Advanced Fiber Optic and Electrical Cable Diagnostics Navy SBIR FY2013.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2013.2 Topic No.: N132-114 Topic Title: Advanced Fiber Optic and Electrical Cable Diagnostics Proposal No.: N132-114-1033 Firm: Management Sciences, Inc. 6022 Constitution Avenue NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110-5941 Contact: Kenneth Blemel Phone: (505) 255-8611 Web Site: www.mgtsciences.com Abstract: Tyco Electronics Connectivity Defense and Aerospace (TE) is a leading supplier of mil-spec fiber optic (FO) connectors used in ship's wiring plants, In a Navy SBIR, our company, Management Sciences, Inc. (MSI) worked with TE and developed a portable automated test equipment (ATE) for fast and efficient troubleshooting of harnesses. The portable ATE operates at the rate of about 4 seconds per conduit compared to several minutes for single conduit testers. We propose research leading to production of an automated inspection system that automatically inspects, tests, and documents fiber optic (FO) conduits of a ship's cable plant. The technology will interface to FO cable connectors and automatically inspect for factory and installation defects. This new technology shall include all necessary instrumentation for operating as an automated system that inspects and documents the location and nature of the fiber optic wiring plant problems or defects. (A separate proposal is presented for inspecting electrical wiring plants which have an entirely different problem space.) Benefits: Optical fiber plant technicians have predominantly relied upon manual inspection methods at the time of assembly. This new technology with comprehensive diagnostic coverage would afford significant installation cost improvements, and would be immediately applicable across numerous industrial sectors. Return