ADELPHI, Md. - Army scientists are transforming their research into intellectual property and industry licensing opportunities that will help protect the warfighter and advance civilian applications and industrial growth.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory and its researchers contribute to global innovation with dozens of varied patents and licensing opportunities that provide new capabilities and vast commercial potential for large and small industries.
As the Army’s only foundational laboratory, ARL is at the nexus of cross-cutting basic and applied research bringing academia and industry together to deliver capabilities for the Army.
These examples showcase some recent ARL inventions and their inventors that are available for licensing.
Four patents improve and simplify 3D manufacturing
ARL’s Dr. Gabriel Smith, engineer and team lead, and Dr. Adam Wilson, lead physicist and interim branch chief, are two inventors who collaborated on a family of four patents related to the refinement of laser forming for rapid fabrication.
In their research, Smith and Wilson noticed existing commercial laser systems distorted and bent the thin metal, which compromised the product.
“Understanding how to manipulate those distortions led to this invention,” Wilson said.
The scientists discovered that the distortions were caused by certain cutting speeds and power that created thermal stresses in the material. They were able to develop a technique to control the bend for a wide variety of applications including antennas, electronics packaging and robotics.
“By refining laser forming, we’ve enabled the fabrication of complex 3D structures from flat stock such as pre-cut flat steel bars, using commercial lasers,” Smith said. “Our goal was to unlock a cutting method for multi-axis folding of metal sheets using only thermal energy—no dies, pre-patterning nor mechanical intervention, and we achieved that.”
The technique works on multiple metals, achieving millimeter-scale precision using thermal stress–based deformation mechanisms.
This approach has immediate industry applications for distributed manufacturing, adaptive, independent field repair and rapid prototyping in defense and civilian sectors, according to Smith.
Energy-saving performance-aware computing software
Dr. Jaime Acosta, ARL senior computer scientist, created a new automated connection-preserving software system that allows users to swap software processes or capabilities while they are running.
This is especially beneficial to Soldiers on Internet of Battlefield Things (a connected battlefield-specific network of equipment and systems that work together), in low-resource environments as well as for network administrators working on large mainframe servers.
“Instead of initiating full applications on a computer system, one can start smaller, lower-fidelity versions of applications and increase their fidelity on-demand or as needed, which saves energy, reduces cooling requirements and extends hardware lifespan,” Acosta said.
As networks become larger and faster, this invention allows adaptable, seamless third-party connections that industry could use to provide more secure and efficient network technologies such as end-user devices, as well as routers, switches and controllers.
Time-saving biothreat detection methodology
Dr. Matthew Coppock, a lead scientist at ARL, discovered a new method to develop antibody alternatives for biothreats and physiological biomarkers that can integrate into any biological sensor system.
Creating these sensors generally requires knowing a lot about the target, but Coppock’s technique does not require detailed information. This makes the process faster, cheaper and more flexible. Plus, these new sensors are tougher and can withstand harsh conditions.
“The ability to develop a biological receptor for a sensor system before a biological threat is characterized could greatly reduce the time for medical intervention and infection tracking,” Coppock said. “The receptors are half the cost to produce compared to antibodies, and are resistant to temperature fluctuations, removing the need for cold storage.”
According to Coppock, this invention provides commercial opportunities for anything that is a protein or has an exposed protein on its surface. Examples include biothreats, biomarkers, viruses and bacteria.
Industry, Start-Up Licensing Opportunities
The ARL Partnership Support Office, also known as PSO, Technology Transfer facilitates the transition of ARL-developed intellectual property for commercial and military purposes through engagement with industry. Several mechanisms are offered including the commercial evaluation licenses, patent license agreements and cooperative research and development agreements.
As an example, ARL recently granted a patent license agreement to a small company called CloudSci related to their interest in an ARL invented Passive Aerosol Imager that measures coarse mode aerosols. CloudSci was previously granted a commercial evaluation license that allowed for a better understanding of the ARL invention and its commercial potential.
“For small businesses, a commercial evaluation license can be crucial in providing time to evaluate the market viability of an ARL invention,” said Julie Geare, ARL technology transfer specialist. “This evaluation can also help develop a more robust commercialization plan that sets the company up for success, should they decide to pursue a patent license agreement.” The patent license agreement allows CloudSci to move forward with their commercialization efforts.
These partnerships ensure promising inventions make it into the hands of Soldiers, as well as civilians, to transform and enhance our battlefield superiority both now and moving into the future.
Learn more about available ARL patents for commercialization or reach out to the PSO team at ORTA@arl.army.mil.
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The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, known as DEVCOM ARL, is the Army’s research laboratory. Nested strategically within DEVCOM and the Army Futures Command, ARL’s mission is to Operationalize Science. ARL identifies and executes disruptive research leading to scientific discovery and emerging technologies for Army continuous transformation. A hallmark of ARL’s mission is collaborative partnerships to broaden Army access to expert talent and accelerate transitions of science-enabled capabilities. For information, visit https://arl.devcom.army.mil/.
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