A smart wing design is proposed here to demonstrate the feasibility of using smart structures for suppression of aircraft vibration. Active wing research, conducted for many years, continues today as an important element in advanced aircraft technology. This program will analytically demonstrate the… More

Active noise reduction (ANR) headsets have found a market niche in the hearing protection industry, thereby validating the technology of active noise control for personal applications. This Phase I project will seek to extend the application of personal ANR systems to include specialized headphones… More

ANR technologies have been successfully incorporated in communication headsets to improve speech intelligibility and hearing conservation in high noise environments. This Phase I research effort will introduce advancements in optimal controller/headset architectures that will lead to: greater SPL… More

Not Available The development of a novel sensor technology is proposed that completely integrate simultaneously registered CCD and FLIR imaging into a single unified camera system. Such a hybrid sensor exploits unique complementary imaging characteristics of these sensing modalities for day-night… More

"Adequate hearing protection for U.S. Navy crew personnel is mandatory and may be achieved through the use of earcups, earplugs, or both. Donning only the earcups or only the earplugs is referred to as single hearing protection (SHP), while the use ofearplugs under earcups is called double hearing… More

"The design, development and testing of a real-time audio telepresence device for remote acoustic monitoring is proposed. The primary goal of the Phase I effort is to deliver a fully functional wired binaural prototype microphone capable of delivering themost realistic hearing capabilities to a… More

"The extreme noise fields encountered by U.S. Navy flight deck and cockpit crewmen interfere with speech intelligibility and cause hearing loss to warfighter personnel, even with the currently-fielded communication systems. This Phase I program willdevelop new active noise reduction (ANR)… More

"The Patuxent River Naval Air Warfare Center (Aircraft Division)is working towards the completion of a personal double hearingprotection (DHP) communication system for use in extreme noiseenvironments. This Phase II program has been designed to finishthe identification of best-possible performance… More

The use of finite element analysis (FEA) modeling techniques to model both single hearing protection and double hearing protection noise attenuation will be refined during this Phase II program. Physically realistic, three-dimensional models ofcircumaural earcups and custom PVC earplugs will be… More

The Phase I research effort delivered a fully functional wired binaural microphone prototype capable of providing realistic hearing capabilities to a remotely located soldier. Building on the successful completion of Phase I, the Phase II developmenteffort will refine the current design, add… More

Protective helmets anticipated for the next generation Army soldier (Objective Force Warrior) will provide superior ballistic and biological protection by encapsulating the entire head. However, such an encapsulating design will limit the soldier's ability to effectively hear the surrounding… More

The U.S. Navy aircraft maintainer personnel need innovative, lightweight, head protection technologies that are compatible with recent advancements in single and double hearing protection devices. The current USN cranial system, worn by aircraft maintainers on the flight deck, was originally… More

High noise environments increase the difficulty of face-to-face communication, with or without the use of hearing protection. Further, understanding the sound signals that are available in the environment for maintaining situational awareness becomes more difficult as background noise level… More

Advancements in subminiature earphone drivers are sought to provide desired improvements in active noise reduction (ANR) earplug attenuation magnitudes and bandwidth. Prior investigations have illustrated a need for improvements in frequency response, sound power output, geometrical configurations,… More

The U.S. Navy is seeking innovations that lead to lightweight, more comfortable, head protection technologies that are compatible with recent advancements in single and double hearing protection devices used by aircraft engine maintainers. The current USN cranial system, worn by aircraft… More

High noise environments increase the difficulty of face-to-face communications, with or without the use of hearing protection. Further, understanding the acoustic cues that are available in the environment for maintaining situational awareness becomes increasingly difficult as background noise… More

Advancements in subminiature earphone drivers will provide needed improvements in active noise reduction (ANR) earplug attenuation magnitudes and bandwidth. Prior investigations have illustrated a need for improvements in frequency response, sound power output, geometrical configurations, and ease… More

Improved characterization of the dominant paths of bone conducted sound transmission caused by external acoustic excitation for a person wearing a plug/earmuff combination is urgently needed for development of effective hearing protection in extremely high noise fields. This two phase program will… More

Improved understanding of mechanisms controlling bone conduction (BC) sound transmission, especially with respect to acoustic excitation, is urgently needed in order to develop more effective hearing protection in extremely high noise fields. The Phase I research program made great progress toward… More

Through earlier SBIR programs, as well as the exercising of a number of enhancements and options, ATI has been able to leverage development funds to the point of preparing three classes of product, designed for the Navy flight deck noise environments, for transition to the fleet. The product… More

Custom fitting hearing protection ear plugs have been shown to provide substantial benefits for personnel working in high noise environments such as around military aircraft and in a range of other war fighter and civilian industrial scenarios. Current manufacturing processes for shaping custom ear… More

The acoustic test fixture (ATF) type of hearing protection evaluation system (HPES) has been widely used in the past to evaluate hearing protection device (HPD) performances, in addition to the Real-Ear-Attenuation-at-Threshold method and the Microphone-In-Real-Ear method. Since the use of ATF… More

The Flight Deck Cranial (FDC), a new helmet design for USN maintainers working on carrier flight decks, is being developed under SBIR funding. The FDC acquisition program includes KPP"s for head impact protection, hearing protection and stable integration to NVG equipment. Adaptive Technologies,… More

Adaptive Technologies, Inc. (ATI) and Fortress Technologies have teamed to develop advances in flight deck data and voice communications for use by the Aviation Data Management and Control System (ADMACS) program. This unique challenge of providing operational, noise-free, voice-enabled data… More

Selection of appropriate hearing protection devices (HPDs), such as earplugs and earmuffs, is important in mitigating noise-induced hearing loss among military personnel. The standard method of measuring the noise attenuation performances of HPDs is based on a psychoacoustic method involving human… More

The goal of this research is to develop a comprehensive biomechanical simulation model of a full human head which includes internal anatomical features down to the minute structure of a human cochlea for accurate representation of full sound pathways to the human cochlea, including bone conduction.… More

Custom fitting hearing protection earplugs have been shown to provide substantial benefits for personnel working in high noise environments such as around military aircraft and in a range of other war fighter and civilian industrial scenarios. Current manufacturing processes for shaping custom… More

Adaptive Technologies, Inc. (ATI) and Fortress Technologies have teamed to develop advances in flight deck data and voice communications for use by the Aviation Data Management and Control System (ADMACS) program. This unique challenge of providing operational, noise-free, speech driven data… More

The proposed project will result in an anthropometrically realistic and viable simulator for the testing, evaluation, and validation of firearms and associated ammunition. The approach being taken to achieve the end device is to capture both the active and reactive system loads and dynamics… More