SRI International Gets DARPA Contract to Develop Chemical Threat Sensors for Urban Areas

SRI International will create sensors that can detect potential chemical threats in urban areas under an $11.6M contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The sensors will be integrated to the Localization and Characterization of Chemical Anomalies in Urban Settings tool, a platform designed to help vehicles trace chemicals levels within a city’s premises, the company said Monday.

SRI will lead a team comprised of Signature Science, Block MEMS and Two Six Labs to carry out contract work.

Block MEMS will help LOCCUS produce chemical maps in a three-dimensional surface while SRI will utilize a micro mass spectrometer tool to enable LOCCUS to perform two-dimensional mapping once it analyzes the air’s composition.

“LOCCUS will combine two orthogonal high-performance chemical detection technologies to surpass the sensing capabilities currently possible with a single sensing approach,” said Ashish Chaudhary, a senior program manager and principal investigator of the LOCCUS project at SRI.