A New Way of Generating Electromagnetic Wave in RF-Challenged Environments for Navigation and Communication

电磁波的使用使我们的生活发生了革命性的变化，使我们能够与地球上几乎任何地方的人进行交流，以令人难以置信的精度定位我们的位置，并在陌生的道路上导航。没有这些技术，现代生活方式就不可能实现。然而，由于在较高频率发生的损耗，电磁波的使用主要限于地面无线通信、导航和定位。极低频率和极低频率的ELF/VLF电磁波(300赫兹，30千赫)由于其在射频挑战环境(水下、地下和泥浆)中的低传播损耗而受到关注。然而，目前的ELF/VLF电磁波发生器体积大、功率要求高，不适合便携式通信和导航系统等应用。本项目旨在提供一种产生具有数量级、更小尺寸和功率要求的ELF/VLF波的新方法。这项研究的结果如果成功，将大大增加对低频电磁波产生领域的认识和理解，并可能对环境监测、水生生态系统分析、海洋事故补救、国土安全、石油和天然气勘探以及水产养殖产生广泛影响。研究课题的进展将通过天线和电磁波传播的学术课程以及本科生的研究机会广泛传播。扩大参与范围将通过弗吉尼亚理工大学正在进行的项目明确地与代表人数不足的学生合作来实现。此外，与弗吉尼亚理工大学C-Tech2计划合作开发的教育实验室活动和课堂模块，PI将向未被充分代表的高中生提供基础研究和潜在的ELF/VLF波产生原理。该项目的目标是通过利用永磁体的强大磁通来设计、开发和测试小型且节能的ELF/VLF电磁波发生器。来自永磁体的强磁通将利用时变磁阻屏蔽将其转换为电磁波。在PI概念设计论证的基础上，本文还将重点研究电磁波发生器的小型化和降低功耗。该项目的成果将包括开发基于永久磁铁的电磁波产生的新分析和设计方法，系统分析，包括链接预算、实验原型开发和测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The use of electromagnetic (EM) waves has revolutionized our lives by allowing us to communicate with people from nearly anywhere on the planet, pinpoint our location with incredible accuracy, and navigate unfamiliar roads. Modern lifestyles would not be possible without these technologies. However, because of losses occurring at higher frequencies, the use of EM waves has mainly been limited to terrestrial wireless communications, navigation, and location finding. Extremely low frequency and very low frequency ELF/VLF EM waves (300 Hz 30 kHz) are of interest due to their low propagation loss in RF challenged environments (underwater, underground, and mud). However, current ELF/VLF EM wave generators are not suitable for applications, such as portable communication and navigation systems due to their large size and high power requirements. This project aims to provide a new method to generate ELF/VLF waves with orders of magnitude smaller dimensions and power requirements. The findings of this study, if successful, will considerably increase knowledge and understanding in the field of low-frequency EM wave generation and will likely have broad impacts on environmental monitoring, aquatic eco-system analysis, ocean accident remediation, homeland security, oil and gas exploration, and aquaculture. Advances from the research topics will be disseminated widely through academic courses on antennas and EM wave propagation and through undergraduate research opportunities. The broadening of participation will be achieved by explicitly working with underrepresented students through ongoing programs at Virginia Tech. Besides, educational laboratory activities and classroom modules, developed in partnership with the C-Tech2 program at Virginia Tech, the PI will expose high school and middle school underrepresented students to basic research and underlying ELF/VLF wave generation principles.The objective of this project is to design, develop, and test small and energy-efficient ELF/VLF EM wave generators by leveraging the strong magnetic flux of a permanent magnet. The strong magnetic flux from a permanent magnet will be used to convert into an EM wave using a time-variant reluctance shield. Based on the PI’s proof of concept design the proposed research will also focus on miniaturization and power consumption reduction for the EM wave generator. The outcomes of this project will include the development of new analysis and design methods for a permanent magnet-based EM wave generation, system analysis including link budget, experimental prototype development, and testing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.