Slashdot Mirror

Here are some sites you might be interested in:

http://howardhallfarm.com/freewatt.html
http://www.infiniacorp.com/
http://www.mrsolar.com/
http://www.dodsbir.net/selections/abs071/osdabs071.htm
http://www.stirling-tech.com/

You might want to also contact the Honda Motor Company, as they mass produce the engine type you are interested in (they use them in their Hybrids).

• ST081-001 Advanced Development for Defense Science and Technology
• ST081-002 Novel Neural-Electrical Interfaces for Neural Device Control
• ST081-003 Early Detection of Infectious Disease Outbreak
• ST081-004 Probabilistic Logic for Knowledge Representation and Automated Reasoning
• ST081-005 Algorithms for Detecting Imminent Collisions
• ST081-006 Universal Self-Supervising Hierarchical Learning
• ST081-007 Wide Area Video Motion Blur Elimination
• ST081-008 Dynamic Multisensor Exploitation (DYME)
• ST081-009 Building Labels for Urban Environments (BLUE)
• ST081-010 Combat Video Analysis Engine
• ST081-011 High-Speed Diagnostic of Temperature and Intensity Variation on Diode-Laser Facets
• ST081-012 Microresonator-Based Active Silicon WDM-Modulator
• ST081-013 Front End Opto-Electronics for Future Radio Communications
• ST081-014 Small Low-Voltage Electro-Optic Modulators
• ST081-015 Transparent Organic Electronics for Displays and Spatial Light Modulators (SLM)

a more complete list for research proposals is here: https://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/sttr07/defaul t.htm

Sorry bucko, that doesn't work either.

But if you do a search from the home page, enter "Semiconductor Technology" as the search term, you get one search result and that's the one you want.

Huh. I checked a couple of times to make sure it was persistent, across a couple of computers, but I guess it was anyways and expired. My apologies to the readers. Control Number for the contract is: N043-226-0074 You can SBIR search for that control number at: DOD SBIR/STTR AWARDS - Custom Search

The most conspicuous feature of the AHED is its uncanny resemblance to the troop transport in the movie Aliens. When I mention the likeness to the engineers, they reluctantly agree and quickly change the subject.

The website may look booty, but XADS does appear to have a small business contract with the Navy for a "Personnel Neuromuscular Disruptor Incapacitation System" -- awarded November '02.

XTREME ADS (ALTERNATIVE DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
1508 E. 7th St.
Anderson, IN 46012
Phone: (765) 724-2226
PI: Mr. Pete Bitar
Topic#: NAVY 02-121
Awarded: 25NOV02
Title:Personnel Neuromuscular Disruptor Incapacitation System

Abstract:The STUNBEAM will effectively be proven to be the world's first available "wireless Taser", using electromagnetic energy to create ion "streams" which conduct a static charge which can disrupt neuromuscular control of any human or comparable animal target, at an output of between 25,000 and 100,000 volts with extremely low amperage. The weapon can also be used to disrupt electronic devices. Current technology already has proven results at very short, point-blank ranges of between five and ten feet. This Phase 1 work will deal with the ion streams themselves in the areas of columniation, tracking, limiting scattering effects, and static pulse conductivity in order to increase the range and controllability of a larger-scale device to between 50 and 300 feet. Since work has already been done in this area by Xtreme, one of the final results of the Option portion of this Phase 1 SBIR will be to build and deliver a working proof of concept device with a range of at least 10 feet, which will be useful in close-quarter scenarios as are common with the use of "Tasers". Xtreme has the technical ability, facility, and willingness to forge ahead in taking this technology to the incredible potential it has. The benefits of this system are unlimited. The unit will stun, not kill, its target, allowing for hostages to be rescued easily from almost any hostage situation, and criminals or enemy combatants to be captured, not killed, in a variety of military and law enforcement scenarios. This system will be easy to use and will be portable. Units can be sold commercially to police as well as to homeowners for effective, non-lethal self defense. Other applications of the massive ion generation of related devices can be used, among other things, in air purification and medical sterilization.

Here's a scenario that a friend's company ran into. This friend's company has a few SBIR and STTR contracts with the government with the Missile Defense Agency and the Air Force. One of the requirements for being a government contractor is complying with the F.A.R. regulations, one of which involves keeping time logs of work for all employees. (Not just all employees on the gov't contract, ALL employees. Your company must treat the gov't contract in the same way it does all of its work). One of the other requirements is that you must accept being audited by the government.

There are a few different levels of audits, but when they come on site the auditors are to be allowed access to all work areas and employees. They can ask questions about hours, work habits, whatever. And if there is any paraphernalia lying about, such as a cell phone (which may have time records of phone calls), blackberries (which may have time records and emails), or PDAs (which may have emails, schedules, appointments such as "see dentist", "have lunch", etc), these materiel can be scrutinized. Guess what: if they find a journal/log/diary/electronic PDA/cell phone record/email entry which contradicts an entry on the official time-log, your company's going to undergo a SEVERE audit right away.

This happened to the friend, and she was forced to immediately make it a requirement that absolutely NO personal cell phones, PDA's, blackberries, journals, diaries, or independent time logs were to be brought into the workplace. All employees had to leave their personal electronics stowed in their vehicles or at home, presumably beyond the reach of government auditors in the workplace.

So this may be what happened at your workplace. They might have gotten dinged for a time-log discrepancy. And if you get a bad F.A.R. violation, you can be barred from doing further government work, you can be required to reimburse Uncle Sam for all of the money the company has received thus far, you can be required to pay DAMAGES to the US govt for attempting to perpetrate a fraud.

They don't. See DoD Bids About 3/4 of the way down the page.

Title: Rad Hard Flash Technology Abstract: The highest density radiation hardened non-volatile (NV) memory currently available is a 256 kbit EEPROM based on SONOS technology. One of the major limitations in developing rad hard NV memory has been the cost in bringing up the NV technology in a dedicated rad hard process facility, especially when weighed against the limited market size. One way to bring radiation hardening to an advanced electronic product on a cost-effective basis is to leverage the commercial product by applying the hardening to the commercial fab instead of bringing the commercial technology to the rad hard fab. NV flash memory technology is popular in the commercial marketplace, with densities up to 256 Mbit in production. Unfortunately, flash memory is not available, at any density, in total dose rad hard versions. And, most commercial flash memories are so soft that impractical amounts of shielding are required to survive even moderate radiation environments. This effort will be the first step in developing rad hard flash technology at a commercial fab. Rad hard flash technology will be a near-term solution to the problem of high density NV memory for space applications. It will enable the development of rad hard flash memories and embedded NV memory for rad hard ASICs.

Flash...the weakest link...

Like it or not, the military is and has been the major driver in technological advancement.

Why?

• Survival is good motivation. Fall behind in technology and you die.
• They can afford to pay for cutting edge tech that would not be economical to produce for the consumer market which sometimes keeps the technology alive and kicking until it is economical for everyday apps.

Want to see some of the tech the DoD is funding? Check out their SBIR Program, specifically the recent Project Awwards

here is an interesting related one from the Navy's Phase I Selections from the 02.1 Solicitation:

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop marine propulsion concepts that employ biologically inspired aerodynamic mechanisms to enhance propulsor thrust and decrease the propeller rotation rate necessary to maintain a specified forward speed. Flying animals take advantage of three unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms to generate lift and propulsive power greater than that predicted from quasi-steady conventional airfoil theory. The three mechanisms are delayed stall, rotational circulation (including the clap and fling mechanism), and wake capture. In Phase I we will formulate three propulsion concepts, each incorporating one or more biomimetic unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms. Using phenomenological models and experimental data from literature, the concepts will be evaluated for lift production, efficiency, simplicity, and ease of practical implementation. Key physical and non-dimensional flow parameters will be identified for each concept. The most promising propulsion concept will be experimentally investigated in the PSI low speed wind tunnel to understand unsteady flow mechanisms. Phase I will conclude with a recommendation of which of the proposed designs, or modified designs, should be further studied in Phase II. In Phase II various models of promising concepts will be fabricated and the propulsive forces produced by these models will be measured in a wind or water tunnel. The proposed propulsion concept will allow military marine vehicles and devices including UUVs, ROVs, torpedoes, and Anti-Torpedo Torpedoes to travel at a specific speed with a lower propeller rotation rate, hence radiating less detectable noise. This will increase the stealth of these devices. The proposed mechanisms may also increase the fuel economy of these vehicles as well as surface ships. Potential applications of this device include commercial UUVs and ROVs as well as recreational boating.

I work for a small research company that does a lot of stuff for the DoD.(Ok, I work when I'm not trolling slashdot, really.) Every so often, it varies by the branch, they throw out a big list(think 3" book) technologies they want. It's very public . I assure you very little, if anything from those solicitations works. Most of the work we do is evaluating if some methods of attacking a problem are even remotely plasable. Once some small fry like us proves it do-able, and reasonable then they'll usually throw it to one of the "Big Boys", Raytheon etc, to turn into something they can directly use.

Bottom line, the miliary wants lots of things, most of them would make a Sci-Fi author giggle.

- RustyTaco