Affordable DC Emulator

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Mission Readiness & Disaster Preparedness; Sustainment & Logistics The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: The federal government is interested in developing a modular, affordable DC Emulator to encourage budget-constrained industry and academia to use and develop novel Digital Engineering techniques, conduct smart integrated testing, and bring non-traditional vendors to market. The objective of this topic is to demonstrate an affordable DCE coupled into real-time Experimental hardware-in-the-loop test with a relevant electrical source or sink representations and a develop a plan for commercialization DESCRIPTION: For electrical systems a Direct Current Emulator (DCE) is an advanced bi-directional DC power supply/sink that can be used to fill-in for unavailable components while presenting their relevant boundary conditions. A gap exists between high performance DCE and traditional power supplies for right-sized bandwidth, voltage, and power capabilities, matrixed with size, weight, and cost, with the latter needing to be <$1.00/W, which would enable Digital Engineering approaches supporting rapid integration of capabilities onto ACP platforms at government, aerospace industry, and academic facilities. The federal government is therefore interested in developing a modular, affordable DCE to encourage budget-constrained industry and academia to use and develop novel DE techniques, conduct smart integrated testing, and bring non-traditional vendors to market. PHASE I: As this is a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made as a result of this topic. To qualify for this D2P2 topic, the Air Force expects the applicant(s) to demonstrate feasibility by means of a prior Phase I-type effort that does not constitute work undertaken as part of a prior or ongoing SBIR/STTR funding agreement.Applicant(s) should substantiate that they have a technically feasible approach and the capability to precede to a detailed design, the majority of the key capabilities and fundamental features of an Affordable DC Emulator, and that they have clearly identified potential technical limitations and areas that require additional development. PHASE II: At the end of the POP, an ideal state or result would be a low TRL demonstration of an affordable DCE coupled into real-time Experimental hardware-in-the-loop test with a relevant electrical source or sink representations and a plan for commercialization. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This technology has relevant applications in other aerospace applications with partners sharing similar needs being: Army, NASA, and NAVAIR. Depending on the level of success, future efforts utilizing core project/program funding (non-SBIR) will be considered to: expand the proposed solution to additional application areas, enhance the capabilities and feature set, and/or further refinement and development into a commercial product leveraging input from transition partners. Being an affordable technology, a solution with strong alignment to CCA will create additional avenues for work and funding. REFERENCES: 1. Miller, C. and Boyd, M., "Utilizing Behavioral Models in Experimental Hardware-in-the-Loop," SAE Int. J. Aerosp. 9(1):128-133, 2016, https://doi.org/10.4271/2016-01-2042. 2. Bash, M., Pekarek, S., and Zumberge, J., "The Utility of Wide-Bandwidth Emulation to Evaluate Aircraft Power System Performance," SAE Int. J. Aerosp. 9(1):14-22, 2016, https://doi.org/10.4271/2016-01-1982. 3. Sadey, David J., et al. NASA advanced Reconfigurable Electrified Aircraft Laboratory (areal). AIAA AVIATION 2023 Forum, 8 June 2023, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-3991. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230007429 KEYWORDS: Electrical Power, Energy Storage, Constant Power, Electrical Stability, MIL-STD-704, HIL