Abstract: A control system of a flight vehicle automatically varies the relationship between the center of gravity and the center of pressure of the flight vehicle. The control system automatically adjusts a center of pressure of the flight vehicle depending on a varying payload or payload type that is removably couplable to the flight vehicle. The control system automatically limits translational movement of the one or more wings of the flight vehicle in response to coupling of a payload to a fuselage of the flight vehicle.

Abstract: A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) provides a common architecture to feed both optical and RF phased arrays to produce steerable co-boresighted optical and RF beams from a single chip. The PIC may be used for guidance, mobile data links, autonomous vehicles and 5G cellular communications. A plurality of switches are monolithically fabricated on the PIC with the optical feed network to switch the optical power of the phase-modulated optical channel signals between the integrated optical antennas and the RF antennas to produce steerable optical and RF beams. The photo-detectors and RF antennas may be discrete components or integrated with the optical feed network. To ensure that the optical and RF beams are co-boresighted (within a specified angular tolerance) for the same steering commands, the PIC is positioned within the RF antenna array footprint.

Abstract: A method includes: forming a virtual tile cluster having tiles, wherein a tile comprises a processor and memory from a CPU device and a GPU device, and a tile in the GPU device further comprises subprocessors; forming a virtual unified memory that is accessible by the CPU and GPU devices; receiving a task; assigning the task to a tile of the virtual tile cluster according to a pre-defined rule. When the task is assigned to a tile in the GPU device, the method further performs: broadcasting the task to the subprocessors of a tile using a GPU shuffle instruction; and dividing data for the task and assigning the divided data to the subprocessors, wherein each subprocessor runs a codelet using the each of divided data. The task is executed by the at least one tile of the virtual tile cluster.

Abstract: A tool that facilitates handling and alignment of a connector while installing or coupling to another connector. The tool squares up and aligns the two mating connectors to each other prior to them making any contact in order to prevent misalignment and possible damage to either, or both, of the connectors.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to position, navigation and timing (PNT) methods, systems, and transmitters. A method comprises receiving radio-frequency (RF) signals from a plurality of virtual transmitters and determining PNT information of a target object based on information obtained from the RF signals. A system comprises a plurality of virtual transmitters and a receiver. The plurality of virtual transmitters is configured to transmit radio-frequency (RF) signals that include PNT information. The receiver is configured to determine PNT information of a target object based on the PNT information. A transmitter comprises a high-frequency (HF) carrier generator, a waveform generator, and an antenna system. The HF carrier generator generates an HF carrier signal. The waveform generator generates a waveform that includes PNT information. The antenna system transmits the HF carrier signal to generate a subject ionospheric duct.

Abstract: In an AR environment in which the pointing direction of the video camera is slaved to field technician motion to capture a video signal within a camera FOV of an object at arm's length from the technician and remotely-generated hand gestures for manipulation of the object are overlaid on the video signal to instruct the technician in manipulation of the object, a customer-defined key code and FOV limitations are used to exclude portions of a scene for data capture and transmission compliance. If the video camera pointing direction does not satisfy an alignment condition to a marker in the scene, the camera is controlled to exclude at least a portion of the camera FOV that lies outside a user-defined allowable FOV from capture within the video signal. The customer-defined key code includes at least technician identification, marker pairing and specified tolerance fields that define the allowable FOV.

Abstract: According to certain examples a spectrometer module for use in an imaging spectrometer includes a monolithic spectrometer body component made of an immersion material and including three mirrored surfaces configured to form a reflective triplet having an optical path immersed within the immersion material, the reflective triplet configured to receive incident optical radiation from an entrance face of the monolithic spectrometer body component and reflect the incident optical radiation along the optical path, and a dispersive element configured to receive and disperse the incident optical radiation reflected from the reflective triplet to provide dispersed optical radiation. The reflective triplet is configured to receive the dispersed optical radiation from the dispersive element and to reflect the dispersed optical radiation along the optical path to an exit face of the monolithic spectrometer body component.

Abstract: A foundry-agnostic post-processing method for a wafer is provided. The wafer includes an active surface, a substrate and an intermediate layer interposed between the active surface and the substrate. The method includes removing the wafer from an output yield of a wafer processing foundry, thinning the substrate to the intermediate layer or within microns of the intermediate layer to expose a new surface and bonding the new surface to an alternate material substrate which provides for enhanced device performance as compared to the substrate.

Abstract: Guanella topology balun/unun impedance transformer contains cascaded, i.e., series-coupled, coils of different sizes implemented in RF CMOS technology. The cascading of differently-sized coils provides for a large resonance-free operating bandwidth. The shunt inductive loading maximizes low frequency performance.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a device mount configured to be coupled to a component. The apparatus also includes an inner hub coupled to the device mount by a first flexure, where the first flexure is configured to permit translational movement of the device mount within the inner hub along a first axis. The apparatus further includes an outer hub coupled to the inner hub by a second flexure, where the second flexure is configured to permit translational movement of the device mount and the inner hub within the outer hub along a second axis different from the first axis. The first and second flexures form a compound nested flexure. The outer hub is configured to be coupled to a support structure and to permit both (i) translational movement of the apparatus along a third axis different from the first and second axes and (ii) tip/tilt adjustment of the apparatus.

Abstract: A dual-band refractive inverse telephoto lens system configured for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) operation. In certain examples the dual-band refractive inverse telephoto lens system includes first, second, third, and fourth lenses, each constructed from a material that is optically transparent in the mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared spectral bands, and has an external pupil coincident with an aperture stop of the refractive inverse telephoto lens system, the aperture stop being located between the first, second, third, and fourth lenses and the infrared imaging detector to allow for 100% cold shielding.

Abstract: A directional coupler includes a substrate, an output line formed on a top of the substrate, and an input line formed on the top of the substrate and including a transmission region. The coupler also includes a lower input line formed on a bottom of the substrate below at least a portion of the transmission region, and one or more vias passing through the substrate and electrically coupling the input line and the lower input line.

Abstract: Generally discussed herein are systems, devices, and methods for determining if a circuit is acting improperly. A system can include a module to receive proper performance values of a circuit, a module to receive improper performance values of the circuit, a module to compare actual circuit input characteristics (Xa) and actual circuit output characteristics (Ya) to X, Y, D, and Z to determine if the circuit is more likely operating properly or more likely operating improperly, and an alert module to, in response to determining the circuit is operating improperly, provide an alert to personnel indicating that the circuit is operating improperly or providing one or more signals to the circuit that cause the circuit to alter its current operation.

Abstract: According to one embodiment a transformer that includes a core having a central arm and first and second outer arms on opposite sides of the of the central arm, a primary winding surrounding the central arm and a secondary winding surrounding the central arm is disclosed. The transformer further includes a primary winding casing surrounding the primary winding, a secondary winding casing surrounding the secondary winding, and at least two spacers including a first spacer and a second spacer. The first spacer is configured and arranged to space the primary winding casing away from a bottom of the core and the outer arms and the second spacer is configured and arranged to space the secondary winding casing away from the primary winding casing and the outer arms.

Abstract: An aerial platform having motive devices for obtaining and maintaining loft of the aerial platform, the motive devices being pivotable relative to a wing of the aerial platform for aerial maneuvering of the aerial platform while generally maintaining stable disposition of the wing relative to the ground. The motive devices may include blades having selectively adjustable pitch for varying output force of respective motive devices. The aerial platform may further include one or more bladed turbines outwardly coupled to the wing and drivable by wind for generating power for the aerial platform. In some cases, the aerial platform may be tethered via a flexible power cable to a power source.

Abstract: An imaging system includes a focal plane array comprising a first row of photodetectors, a second row of photodetectors adjacent to the first row of photodetectors, and a segmented isolation grid including portions disposed between photodetectors in the first row of photodetectors and photodetectors in the second row of photodetectors.

Abstract: A thruster has an additively-manufactured housing that includes an integrally-formed nozzle with a burst disk in it. The housing is part of a casing that surrounds and encloses a propellant that is burned to produce pressurized gases that burst the burst disk and produce thrust. The thruster may be placed in a receptacle that defines a recess for receiving the thruster. The receptacle also may be additively manufactured. The thruster and the recess both may be cylindrical, with the housing being closely fit with the cylindrical walls of the receptacle. This may allow some of the structural loads on the housing, such as loads produced by the combustion of the propellant, to be transferred to the adjoining walls of the receptacle. This enables the housing to have less structural strength than if it were to have to contain the pressure from the propellant all on its own.

Abstract: Disclosed are an improved nozzle for an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), and a method for operating the same. The nozzle includes a first rigid member operatively coupled to a UUV steering mechanism. The nozzle also has a second rigid member, coupled to the first rigid member by a flexible bellows according to a configurable operating angle. The nozzle does not extend beyond a bounding surface when stored but does when deployed. Water traversing the first rigid member and contacting the second rigid member produces a reactive force according to the configurable operating angle. Simultaneous and independent control of the volume of fluid traversing several such nozzles in the UUV, and their respective orientations and operating angles, permits automatic station-keeping or navigation according to another guidance objective.

Abstract: The concepts, systems and method described herein provide direction finding (DF) methods based on a minimum distance (MINDIST) search to principal components. In an embodiment, the method includes capturing samples of data from one or more array elements. The samples may be samples of a signal received at the array elements. The method includes generating a spatial sample covariance matrix (SCM) using the samples of data, extracting principal components from the SCM and generating a principal component table using angle and frequency measurement for each of the principal components. The method further includes determining a distance between a test point and each value in the principal component table and identifying a minimum distance point corresponding to a direction of the received signal. The minimum distance point may correspond to direction of arrival of a signal on the one or more array elements.

Abstract: An underwater vehicle includes a longitudinal body that defines a longitudinal axis and is rotatable about the longitudinal axis between a forward orientation and a sideways orientation, a wing attached to the longitudinal body that is moveable between a vertically extending wing orientation when the longitudinal body is in the forward orientation and a horizontally extending wing orientation when the longitudinal body is in the sideways orientation, a propulsion system having a front propulsion device and a rear propulsion device that is arranged rearwardly along the longitudinal axis relative to the front propulsion device, and an after-propulsion system arranged at a rear end of the longitudinal body that provides thrust along the longitudinal axis. The secondary propulsion system provides thrust in a perpendicular direction relative to the longitudinal axis.