Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: The address the Navy"s need for autonomous maintenance and health monitoring of recha

Description

The address the Navy"s need for autonomous maintenance and health monitoring of rechargeable batteries, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Wireless Intelligent Battery Monitoring and Maintenance (WIBAMM) system. The proposed system is based on a dense sensor network that both wirelessly monitors individual battery status (i.e., voltage, charge status, and temperature) and performs lower-power recharging to combat the effects of self-discharge during long-term storage aboard Navy vessels and at ground-based storage facilities. The innovative Intelligent Battery Monitor (IBM) sensor retrofits to any rechargeable cell and enables the Navy to easily monitor and rapidly determine the health of large quantities of batteries (over 16 million). As a result the WIBAMM system can also eliminate the danger of thermal runaway events and frequent faulty battery delivery to operators, both of which are major problems for the modern Navy. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate WIBAMM feasibility on multiple standard military batteries with a system design that provides the best value for the government with a small TOC and a ROI approaching 10x. In Phase II, WIBAMM will be ready for full-scale application by the Navy for batteries stored aboard Amphibs and MPF ships, and at ground-based storage facilities.