Swift and Quiet Airfield Assessment Device (SQUAAD)

Luna will continue its successful Phase I efforts in Phase II by teaming with Dr. Russell Green of Virginia Tech to develop a system that rapidly, and with minimal acoustic emission, assesses the load bearing capability of candidate airfield ground. Based on Lunas distributed fiber optic sensing technology, and leveraging recent developments in data acquisition hardware miniaturization, the proposed system will be compact, easily portable, and battery-powered. Virginia Tech, led by Dr. Green, will work with Luna to produce test formations to aid in the development of SQUAAD algorithms and validation of the final SQUAAD system. The resulting system implementation will provide an attractive alternative to the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) test, which is mature and widely-implemented but has a prominent acoustic signature, is time-consuming to perform, and requires bulky apparatus. Phase II will focus on software development, SWaP requirement system design and manufacturing, validation testing, and work with the U.S. Air Force to ensure results are presented in the desired format. During Phase III, Luna will perform final system calibrations and transition the technology to the Air Force.