ONR Global is seeking submissions for the 2023 Global-X Challenge.
The Global-X Challenge provides an opportunity for international researchers to collaborate, generate revolutionary ideas and show proof of concept these ideas will succeed.
ONR Global invites outstanding international researchers (academia and industry) to form multi-national, multidisciplinary teams to address one or more of the three capability challenges. Individual researchers may participate on more than one research team.
Successful projects will receive up to USD$750,000 over 9 months, with the potential for an additional USD$250,000 for further work.
Capability Challenges:
1. Long Range, High Bandwidth Underwater Communications
- Enables voice and data communications underwater
- Communication range > 100 km with data rates > 5 MBPS
- Cooperative communications to enable networked heterogeneous communication between platforms for collaborative mission management
- Operates in all salinity (e.g. fresh and salt water) and in minimum visibility conditions (high turbidity) with no degradation in performance
- Assured, secure; adaptable; low cost; unmanned
- May incorporate networked, multimodal, distributed and cross-domain approaches
- Low SWaP (size, weight and power)
2. Multifunctional Fabric (2-D woven fibers) for Survivable platforms
- Resists extreme environmental conditions (cold and hot, dry and fully submerged underwater)
- May be actuated to produce 3D shapes
- May be configured for a specific form factor at the nano, micro and macro scale to affect surface properties, including inducing hydrophobicity, reducing skin friction drag, reflectance (color), and refractance;
- Fabric may be easily applied to a surface and removed
- Fabric may sense surface state for health monitoring, absorb energy and provide a source for alternative energy production.
- Lightweight, adaptive, low cost;
3. Personal Expeditionary Power
- Power density >1000 W/kg and Energy density >=5000 Wh/kg
- Scavenge materials/resources to provide fuel sources that are indigenous to any location, including underwater, on land and in air;
- Generate at point of use to eliminate logistics tail;
- May be weight bearing and incorporated into structures
- Long-life; reusable
White papers are highly encouraged but not mandatory.
White papers are due 21 May 2023, with full proposals due 30 June 2023.
A kick-off information webinar will be held 7:00am US EDT 18 April 2023 or 9pm AEST Melbourne Tume – register here
Download supporting document here Global-X FOA N00014-23-S-BC12 (1)
