Office of Naval Research (ONR)

Propel LLC

Propel LLC is a US-based company developing performance-driven textile-based products.

Battery Free, Wireless Underwater Camera

Scientists estimate that more than 95 percent of Earth's oceans have never been observed, which means we have seen less of our planet's ocean than we have the far side of the moon or the surface of Mars. The high cost of powering an underwater camera for a long time, by tethering it to a research vessel or sending a ship to recharge its batteries, is a steep challenge preventing widespread undersea exploration. Now researchers have taken a major step to overcome this problem by developing a battery-free, wireless underwater camera that is about 100,000 times more energy-efficient than other undersea cameras. The device takes color photos, even in dark underwater environments, and transmits image data wirelessly through the water.

Biobatteries Use Bacterial Interactions to Generate Power for Weeks

As our tech needs grow and the Internet of Things increasingly connects our devices and sensors together, figuring out how to provide power in remote locations has become an expanding field of research.

Development of 3D Printed Smart Helmets for the Military

Researchers have received $1.3 million from the Office of Naval Research through the Defense Research University Instrumentation Program to create the world's first printable military "smart helmet" using industrial-grade 3D printers.

Bacteria Infused with Silver to Improve Power Efficiency in Fuel Cells

Research has taken a major step forward in the development of microbial fuel cells — a technology that utilizes natural bacteria to extract electrons from organic matter in wastewater to generate electrical currents.

Maritime Mine Neutralization System Uses Robotic Arms

RE2 Robotics has received a $9.5 million contract from the Office of Naval Research to create an underwater robotic system for the autonomous neutralization of underwater mines for the US Navy.

AI System Protects Divers from Waterborne Bacteria, Parasites

Sailors are sent into all kinds of water as part of their service in the US Navy, but they have limited resources to understand in real-time the health risks that may exist when they conduct underwater duties — everything from fleet maintenance and repairs to search and rescue and research missions.

3D Printing of Multilayered Materials for Smart Helmets

A mechanical and aerospace engineering professor is developing advanced helmets to ensure that members of the military are as protected as possible from blasts and other types of attacks.

Swift Solar USA

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Solar PV technology company Swift Solar announced today that it secured more than $8 million in Series Seed 2 funding, with an additional $1.5 million expected to close soon, for a total of $9.6 million.

Robotic Seafloor Survey Completed

An expedition led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical DDT in sediments and the ecosystem. The survey identified an excess of 27,000 targets with high confidence to be classified as a barrel, and an excess of 100,000 total debris objects on the seafloor.

Slender Robotic Finger Senses Buried Items

Discerning buried items in granular material like sand is a taller order. To do that, a robot would need fingers that were slender enough to penetrate the sand, mobile enough to wriggle free when sand grains jam, and sensitive enough to feel the detailed shape of the buried object.

Robotics Enter the COVID-19 Fight

A decontamination robot funded by the Office of Naval Research and designed by several local universities was recently tested. The robot--initially designed for shipboard firefighting and maintenance tasks--has now been enlisted in the fight against Covid-19.

Valgotech LLC

We interviewed President Dr David Olawale August 2020. His areas of expertise include multifunctional composites, sensor systems, product development and technology commercialization.

New Fuel Cells With Twice the Operating Voltage as Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Electrification of the transportation sector — one of the largest consumers of energy in the world — is critical to future energy and environmental resilience. Electrification of this sector will require high-power fuel cells to facilitate the transition to electric vehicles, from cars and trucks to boats and airplanes.

Hyper-Efficient Conservation Robot

For the next several months, visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden will be able to observe the testing of a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world's most endangered species. SlothBot, a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can linger in the trees to monitor animals, plants, and the environment below, will be tested near the Garden's popular Canopy Walk.

Transparent Graphene Electrodes for New Generation of Solar Cells

A new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells, and to new classes of light-emitting devices and other thin-film electronics.

New AI Tool to Evaluate all Possibilities in Robot Decisions

Just like humans, when robots have a decision to make there are often many options and hundreds of potential outcomes. Robots have been able to simulate a handful of these outcomes to figure out which course of action will be the most likely to lead to success. But what if one of the other options were equally likely to succeed - and safer?

Robotics in Maintenance and Repair

Inspecting fuel and ballast tanks. Sand-blasting old paint coatings and applying new ones. Removing corrosion on ships, submarines, aircraft and other vehicles. These are some of the unpleasant jobs in naval shipyards and maintenance facilities that could be made safer by pairing human workers with robots.

Finalists Announced for 2019 R&D 100 Awards

Finalists for the venerable R&D 100 Awards have been announced by R&D World magazine and its new parent company, WTWH Media, LLC.