Phase 1 STTR
Institution: Purdue University
With Project AEQUOR-V Aurora, in partnership with Purdue University, proposes to complete the conceptual design of a hybrid unmanned air/underwater vehicle (HUA/UV) capable of transitioning repeatedly between aerial and underwater operations in a single mission, operating in water depths up to 40 ft, and carrying a significant payload. To accomp...
Phase 2 SBIR
A major market for vertical lift aircraft is in urban operations, primarily for police and electronic news gathering (typically a Bell 206 or a Eurocopter AS350). Manned systems are more costly to operate and have a much larger operational footprint than their unmanned counterparts. But the unmanned multirotor does not have the range and enduran...
Phase 1 SBIR
Unmanned Autonomous Systems are required to operate in cluttered, unknown, and unstructured environments. Guaranteeing the safety of these systems is critical for their successful deployment. Autonomous vehicles often need to operate near their limits to effectively complete their tasks. Safety of these vehicles needs to be imposed while respect...
Phase 1 SBIR
ABSTRACT:During the Phase I Program, Aurora will perform a conceptual-level design of an air-launched sensor platform featuring integrated antennas, with the goal of maximizing range and endurance thanks to the improved aerodynamic qualities. The technology is expected to replace many traditional antenna installations on military UAVs, and then...
Phase 1 SBIR
ABSTRACT:The existing antenna used for telemetry application has 50% antenna efficiency and large aperture size. Aurora is going to propose to design a new antenna with a smaller form factor and keep a good level of antenna efficiency by the proposed technologies. During the Phase I Program, Aurora will design and fabricate an antenna prototype ...
Phase 2 STTR
Institution: University of Massachusetts Lowell
After successfully demonstrating the basic functionality of a damage-detecting, self-healing 'smart' material system in Phase I, Aurora and UMass Lowell aim to advance the material technology to a TRL 5 in Phase II. The team will use their 'smart' material system to design and manufacture various scaled-up core-stiffened composite specimens in a...
Phase 1 SBIR
ABSTRACT:Airdrop accuracy is of paramount importance since airdrop systems landing in unintended locations could create internationally damaging outcomes. There is an opportunity to compensate for local effects by learning their impact on the airdrop trajectory from previous missions. Aurora Flight Sciences is teaming with Boston University to a...
Phase 1 SBIR
Multi-rotors (e.g. quad-copters) typically have direct electric drive, where the electric motor shaft is directly coupled to the propeller shaft. The benefit of this configuration is simple and high fidelity control. But electric drive for vertical lift typically relies on lithium polymer batteries for energy storage, and battery specific energy...
Phase 1 SBIR
Aurora has developed a method to directly embed conductive fibers and dielectric layers into a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) structure. To date we've been using this method to embed wiring harnesses and heaters into structures. The proposed innovation leverages our success with embedded wiring, to embed strain gages and thermocouples....
Phase 1 SBIR
During Phase I, Aurora Flight Sciences and N12 Technologies propose to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of hybrid composites in future aircraft structures by leveraging analytical model and experimental results that Aurora has gathered during the development of its indigenous Orion unmanned aircraft system, which utilizes CFRP co...
