AFWERX program backs new expertise for emergency groups and navy wildfire efforts
Picogrid and the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT) Mission Innovation X (MIx) have been awarded a $1.75 million contract by the U.S. Division of the Air Pressure’s innovation program, AFWERX. The purpose of the venture is to develop new methods to assist emergency and navy groups reply extra successfully to wildfires.
The award was made below the Small Enterprise Know-how Switch (STTR) Section II program. This program helps partnerships between small companies and analysis establishments to create new options for nationwide protection.
Wildfires proceed to be a serious menace in the USA. Army groups usually work alongside native and state authorities to handle hearth emergencies. The brand new expertise developed by Picogrid and MIT will assist this mission.
Jake Jeffries, Technical Program Supervisor at Picogrid, acknowledged: “Wildfires pose a severe menace to DoD installations, and the navy has constantly performed an important function in responding to them throughout the U.S. Our expertise allows Air Pressure finish customers, equivalent to hearth departments, to deploy compact and transportable sensor packages that stream real-time full-motion video again to command facilities. That is invaluable for monitoring energetic wildfires, deterring crime, and supporting emergency response efforts.”
Quick Deployment and Lengthy-Time period Help
Picogrid’s instruments are already in use at areas equivalent to Vandenberg House Pressure Base. The corporate delivered Helios, a cell sensor system, in below 24 hours.
“At Vandenberg House Pressure Base, for example, we delivered our Helios {hardware} in below 24 hours. Helios supplied cell and quickly deployable capabilities with below 15-minute setup to determine persistent surveillance in weak areas. This provides to our a number of Lander platforms already in use at Vandenberg for long-duration missions to get early situational consciousness of native fires. Given each Helios and Lander are totally impartial of the prevailing energy grid and communication infrastructure, we have now ensured operational reliability in austere situations. What units us aside is our give attention to info interoperability throughout navy, state, municipal, and different hearth departments,” mentioned Jeffries.
The Lander platform additionally helps dispersed sensors by offering energy and communications in distant or rugged areas.
A Unified View for All Stakeholders
Picogrid’s software program helps deliver collectively information from many varieties of sensors. This permits emergency response groups and command facilities to view all info in a single place.
Zane Mountcastle, CEO of Picogrid, defined:
“Picogrid’s platform creates a single pane of glass for emergency operations by consolidating information from dispersed sensors and enabling it to be shared by open APIs. The purpose is to make the identical info accessible to many stakeholders concurrently, whether or not they’re within the workplace or engaged on cell gadgets within the area.”
The give attention to open entry and ease of sharing helps make sure that everybody concerned—from federal businesses to native responders—can work from the identical real-time information.
Concerning the Program
The Air Pressure Analysis Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX created the STTR and SBIR packages to deliver small enterprise innovation to the Division of the Air Pressure. These packages intention to scale back delays, assist new concepts, and assist corporations ship options sooner.
Since 2018, the “Open Subject” program has expanded the varieties of expertise the Air Pressure is prepared to fund. The partnership with Picogrid and MIT MIx displays this effort to strengthen nationwide protection by versatile, fast-moving expertise growth.
Because the press launch notes, “The views expressed are these of the writer and don’t essentially mirror the official coverage or place of the Division of the Air Pressure, the Division of Protection, or the U.S. authorities.”
About Picogrid
Picogrid is a protection expertise firm targeted on connecting sensors, autonomous automobiles, and folks by a unified software program platform. With areas in El Segundo, CA, and Lawton, OK, the corporate helps navy and enterprise clients worldwide.
About AFRL
The Air Pressure Analysis Laboratory leads science and expertise analysis for the Air Pressure. It has over 12,500 workforce members working throughout air, area, and our on-line world domains.
About AFWERX
AFWERX is the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Pressure. Since 2019, it has awarded greater than 6,200 contracts to assist deliver new applied sciences to protection operations.
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