Menlo Microsystems Awarded Defense Innovation Unit Contract to Develop Advanced Circuit Breakers for Defense Systems
August 06 2024 - 9:30AM
Menlo Microsystems Inc. (Menlo Micro), the company responsible for
bringing its Ideal Switch® technology to market, has been awarded a
contract by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation
Unit (DIU). Menlo Micro will develop a first of its kind,
high-current advanced circuit breaker for power distribution for
the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program’s Advanced Technology
Innovation Pipeline (ATIP) Program. Menlo Micro was selected from a
field of companies competing for the contract through DIU’s
rigorous vendor selection process.
Throughout the project, Menlo Micro will provide building blocks
to be converted into a hybrid Ideal Switch® architecture to switch
up to 1kVDC/10kADC for U.S. Navy electrical systems. Upon project
completion, 100A power building blocks will be assembled and tested
for future integration into advanced circuit breakers for the
DoD.
This breakthrough circuit breaker solution will feature more
reliable state-of-the-art performance in a much smaller form
factor, compared to traditional circuit breakers. This new circuit
breaker solution uses Menlo Micro’s high-power MM9200 SMT Ideal
Switch®, combined with a solid-state switch. It will enable high
efficiency hot-switch solutions with SWaP that is up to 5X
smaller, 4X lighter, and with less complicated external
cooling and heatsinking solutions than the old generation solutions
based on mechanical switches. This novel circuit breaker also
provides fast dI/dT switching for better
reliability, lower maintenance, and 5X lower surge
current. Because of the ultra-low resistivity contacts, the Ideal
Switch® offers substantial efficiency advantages when compared to
other semiconductor solutions and Electro-Mechanical relays.
Through its unique design, the advanced circuit breaker can
interrupt a circuit more than 10 times faster than a mechanical
breaker.
“The 1kV / 10kA circuit breaker solution using Menlo Micro’s
technology will be groundbreaking and the first evolution in the
circuit breaker field in decades. We look forward to our
partnership with the U.S. Navy demonstrating the scalability of
these advanced circuit breakers,” said Russ Garcia, Chief Executive
Officer at Menlo Microsystems. “Menlo Micro’s high-current solution
offers vastly improved performance, protection, and reliability
that will not only drastically change power control for defense
ground, air and sea vessels, but will revolutionize power control
in buildings, microgrids, and other energy distribution
applications. We understand the greater energy efficiency goals the
DoD is targeting for powering the future and look forward to
supporting their initiatives.”
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About Menlo Microsystems, Inc.Menlo Microsystems is on a
mission to create a more energy efficient and sustainable world
with an entirely new category of electronic switches. The Ideal
Switch® eliminates compromises and tradeoffs by combining the
benefits of electromechanical and solid-state switches into the
best of both worlds. Menlo Microsystems is bringing more than 99
percent reductions in size, weight, power dissipation, and cost to
dozens of industries such as medical, aerospace and defense,
telecommunications, consumer electronics, industrial IoT (Internet
of Things), and test and measurement.
About the Defense Innovation Unit
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) strengthens national security
by accelerating the adoption of commercial technology throughout
the military and bolstering our allied and national security
innovation bases. DIU partners with organizations across the
Department of Defense (DoD) to rapidly prototype and field dual-use
capabilities that solve operational challenges at speed and scale.
With offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, Chicago and inside
the Pentagon, DIU is the Department’s gateway to leading technology
companies across the country.
Brinsley Eriksen
Menlo Microsystems
(202) 699-0829
beriksen@tridentdmg.com