Blue-Green Laser Illumination System Study (BLISS)

Operational requirements of the next generation aircraft carrier (CVNX) demand a level of hardware and software automation which current technologies have yet to meet. Of critical importance is the dramatic reduction of crew size. Orbital Researchproposes the development of an advanced, robust, and reconfigurable autonomous handling mechanism designed to relieve sailors from physically exhausting manual labor associated with load transport, particularly during underway replenishment (UNREP). InPhase I of this work, Orbital Research will develop a discrete event simulation of cargo handling operations on board an aircraft carrier. This simulation will be used to conduct a system integration study of an Autonomous Mobile Cargo Handling (MCH)device that optimizes the logistics of the transport of stores and munitions on aircraft carrier. Phase I will close with a hardware design and a simulation optimization for the MCH device. Results will be leveraged into Phase II where a detailed,realistic scale model will be designed and constructed that will be mounted on a ship motion simulator.The Orbital Research modular flexible Robotic Materials Handling System is a readily adaptable design giving it diverse commercial applications.Commercial applications include: handling heavy payloads in difficult environments such as heavy manufacturing facility automation, metal forming operations, large component assembly processes, high speed flexible manufacturing for large scale components,and underway ship automation.