Bloomington, Ind. (May 27 , 2021) – IN3 has opened a new laboratory in WestGate@Crane Technology Park that will provide state-of-the-art equipment and expertise to assist industry, military and academia in turning their concepts into working prototypes. The overall goal is to increase collaboration and reduce barriers in creating deployed solutions for the defense, government and national intelligence, and commercial sectors.
The Cyber Physical Systems (CyPhy) Lab is divided into an electronics test and integration bay, sensor integration bay, additive manufacturing and machine shop, and modeling and simulation workspace. The nearly 2,000-square-foot area also has a conference area for collaboration among organizations or individuals working on a project, and the facility is connected to I-Light, a high-speed fiber optic network that links state, national, and international research and education communities and powers high-quality video connections and the ability to exchange large data files.
Equipment in the new lab was made possible through a grant from the Office of Naval Research, supported by NSWC Crane and NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge; Indiana University provided support for linking to the I-Light network.
“The CyPhy Lab is something we have long aspired to, and it embodies the core mission of IN3, which is to create connections to the expertise and resources necessary to solve problems,” said Stephen E. Kelly, IN3’s president and CEO. “Users of this space will create solutions that benefit the nation and help fuel Indiana’s entrepreneurial spirit.”
William Kiser, IN3’s executive vice president of science and technology, said the CyPhy Lab should be particularly beneficial to engineers from NWSC Crane and smaller companies that might lack crucial resources to build and test prototypes.
“A four- or five-person company might not have hundreds of thousands of dollars to put into equipment, resources and facilities, but they are smart and they have a great idea for a product,” Kiser said. “If they want to build a prototype and test, this is a great place to do it.”
Kiser said the lab also will serve as a hub to help connect companies with potential business opportunities and the expertise to turn a great idea into a great product.
“The ideation process will occur in three different ways,” he said. “You can come and meet with personnel from IN3 or the Midwest Tech Bridge, you can come and meet with government personnel, and you can meet with other small companies. If you have an idea, we can whiteboard it out and see if we can build it.”
The NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge fosters collaboration among universities, industry, small businesses and non-profits with the goal of more quickly putting technology into the hands of warfighters in myriad areas that include trusted microelectronics, hypersonics and electro-optics. Anne Fields, Midwest Tech Bridge regional director, said the CyPhy Lab has the potential to be a linchpin in that innovation ecosystem.
“It will be exciting to see where IN3 takes this,” she said. “I’m really interested to see all of the partners from this area leverage this space and become part of the CyPhy Lab community. That’s what it’s all about – our ecosystem partners solving tough problems faced by our warfighters.”
Kiser said in addition to providing solutions for warfighters, such as soldier-borne equipment and unmanned vehicle payloads, the networked devices created in the lab will find their way into everyday applications such as home security, smart cities and utility systems.
The CyPhy Lab’s electronics test and integration bay features all the necessary tools and equipment to test and analyze printed circuit boards, including spectrum analyzers, signal generators and oscilloscopes. The optics bay contains a fully equipped optical table and workspace to adjust equipment. In addition to standard prototyping equipment, the machine shop has a focus on additive manufacturing, featuring a high-end Plural A4 3D printer. All required modeling and simulation can be accomplished in the lab’s designated workspaces.
A virtual unveiling and tour of the CyPhy Lab took place on Thursday (May 27), and an event to allow people to see the lab in person will take place later this summer.
For more information on the CyPhy Lab or to discuss using the facility to work on your project, email innovations@in3indiana.com.
About IN3
IN3 (Indiana Innovation Institute) works with academia, industry, and government to create a hub of national security innovation that helps solve critical defense priorities. IN3 connects regional, state and national partners through a variety of means including convening research and business teams to solve emerging technical challenges for the U.S. Department of Defense. IN3 is focused on hypersonics, cyber-physical systems, trusted microelectronics and artificial intelligence. Learn more at www.ari-tech.org and follow us on Twitter @IN3indiana and LinkedIn