Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Dynamically and Controllably Reconfigurable Antennas through Physical Deformation Processes

FA9550-19-S-0001
Grants.gov  https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=310373

Pre-proposal inquiries and questions should be received in writing by electronic mail by 11:59 PM on 04 January 2019.
AFOSR may not be able to answer questions submitted later

The Air Force and the Department of Defense have need for deployable, reconfigurable, multifunctional antennas. They must be versatile, mechanically sound, and have predictable and reproducible properties. Physical reconfigurability is an especially effective means to enable such antennas. A goal is for these antennas to achieve in each configuration properties and performance over time equivalent to those of static, single function antennas.

This research topic seeks novel approaches for physically reconfigurable hardware to complement software approaches to manipulating and adapting on-the-fly Radio Frequency (RF) properties through means of folding, deforming, and electromagnetic tuning. The end products of this approach are to be antennas and possibly other front-end RF components that provide significantly enhanced and adaptable electromagnetic capabilities compared to current devices. Mechanisms of physical reconfigurability can include, but are not limited to, approaches utilizing origami and kirigami designs. Potential applications for military use include expandable antennas for satellite communications, physically reconfigurable antennas for air platforms, and collapsible antennas that can benefit ground personnel by reducing weight and size. Reconfigurable antennas should be able to provide tunability in waveform, polarization, direction, and frequency.