ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: N22A-T012

Description

STTR topic N22A-T012 seeks to develop a compact, survivable “black box” mission module to collect UUV mission data prior to a mine detonation. This data module must preserve the data and allow system operators to retrieve the data post-detonation. Areté, along with our academic partner Applied Research Lab – Penn State University, propose a hardened EDEX-BB (Expendable Data Exfiltration Black Box) device. This solution directly extends Areté’s TRL8 EDEX, which is a small messaging device designed to exfil data from underwater host vehicles. The EDEX mission, as established on the MK18 UUV has demonstrated the ability of off-loading data, self-launching, ascending to the surface, and establishing Line-of-Sight or SATCOM RF communications to deliver the data. We propose to upgrade EDEX to address the MEMUUV/MESR specific survivability and timely data delivery requirments. The Resulting EDEX-BB will be able to record and deliver mission critical UUV data in the event of a diabled or destroyed UVV host. ARL-PSU wil develop detailed blast modeling to inform the design and to predict survivability.