CREARE LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N171-011

Description

The Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) water twister is an important component for future U.S. Navy launch and recovery capabilities, and innovative technologies are needed to ensure high performance and availability. Creare proposes to develop a handheld Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) to identify incipient component degradation before failure so that preventive measures can be made before missions or personnel are put at risk. Our handheld HUMS can be used during actual arrestments, spin tests, or engineering investigations to quickly and easily assess water twister health. During Phase I, we will demonstrate feasibility by developing the necessary signal processing algorithms and equipment interface and by evaluating performance with representative operational data. During Phase II, we will refine the design, produce prototypes, and demonstrate capability in land-based and shipboard operational environments. Benefits of Creares approach include simplicity, portability, and prognostic ability to identify degradation prior to failure. Creares AAG water twister HUMS leverages our signal processing, algorithm, and hardware technologies already proven for machinery health monitoring and human physical activity classification. Due to the existing maturity of Creares prognostic algorithm technologies, we expect a Technology Readiness Level of at least 6 at the end of Phase II.