MV INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A15-035

Description

To meet the Army need for an advanced and eye-safe wireless power transmission system capable of beaming power over several kilometers to/from moving platforms Optonicus successfully developed an Optical Power Transmission system with Adaptive Beam Shaping (OPT_ABS) in Phase I. The OPT_ABS system uses transmitted laser power that is generated using a gimbal-mounted adaptive fiber-array laser system based on the existing Optonicus commercially-available fiber-array modular product, the Intelligent Fiber-Collimator Array (INFA). The OPT_ABS laser head with sensors and imaging and tracking telescopes can be mounted on the roof of a truck for mobile operations. The laser beam aimpointing, aimpoint stabilization and wavefront phase shaping is achieved via optimization of the laser light power scattered off an array of small retro-reflectors attached to the photovoltaic module on the target platform. The new adaptive beam shaping capabilities enable the OPT_ABS system to operate in continuously changing conditions of turbulence, distance and orientation of the target. After the successful proof of concept prototype demonstration in Phase I, Optonicus will develop an easy to operate OPT_ABS power beaming system prototype fiber-array with 7 coherently combinable beams optimized for powering small UAVs, ground sensors and small robots.