Acoustic-based UAS Rainbow Oscillation Refraction Architecture (AURORA)
SBIR Opportunity Analysis
USSOCOM, through the SOCOM254-007 SBIR topic AURORA, is seeking research to enable small uncrewed aerial systems in a swarm to communicate and determine relative positions using sound generated by their propellers. The work centers on a Phase I feasibility study to explore acoustic spatio-spectral decomposition and data encoding approaches, and on identifying the most feasible option for a later prototype demonstration. The solution must support omnidirectional transmit and receive functions, decentralized multi-agent swarming, collision avoidance, reciprocal interference mitigation, and operation across different sUAS types, environmental conditions, and Doppler effects without additional oscillators or disruption to normal flight. The topic opens April 13, 2026 and closes May 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC, with applications due by the same deadline.