Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A13-046

Description

To address the Armys need for a self-replenishing power technology for protective eyewear with active lenses, in Phase I Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposed and successfully developed a new Ambient Energy Conversion (AEC) system, which is based on integration of three energy harvesting sources: a photovoltaic structure, a thermoelectric generator, and a 3D motion energy harvester, and implementation of inductive charging from NATO slave power receptacles and cell phone chargers. Operation of these sources is supervised by a miniature power management unit. POC has experimentally analyzed the efficiency of each harvester power source and selected a PV structure as the most efficient source. The Phase I prototype integrated PV modules with LC-based variable lens eyewear and demonstrated the feasibility of POCs approach. In Phase II POC will advance the Phase I prototype composed of PV and thermoelectric generators, and an inductive charger integrated into military certified eyewear. The Phase II prototype will be tested to ballistic/fragmentation standards, and its performance (power capacity, lifetime, and cost) will be experimentally confirmed. POC will fabricate ten articles of the Phase II prototype for demonstration of operational performance in a relevant environment.