SBIR-STTR Award

Graviton proposes to fabricate a Miniaturized Chemical Agent Detector (MCAD) for deployment on UAVs using a microcantilever MEMS based sensor array. The proposed detector could be dramatically smaller, lighter, and less expensive than conventional chemical agent detectors, readily meeting the size, power and cost constraints imposed on payloads for UAVs. The detector utilizes an array of surface micromachined cantilevers, coated with chemoselective coatings optimized for the detection of chemical warfare agents. The Phase I effort will also provide a side-by-side comparison of the Graviton detector system with Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensor platforms, coated with the same chemoselective coatings.

Benefits:
The MEMS-based microcantilever chemical sensor system proposed here for chemical warfare agent detection on UAVs has very broad relevance in a number of commercial applications. When combined with Graviton’s wireless communication technology, these sensors are ideal for monitoring a variety of chemical and physical targets in a distributed system where a premium is placed on early detection of problems. The low cost, low power consumption, small size, and wireless connectivity of this technology is expected to enable penetration of marketspace previously inaccessible to sensor systems.

Keywords:
Microcantilever Sensor, Unmanned Air Vehicles, MEMS, Chemical Warfare Agent Detector, Low-cost Chemical Sensor

The purpose of this program is to develop MEMS chemicapacitive sensors and integrate with a MEMS preconcentrator. The initial focus will be on the development of chemoselective materials for the detection of chemical warfare agents (CWA), toxic industrial chemicals (TIC) and toxic industrial materials (TIM). This work will ultimately lead to the development of a low-cost, low-power chemical badge detector based on micromachined capacitors. Our MEMS sensor array utilizes micromachined chemicapacitors coated with chemoselective polymers optimized for the detection of target chemicals. Capable of detecting many chemical mixtures, each chip has ten sensors, with several different coatings for redundancy and interferent rejection. Exceptionally low power consumption, inexpensive production cost and robustness make our detector ideal for field deployment. As part of this Phase II effort we will fabricate a small battery powered prototype to demonstrate the capabilities of this technology. The system will include a chemical sensor array selective and sensitive to CWA, TIC or TIM and a small, rugged, lightweight, low-power system designed for use as a badge sensor. Ultimately, this system will provide early warning capability when deployed on the battlefield or when used in homeland defense.

Keywords:
Mems, Capacitive Sensors, Chemical Warfare Agents (Cwa), Sensors, Detector, Toxic Industrial Chemical (Tic), Toxic Industrial Material (Tim), Badge