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Company
Portfolio Data
Back to Company SearchBLUEFIN ROBOTICS CORP.
Address
237 Putnam AvenueCambridge, MA, 02139
USA
UEI: D8CMPLV4GKR5
Number of Employees: 60
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
SBIR/STTR Involvement
Year of first award: 1999
5
Phase I Awards
2
Phase II Awards
40%
Conversion Rate
$378,053
Phase I Dollars
$895,945
Phase II Dollars
$1,273,998
Total Awarded
Awards
Automated Launch and Recovery of Un-tethered, Mini-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles from Unmanned Surface Vehicles
Amount: $446,202 Topic: N04-127
The US Navy will use growing numbers of unmanned autonomous vehicles to perform a variety of functions including mine surveillance and subsurface mapping, particularly in connection with missions for the Littoral Combat Ship. These functions are often performed by deployment of sensors, sources and arrays from organic offboard vehicles (OOVs). During Phase I of this project, Bluefin Robotics Corp. (Bluefin) and Brooke Ocean Technology Ltd. (BOT) conducted a study to developing and evaluating innovative concepts for automated launch and recovery (L&R) systems for the deployment of multiple mini-UUVs from USVs, and for deploying Towed Sensor, Source and Array Systems (TSSAS) from USVs. In this Phase II (Base plus all Options), Bluefin and BOT propose to combine their collective expertise to build, test, demonstrate and evaluate at-sea performance of a "full scale" multi-functional prototype UUV Launch & Recovery system and TSSAS Deployment & Recovery system based on the most effective concept designs developed by the team to date. These L&R systems include provision for unattended recharge of UUV energy systems while onboard the USV, and for transferring of data between a USV and its multiple mini-UUVs.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2005
DOD
NAVY
Automated Asset Deployment and Retrieval System from Organic Offboard Vehicles (OOVs)
Amount: $69,363 Topic: N04-087
The US Navy will use growing numbers of unmanned autonomous vehicles to perform a variety of functions including mine surveillance and subsurface mapping, particularly in connection with missions for the Littoral Combat Ship. These functions are often performed by deployment of sensors, sources and arrays from organic offboard vehicles (OOVs). Bluefin Robotics Corp. intends to partner with Brooke Ocean Technology Ltd. (BOT) and proposes to develop a single system capable of deploying many different towed assets such as sensors, and arrays. Our proposed system will enable OOVs to meet the broad range of needs for multiple missions with a single D and R system and will be capable of automated launching, towing and retrieving many types of towed assets including sensors, sources and arrays from Unmanned Surface Vehicles.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2004
DOD
NAVY
Advanced Pressure-Tolerant UUV Batteries for Fleet Use
Amount: $69,934 Topic: N04-053
In the proposed Phase I program, Bluefin will prepare and submit a safety data package for high cycle-life, long shelf-life, advanced pressure tolerant lithium polymer ("Li-poly") batteries for use in, and from the host vehicles of, the AN/BLQ-11 Long Term Mine Reconnaissance System ("An/BLQ-11") through provisional safety approval from NAVSEA's Carderock Division under NAVSEA Technical Manual S9310-AQ-SAF-010 ("S9310"). In addition to the benefits of high-cycle life and long shelf life, pressure tolerant Li-poly batteries would be superior to alternative energy sources for unmanned underwater vehicles because they are robust, safe, do not require failure-prone, heavy pressure housings, and are orientation agnostic. Advanced pressure tolerant batteries are not currently available because of issues with basic battery chemistry, non-standardized manufacturing methods, undiagnosed failure modes, and the absence of lightweight durable packaging. Leveraging U.S. Navy SBIR funding with Bluefin's development efforts, we propose an innovative solution for UUV batteries using commercial Li-poly cells with safe, lightweight packaging and safe "smart battery" electronics.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2004
DOD
NAVY
Automated Launch and Recovery of Un-tethered, Mini-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles from Unmanned Surface Vehicles
Amount: $69,799 Topic: N04-127
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are being developed for mine hunting operations to provide more effective mine detection and neutralization at lower risk to than conventional mine hunting methods. Although UUVs show promise, they must be small and highly maneuverable, which limits their range and mission duration. An Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) can carry several mini-UUVs into an area of operations, thereby significantly increasing the on-station time of the UUV by eliminating the requirement to expend power to travel to the operational area. The USV can also provide an on-site station for recharging batteries. Bluefin Robotics Corp. intends to partner with Brooke Ocean Technology Ltd. (BOT) and proposes to develop a system capable of automated launch, recovery, recharging, and data transfer for small UUVs that are deployed from USVs. Bluefin's expertise with UUVs, including mini-UUVs, vehicle guidance and docking systems and BOT's expertise with UUV/USV launch and recovery and automation creates a team that is well qualified to complete this project.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2004
DOD
NAVY
Rapid Design & Development of Behaviors for Autonomous Vehicles
Amount: $98,957
Bluefin Robotics proposes (in Phase I) to create a methodology for developing the Bluefin Agent Behavior Language (BABL) and associated tools. BABL will enable the rapid design and development of behaviors for autonomous vehicles. Key features of BABL arethat it:1) Makes a minimal set of assumptions about the capabilities and assumptions of the target UVs.2) Maintains generality without losing the ability to exploit the advanced capabilities of any given agent.3) Presents a clean interface that allows the user to think about behavior and mission composition in a natural manner.Two core elements of BABL are that it stacks layers of behaviors that operate in sequence or in parallel, and it enables users to formulate implementation-independent statements of goals and directions.In phase I we will review prior agent behavior languages, tools, and architectures; develop generic use-case scenarios; develop and document the design methodology; and specify the language and toolset. 1) Creation of a standard, general agent behaviorlanguage for use with unmanned vehicles in all military branches2) Enabling rapid development of complex behaviors and missions for heterogeneous unmanned platforms.3) Strengthen synergies between DOD, commercial, and academic unmanned vehicle programs, easing technology transition between these three sectors.4) Creation of standard for commercial agent behavior programming and tools for the unmanned systems industry.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2003
DOD
DARPA
Water Based Hydraulic System
Amount: $449,743
Recent advances in battery technology open the possibility ofpressure-tolerant batteries, i.e., batteries that areintrinsically capable of withstanding ambient pressure in theopen ocean with negligible modification. Pressure-tolerantbatteries can increase an AUV's effective energy capacity by 50%to 100%, with no reduction in vehicle payload and no increase invehicle size. To get a corresponding increase in capacitythrough improvements in electrochemistry or cell manufacturingwould require investing many millions of dollars over many years,with no guarantee of success. In our Phase I effort we performedthe first systematic testing of appropriate cells under deepocean ambient pressure. Our results are promising. COTS cellsunderwent many electrical cycles at high rates (nominally C/2)while under isobaric conditions of over 6,700 psi, with noevidence of pressure-induced failures in either set of cells.Thus, there exist today COTS cells that can be used to build ahigh-capacity pressure-tolerant battery pack for Navy vehicles.For our Phase II effort we propose to engineer a pressure-tolerant battery pack based on the current state-of-the-art COTScells. Furthermore, the pack will be designed to allow it toreadily accept improved cells as they become commerciallyavailable
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2001
DOD
NAVY
Pressure-Tolerant Batteries for Autonomous Undersea Applications
Amount: $70,000
Not Available In broad terms, the purpose of the Phase I research is to determine if it is feasible to make an electrooptic device in a polymer optical fiber with reliable core material and high-quality electrodes. Past results demonstrate that all the pieces are in place to build such a device. The objective of this project is to determine the feasibiity of the following. (1) Incorporate a more reliable side-chain polymer into the core of the fiber preform. (2) Incorporate into a fiber preform electrodes whose melting temperature and/or plastic range better matches the glass transition temperature of the polymer. (3) Demonstrate that an electrooptic polymer fiber can be pulled from this fiber. A successful demonstration of these three technical objectives would provide a robust electrooptic fiber that could be used as an inline component to make a family of devices such as molulators and multiplexers. We have already demonstrated that electrodes can be incorporated around a light-guilding single-mode core and that the fiber can be poled with an electric field during the fiber drawing process.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
1999
DOD
NAVY