Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWCPCD) has signed three patent licenses, granting private companies rights to commercialize NSWC PCD and Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) developed technologies. The three inventions have applications in the fields of seafloor mapping and navigation; hand-held sonars and facemask displays for sport diving; and closed circuit breathing systems for sport divers and first responders.
The NSWCPCD granted a nonexclusive license to Shearwater Research, Inc., for a new system that estimates the remaining capacity of the CO₂ absorbent in a diver's closed circuit breathing system (U.S. Patent No. 6,618,687). This invention was developed by a scientist at the NEDU in Panama City, Florida. Shearwater Research is a Canadian company based in Vancouver, B.C., that designs and manufactures scuba dive computers and customized OEM electronics for closed circuit rebreather manufacturers. It plans to incorporate the licensed technology into its existing product lines, as well as new products targeted to an emerging recreational closed circuit rebreather diving market.
An exclusive license was granted to Hadal, Inc., for a portfolio of inventions related to deep sea mapping and navigation systems. These inventions provide methods and systems for creating holographic maps of the sea floor, holographic navigation systems capable of utilizing these maps, and using them for navigation and other undersea search and survey applications. Hadal, a small business headquartered in Alameda, Calif., that is partly owned by the Marine Science and Technology Foundation, intends to create and sell holographic navigation systems and holographic maps in the commercial and government markets.
NSWCPCD also granted a partially exclusive license to Sound Metrics Corp. for its patent-pending facemask display system, known as the Advanced Diver Display System (ADDS). This invention comprises a compact, high resolution visual display that can be unobtrusively mounted on a diver's facemask, and provide imagery and data from a number of sensor devices. Sound Metrics, based in Lake Forest Park, Wash., manufactures and sells imaging sonar systems to commercial and government customers. It intends to incorporate the ADDS into its handheld sonar products to provide sonar images and other visual data directly to a diver.
For more information, contact the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division Patent Counsel, NSWCPCPAOWebManager@navy.mil.
Photo by U.S. Navy Photographer’s Mate Andy McKaskle (Click image to enlarge)
