In APL’s Additive Manufacturing Center, researchers have access to six polymer and six metal additive manufacturing systems, as well as multiple experimental test-bed printers. Staff members use this equipment to design and fabricate innovative, complex designs for unique hardware solutions to challenges such as producing mission-critical components while deployed at sea. Researchers also use this facility to develop sensors for in situ monitoring of the additive manufacturing process and to discover novel alloys that enable capabilities in extreme environments.

In the Dragonfly Flight Laboratory, engineers are developing the flight control system and navigation algorithms for NASA’s revolutionary Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. The indoor facility has a 900-square-foot flight area for testing, integration and maintenance of two half-scale Dragonfly flight vehicles and a thrust test stand used to evaluate motor and propeller performance. Dragonfly marks the first time NASA will fly a rotorcraft primarily for science on another world.

This laboratory provides a stand-alone classified environment for the development, integration and testing of cyber capabilities to support air and missile defense systems. The lab serves as the primary space for testing cyber effects, evaluating and validating cyber vulnerabilities, and developing cyber defense systems against nation-state adversaries. Because of the unique nature of CSCWAL and the array of capabilities available, APL has been able to provide several significant contributions to our sponsors.

PERL is equipped with advanced tools and specialized equipment, such as a visible to mid-infrared spectroscopic microscope, a portable spectroradiometer and cryogenic sample storage, to analyze and test samples originating from other planets and to develop and test instruments that will be used in planetary exploration. Research in this laboratory has supported the Dragonfly, Lunar Trailblazer, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions to enable a better understanding of our solar system and our place within it.

ARENA is a visual simulation test and demonstration facility that showcases the interactive virtual environments APL develops for military training. A large array of screens arranged in a semicircle, as well as head-mounted displays, enable demonstrations of immersive virtual reality applications. For example, the Virtual Instructor Project (VIPr) — which is a first-person, virtual-environment game-like instructional program that trains sailors to launch weapons from submarines — can be displayed across the screens in the room to provide an immersive demonstration of the application.

This 4,000-square-foot climate-controlled space is used for active project support, such as fabrication, assembly/disassembly, equipment testing, maintenance and field test preparation. Large systems — like buoys, boats and autonomous vehicles — are tested in this space. It is equipped with a 20-ton overhead crane that runs along the 81-foot length of the space and provides a lift up to the 780-square-foot mezzanine with roll-up doors on the second floor. The space also houses a 20-foot saltwater test tank, providing engineers the ability to conduct testing for sea-based sensors, modeling and more.

Intelligent systems are agents that have the ability to perceive their environment, decide upon a course of action, act within a framework of acceptable actions and team with humans and other agents to accomplish a human-specified mission. The ISC leverages APL’s broad expertise across national security, space exploration and health to fundamentally advance the employment of these systems for the nation’s critical challenges. The ISC fosters new partnerships, both inside and outside of the Lab, hosts key projects and technologies for the enterprise and acts as the steward of the Lab’s artificial intelligence strategy.

The Low Temperature Quantum Device Laboratory’s capabilities enable research into the control and characterization of quantum processors. This study of novel quantum devices and protocols is critical to the realization of quantum sensing and computing technologies that could forever change how we collect and process information. The laboratory holds one dilution refrigerator, capable of cooling devices to tens of millikelvin (or roughly minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit), and three control and measurement workstations for operating devices.

APL develops mission-critical systems for such extreme environments as hypersonic flight and space exploration — where heat, pressure, oxidization, corrosion and other factors challenge the survivability of even the toughest systems. In the Materials for Extreme Environments Laboratory, innovative formulations and processing techniques, as well as unique testing, are used to enhance material performance and survivability — and create mission-engineered materials to enable critical capabilities.

The LIVE Lab allows researchers to easily ingest, analyze and visualize streaming data in real time. Common applications include cyber situational awareness, mission dependency models, publicly available information analytics, and real-time analytics powered by both discriminative and generative artificial intelligence.

High-power microwave (HPM) weapon systems use very high-power pulses of electromagnetic energy to disrupt or damage electrical systems, and our adversaries are fielding HPM weapons that are quickly becoming a threat to U.S. military assets. FEARDE is dedicated to evaluating the susceptibility of electrical components and systems to HPM signals and offers three large test chambers to support HPM projects. The facility is also equipped with a full suite of specialized RF test equipment, including high-power amplifiers, electric field and magnetic field probes, complex signal generators, signal analyzers and wideband receivers to allow for the configuration and execution of custom test designs.

The ACSL is a versatile, multifunctional 7,000-square-foot facility that brings engineers, analysts and warfighters together to visualize and solve complex command and control problems. The size of the facility enables realistic multiteam representation and collaboration in large military operations around the globe. The facility includes high-performance computing resources that can access extensive databases and modeling and simulation capabilities, as well as external, global networks that support development of software for Department of Defense cloud computing and timely responses to warfighter requests. Specialized equipment is installed for optimizing human–machine interaction and for human–machine teaming research.