N093-213 TITLE: Real-Time Hull Shape Monitor

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: NAVSEA Team Submarine PMS450

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

OBJECTIVE: Develop the capability to accurately measure the shape of a submarine hull 'real-time' as it operates. This ability would provide precise real-time locations of flank mounted sonar arrays. Such knowledge could be employed by acoustic signal processors to improve the performance and accuracy of multi-panel hull mounted arrays. Further potential exists for such technology to eliminate the need for �on-range� calibration of multi-panel hull arrays in the fleet.

DESCRIPTION: To achieve maximum performance, in a multi-panel flank mounted SONAR system, the relative positions of the panels must be known with great precision. Present multi-panel sonar systems are installed to extremely tight tolerances. Despite this, it is necessary to conduct costly at sea calibrations of each sub to ensure system performance.

Real-time knowledge of panel positions would allow the SONAR signal processing software to compensate for the static and dynamic misalignment of panels as the boat changes operating environments, boosting system performance and potentially eliminating the need for costly calibration exercises.

Current state of the art shape measurement systems are not capable of monitoring the shape of a body of the size of a submarine, nor are they able to provide the degree of precision required by this effort. To date, scientists have developed but not successfully demonstrated the technologies that measure the dynamic shape of small diameter (~3.5") flexible bodies to accuracies of 0.5" spanning a length of 50 ft. The effort proposed here would look at measuring the shape of a body over 100 times that diameter, over 4 times that length, and with 10 times the precision.

The challenge/risk presented by this effort would take the current state of the art to a new level of complexity, first by increasing the amount of instrumentation and its integration into a large structure; second by the development of algorithms capable of manipulating the vast amount of data so as to accurately report the shape of a large diameter body, like a submarine, real-time, with a high degree of precision.

PHASE I: Determine the scope of instrumentation necessary and the feasibility of developing algorithms necessary to monitor and record the shape of a submarine hull and report the relative x, y, z positions of discrete points to within 0.05" over a length of 200' as the vessel operates.

PHASE II: Complete the R&D and assemble a functional proto-type that can be used to evaluate the capabilites of the proposed shape monitoring technology in a laboratory. The potential also exists to demonstrate the technology using a 1/4 scale model of the Virginia hull in a controlled fresh water environment.

PHASE III: Develop a proto-type shape measurement system that can be installed on a Virginia class submarine and evaluate its performance, using the output to provide SONAR signal processing software the real-time positions of array panels.

The system shall be installed and evaluated, comparing the performance of a multi-panel SONAR with and without realtime position inputs on a test range used for calibration.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This technology can be used on any vehicle, structure, or body to monitor its shape with extreme precision in a dynamic environment. Industries which might benefit are aerospace, shipbuilding, geological studies, power generation and propulsion.

REFERENCES:
1. Eric Udd, "Fiber Optic Sensors An Introduction for Engineers and Scientists", John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2006.

2. A. Othonos and K. Kalli, "Fiber Bragg Gratings: Fundementals and Applications in Telecommunciations and Sensing", Artech House Inc., 1999.

3. Todd, M., D. Mascarenas, L. A. Overbey, T. Salter, C. Baldwin, and J. Kiddy, "Towards Deployment of a Fiber Optic Smart Tether for Relative Localization of Towed Bodies," Proceedings: SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Paper No. 92, Portland, OR, 2005.

4. Bernecky, W. Robert, "Determination of Location Deviation Offset for Wide-Aperture-Array Panel", NUWC-NPT Technical Report 11,828, 1 July 07.

KEYWORDS: SONAR; flank arrays; shape measurement; submarines; Virginia; ship building

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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