Challenge Problem Statements:
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Subsea Object Detection and Identification (Underwater and Seabed)
Descriptive Attributes:
- Detect objects of any material (ferrous, non-ferrous, polymeric, organic, biological, etc.) and scale (10-3m to 102m); objects may be moving or stationary, wholly immersed within the water or seabed, or at the interface between two media (e.g. on the seabed surface).
- Detection resolution and signal to noise ratio is sufficient to classify and identify the object; identification will occur at near real-time.
- Operates in all salinity (e.g. fresh and salt water) and in minimum visibility conditions (high turbidity) with no degradation in performance
- Power demand and size of detection and identification components meet mobile host platform constraints and availability.
- Detection and identification components may be active and/or passive and incorporate multimodal, distributed and cross-domain approaches.
- Detection and identification components are low cost.
Potential Enabling Technical Disciplines:
- Physics
- Electromagnetic spectrum
- Acoustics / Infrasound
- Quantum sensing / Quantum optics / Orbital Angular Momentum optics
- Signal processing
- Artificial intelligence / Machine learning
- Materials
- Oceanography
- Meteorology
- Remote sensing / Satellite altimetry
- Space science
- Earth science
- Synthetic biology
- Power and energy
- Microelectronics
- Neuromorphic imaging
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Personal Expeditionary Power and Energy
Descriptive Attributes:
- Power density >1000 W/kg and Energy density >=5000 Wh/kg
- May be weight bearing and incorporated into structures
- Conformable to non-traditional, 3-dimensional architectures
- Long-life, quick charge, reusable and recyclable
- Lightweight and man-portable
- Low hazard (no risk of thermal runaway)
Potential Enabling Technical Disciplines:
- Microbiology / Synthetic biology
- Chemistry
- Physics / nuclear physics
- Quantum science
- Power and energy
- Materials Science
- Advanced manufacturing
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High Latitude High Bandwidth Communications
Descriptive Attributes:
- Enables voice and data communications in the air, on land, ice, and sea surface in latitudes above 60o in locations with limited satellite communications
- Communication range is greater than 25 km with minimum data rates of 5 MBPS and in minimum visibility conditions
- Communication components operate at temperatures below -55oC with no degradation in performance and employ low power
- May incorporate multimodal, distributed and cross-domain transmission approaches
- May employ low probability of detection and interference resistant waveforms
Potential Enabling Technical Disciplines:
- Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Electromagnetic spectrum
- Next generation networking
- Autonomous self-healing mobile networks
- Quantum science
- Signal processing
- Space science
- Earth science
- Meteorology
- Remote sensing / Satellite altimetry
- Power and energy / long-duration resilient power
- Microelectronics
- Neuromorphic sensors
- Materials
- Logistics
- Oceanography
