Acoustic-based UAS Rainbow Oscillation Refraction Architecture (AURORA)
SBIR Opportunity Analysis
USSOCOM is seeking SBIR research for the Acoustic-based UAS Rainbow Oscillation Refraction Architecture (AURORA), a concept for acoustic intra-swarm communications and relative-position awareness among small uncrewed aerial systems using sound generated by their propellers. The effort is a Phase I feasibility study to evaluate spatio-spectral decomposition of propeller noise, frequency-based data encoding, and decentralized multi-agent swarming concepts, with Phase II reserved for prototype development and demonstration. The topic calls for omnidirectional transmit and receive capability, support for heterogeneous swarms, collision avoidance, interference mitigation, and tolerance for Doppler shift and environmental variability without additional oscillators or disruption to normal sUAS operation. The application window opens April 13, 2026, and proposals are due May 13, 2026, at 4:00 PM UTC.