The National Security mission at the lab supports advanced technology needs of the nation. We support some of the advanced needs for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State, EPA as well as international partners and state governments. LLNL excels in programs for High Explosives, Sensors, Space missions, Materials, Intelligence, Forensic Sciences, High Performance Simulation and Computing. The LLNL facilities have some of the largest research labs in the nation spread over several thousand acres.
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LLNL, Penn State, Columbia University, Tufts University, University of Kentucky, Purdue University and industry partner Western Rare Earths will use microbial and biomolecular engineering to develop a scalable bio-based separation and purification strategy for rare-earth elements
A trio of LLNL scientists have been inducted into the laboratory's Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame. Each developed technologies during or after their Lab careers that created major economic impacts or spawned new companies.
If location and timing information can be collected with great accuracy, high-resolution radar-imaging can be achieved from signal data collected by a sub-aperture constellation in motion. A key part of how the technology works is instead of mechanical links between sub-apertures, they are replaced with wireless directional information links that provide the…
LLNL’s SAS technology embedded within a facility is developed to sense, detect, localize, alert, and communicate an active shooter(s) to first responders. It relies on three integrated compact sensors that detect sound, infrared light (from the muzzle blast) and vibrations emanating from a gunshot. Fusing the data from these detectors minimizes false alarms.…
The key to time-reversal for an active shooter detection/tracking application is being able to estimate the space-time transfer function (Green’s function) between source-enclosure-receiver. This approach begins with the acoustic mapping of an indoor muzzle blast.
LLNL researchers have developed a lightweight drone-based GPR array that when flown over a surface with laid and/or buried objects could image the field of view and be able to detect targets and discriminate them from clutter. The imaging method employs a modified multi-static architecture to provide the highest signal to noise with the lowest system weight, making it…
This technology uses three different frequency bands to create intensity maps of returned signals. Signals have traditionally been displayed as raw return data. The intensity of the return is represented by level of brightness. Assignment of a scalar value for intensity is used to determine the brightness of the image. In this technology, each frequency is given a…
The suppressor has a series of chambers for the propellant to flow through, but unlike all traditional suppressors, the chambers are open, not closed. The propellant is not trapped. It keeps moving. We manage its unimpeded flow through the suppressor. This is the key underlying technology of our suppressor design that enables all the improvements over the 100-year old…
LLNL is seeking industry partners to collaborate on quantum science and technology research and development in the following areas: quantum-coherent device physics, quantum materials, quantum–classical interfaces, computing and simulation, and sensing and detection.
Livermore Lab researchers have developed a tunable shaped charge which comprises a cylindrical liner commonly a metal such as copper or molybdenum but almost any solid material can be used and a surround layer of explosive in which the detonation front is constrained to propagate at an angle with respect to the charge axis. The key to the concept is the ability to deposit a…
Livermore Lab researchers have developed a method that combines additive manufacturing (AM) with an infill step to render a final component which is energetic. In this case, AM is first used to print a part of the system, and this material can either be inert or energetic on its own. A second material is subsequently added to the structure via a second technique such as casting, melt…
3D printing involves the layer-by-layer deposition of one, or more, materials. The spatial placement of the material, if carefully controlled, can influence a desired static or dynamic property. The use of 3D printing to build complex and unique energetic components is at the center of LLNL’s architected energetic materials and structures effort. LLNL has developed several different methods…
The HERMES bridge inspector is an ultrawideband-based nondestructive evaluation (NDE) system. The LLNL-developed system provides 3-D ground penetrating radar information. An array of micropower impulse radar (MIR) sensors is mounted under a trailer. Reflected radar data is gathered by driving the trailer over a bridge at 55 mph and 3-D image maps of the internal structure of the bridge deck…
LLNL's high fidelity hydrocode is capable of predicting blast loads and directly coupling those loads to structures to predict a mechanical response. By combining this code and our expertise in modeling blast-structure interaction and damage, along with our access to experimental data and testing facilities, we can contribute to the design of protective equipment that can better mitigate the…
This technology provides algorithms that accurately localize small-arm-fire by tracking bullets from high-powered weapons, automatic rifles, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), mortars, and similar projectiles. The software integrates commercially available infrared video cameras, processes raw imagery data, detects and tracks projectiles, and determines the location of the shooters within…
LLNL has developed a wide band (WB) ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology to detect and image buried objects under a moving vehicle. Efficient and high performance processing algorithms reconstruct images of buried or hidden objects in two or three dimensions under a scanning array. The technology includes a mobile high-performance computing system allowing GPR array sensor data to be…
GuardDog technology uses ultra-wideband (UWB) impulse sensors (also known as micropower impulse radar or MIR), optional global positioning systems (GPS), local signal processing, and user-selectable (power and bandwidth) radio frequency (RF) communication transceivers. UWB sensors emit and detect very-low-amplitude and short-voltage impulses for detecting returning radar signals. By employing…