CoWiR approach through system design and simulations of its operation in various weather conditions, performing cost optimization and fabrication and testing of the experimental prototype (TRL-4). In Phase II, POC plans to develop a fully operational prototype and validate its compliance with Navy requirements (TRL-6).