SBIR-STTR Award

The US Navy needs robust detection systems for UUVs operating in harbor environments to protect high-value assets. The OASIS Team proposes to conduct a detailed feasibility study of using passive array(s) with integrated signal processor(s) to detect, classify and track, in real time, the underwater radiated noise of intruder UUVs. The requirement for the system will be a detection range of 1 km with a false alarm rate of 1 per day. In Phase I, possible intruder source levels will be estimated, as well as ambient noise and propagation appropriate for harbor environments. We will tradeoff the system performance (detection range, array gain, beam width, number of sensor channels, etc.) with frequency, cost, response time, array type and placement in the harbor. Existing and new array designs will be evaluated as well as various concepts of operation. A preliminary design for the system will be developed and documented for Phase II proof-of-concept testing. With extensive experience in designing, building, and testing high resolution passive arrays integrated with signal processors on board UUVs for the successful ONR PLUS and Marine Mammal Monitoring programs, the OASIS Team is uniquely qualified for this project.

Benefit:
The successful completion of the Phase I and II work may lead to several beneficial commercial opportunities in the government and private sectors arising from potential dual-use applications to those federal, state, or municipal agencies concerned with maritime security and monitoring. The robust and competent array detection system proposed herein is expected to be useful in real-time detection and classification of underwater intruders (diver, small to large boats and UUVs) for commercial and military harbors for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), monitoring the underwater environment to protect habitat of endangered species and illegal fishing activities for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and guarding underwater archaeological sites. The prospects for successful commercialization of this technology are significantly enhanced by the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware platforms for hosting the digital signal processing software. Efficiency in the maintenance of software as system requirements, threat, and environment characteristics evolve, and the low cost of hardware refresh should make this technology attractive to potential sponsors or end users in government, university research, and private sectors. If the potential market is expanded to include allied U. S. interests abroad in the United Kingdom, Australia, Central America, Israel, and the Middle East, the commercialization potential is essentially unlimited. All of these allied interests have significant harbor surveillance challenges with respect to maritime security that could be effectively addressed with the capabilities to be developed.

Keywords:
Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs), Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs), detection, response time, Harbor Acoustics, passive acoustic, Classification, radiated noise