SBIR-STTR Award

Ross-Hime Designs, Inc. (RHD) Minneapolis, Minnesota is responding to MDAs Phase I SBIR solicitation Advanced Lightweight, Low Cost High-g Seeker Gimbal. RHDs design features 40 degrees of Az/El and is built almost entirely out of COTS components used in current production seeker gimbals. Building on the past SBIR contract Lightweight, Low-Cost Seeker Gimbals Army Space Missile Defense Command contract no. W9113M-09-C-0013, this new innovative design is the next step in seeker gimbal evolution providing more range of motion and thirty-three percent more seeker sensor aperture than found in conventional gimbals. Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components are the backbone of this proposal. Leveraging established seeker rotary voice coil technology from Kimco Magnetics, Vista. California, RHD has conceived an innovative design. Two perpendicularly stacked rotary voice coils are the principal components. Rugged COTS tapered roller bearings provide the support and define the axes. Resolvers or base mounted laser position sensors will provide position feedback information. Preliminary software and controls will be developed in the Phase I Option. In addition, a gimbal mock-up will be built to check for any mechanical interferences. RHD has an excellent track record of commercializing SBIR technology. Previous SBIR gimbals have been mass-produced for robotic spray finishing. Approved for Public Release | 17-MDA-9395(24 Oct 17)

An innovative, new seeker gimbal design featuring “drop in” integration into the missile tube. Transporting, warehousing, and other aspects of logistical support is aided by its innovative and rugged design. A major improvement over traditional gimbals that require “ship within a bottle” assembly techniques. Most gimbals require interior brackets bolted into the missile tube before the fragile seeker gimbal can be delicately lowered into the missile tube for final assembly. Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) components including motors and position feedback devices are another important feature of this design. Moog, Inc. motors and commercial resolvers will be used. By using proven components in a new way, key component failure is minimized and costs are reduced. Simple, rugged construction ball-and-socket design eliminates expensive fragile precision ball bearings. Dicronite precision dry film lubrication coating is used for the ball-and-socket and trunnions reduces friction to a minimum. Over 1000 sensor mount gimbals have been sold by KVH, Inc. Providence Rhode Island for their TracPhone communication system. L3 Technologies, Space & Sensors, Mason, Ohio, and PaR Systems, Inc., Shoreview, Minnesota have contributed letters of support. Approved for Public Release | 19-MDA-9932 (21 Feb 19)