Advanced Shipboard Electrical Control and Monitoring

Examine the electrical power system of the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67) and identify ways to reduce power demand. We will investigate adapting some proven land-based technologies to the warship environment, as well as some bleeding-edge initiatives, including capacitors to correct Power Factor, Variable Frequency Drives to reduce power demand by operating selected motors at slower speed when possible, and Smart Motor Controllers to reduce transient peak startup demand on selected motors. We shall investigate Demand Management Systems to continuously monitor sources and demands and mitigate the severity of cascading electrical system casualties by enacting priority load-shedding. Perhaps most innovatively, we shall investigate the potential energy savings to be obtained through the implementation of Intelligent Agents, a network of discrete digital sensor/actuators which constitute a distributed artificial intelligence capability, in their capacity to monitor, manage, and optimize the performance of a single distributed ship system. We intend to apply for the SBIR Fast Track. In the Phase I Option effort, we shall investigate the potential energy savings from implementing high-efficiency motors, high-efficiency lighting, and extending the Intelligent Agent technology to monitor, manage, and optimize the performance of the system of systems which make up a modern warship.