W911NF24P0015

Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I

Autonomous Ground Penetrating Radar System for Remote Breaching

Our soldiers need to perform fast, reliable, and easy to operate mine detection and classification remotely from a safe distance to support fast-paced intense remote breaching operations. This extremely demanding mission requires a system of systems to detect and report hazards to vehicles and personnel in real-time and pass those detections along to integrated neutralization systems. By employing a high performance buried threat detection and characterization system that detects explosive hazards in real-time and communicate the threat characteristics, the follow-on neutralization systems will be prepared to quickly prosecute and dispatch enemy mines and explosive hazards before deploying expensive and vulnerable manned and unmanned assets to clear and proof a minefield. Additionally, providing the detected mine or explosive threat depth and size can inform Autonomous Breaching Vehicles on the required mine plow depth to set. Known threat type will also allow the warfighter to quantify the effectiveness of neutralization capabilities and plan accordingly. Furthermore, in order to reduce the warfighter s vulnerability, a threat detection and classification system must support a fast rate of forward progress and low false alarm rate, it must have a high probability of detection of all explosive threat types including metal and plastic mines, it must enable a high standoff between the detection system and the warfighter, and it must provide intuitive data products, including automated threat detections to drive decision making and reduce training requirements. Currently, a robust buried explosive hazard detection system capability that meets these requirements does not exist. NineFiveNorth is developing GPR technology that has been developed for route clearance, amphibious assault, and airfield damage assessment. We intend to test if conceptual prototypes are viable for the breaching concept of operations. NineFiveNorth proposes to increase the forward rate of progress of current conceptual prototypes and apply swarms for more effective (speed, coverage) application to the remote breaching battle space. The proposed system will improve explosive threat detection capability, including: Reporting threat depth, type and location for follow-on neutralization tools. Scan for remaining threats after application of neutralization systems (e.g. MICLIC). Scan for uncleared areas (e.g. mine roller movement outside the breaching lane during Wolverine deployment). Trench scanning and clearing of explosive hazards

The goal of phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of proposed R&D efforts and determine the quality of performance of the small business awardee organization.

A234-028

A234-028-1513

23.4

Nicholas Rinaldi