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| Company type | Independent, non-profit corporation |
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| Industry | Defense Space Biomedical Energy |
| Founded | MIT Confidential Instrument Development Laboratory (1932)[1] The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. (1973) |
| Headquarters | 555Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139-3563 |
Key people | Dr. Jerry M. Wohletz, President and CEO (2022–)[2] |
| Revenue | $765 million (fiscal year 2023)[3] |
Number of employees | 2,000[4][5] |
| Website | www.draper.com |
Draper Laboratory (officially The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, inc.) is an Americannon-profit research and development organization, headquartered inCambridge, Massachusetts.[6] The laboratory specializes in the design, development, and deployment of advanced technology solutions to problems in national security, defence, space exploration, health care and energy.
The laboratory was founded in 1932 byCharles Stark Draper at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop aeronautical instrumentation, and came to be called theMIT Instrumentation Laboratory. During this period the laboratory is best known for developing theApollo Guidance Computer, the firstsiliconintegrated circuit-based computer.[7] It was renamed for its founder in 1970, and separated from MIT in 1973 to become an independent, non-profit organization.[1][7][8]
The expertise of the laboratory staff includes the areas of guidance, navigation, and control technologies and systems; fault-tolerant computing; advanced algorithms and software systems; modeling and simulation; andmicroelectromechanical systems and multichip module technology.[9]
In 1932 Charles Stark Draper, an MIT aeronautics professor, founded a teaching laboratory to develop the instrumentation needed for tracking, controlling and navigating aircraft. DuringWorld War II, Draper's lab was known as theConfidential Instrument Development Laboratory. Later, the name was changed to theMIT Instrumentation Laboratory orI-Lab. As of 1970, it was located at 45 Osborn Street in Cambridge.[10]
The laboratory was renamed for its founder in 1970 and remained a part of MIT until 1973 when it became an independent, not-for-profit research and development corporation.[1][7][11] The transition to an independent corporation arose out of pressures for divestment of MIT laboratories doing military research at the time of theVietnam War, despite the absence of a role of the laboratory in that war.[12]
As it divested from MIT, the laboratory was initially moved to 75 Cambridge Parkway and other scattered buildings near MIT, until a centralized new 450,000-square-foot (42,000 m2) building could be erected at 555Technology Square. The complex, designed bySkidmore, Owings & Merrill (Chicago), was opened in 1976 (later renamed the "Robert A. Duffy Building" in 1992).[7]
In 1984, the newly-built 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m2)Albert G. Hill Building was opened at One Hampshire Street, and connected across the street to the main building via a securely enclosed pedestrianskybridge.[7][13] However in 1989, Draper Lab was compelled to cut its workforce of over 2000 in half, through a combination of early retirement, attrition, and involuntary layoffs.[7] This drastic shrinkage was caused by cutbacks in defense funding, and changes in government contracting rules.[7] In response, Draper expanded its work addressing non-defense national goals in areas such as space exploration, energy resources, medicine, robotics, and artificial intelligence, and also took measures to increase its non-government work,[7] eventually growing to 1400 employees within the decade.[14]
In 2017, a formerly open-air courtyard between the original buildings was converted into an enclosed 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) multistoryatrium to accommodate security scanning, reception, semipublic areas, temporary exhibition space, and employee dining facilities.[15][14] The open, airy interior space, designed by Boston architectsElkus Manfredi, features agreen wall planting and plentiful seating.[16][17][18]
A primary focus of the laboratory's programs throughout its history has been the development and early application of advanced guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) technologies to meet the needs of theUS Department of Defense andNASA. The laboratory's achievements include the design and development of accurate and reliable guidance systems for undersea-launched ballistic missiles, as well as for theApollo Guidance Computer that unfailingly guided theApollo astronauts to the Moon and back safely to Earth.
The laboratory contributed to the development of inertial sensors, software, and other systems for the GN&C of commercial and military aircraft, submarines, strategic and tactical missiles, spacecraft, and uncrewed vehicles.[19] Inertial-based GN&C systems were central for navigatingballistic missile submarines for long periods of time undersea to avoid detection, and guiding theirsubmarine-launched ballistic missiles to their targets, starting with theUGM-27 Polaris missile program.
The Apollo software team was led byMargaret Hamilton (who wrote code to provide visual cues when prioritization was working correctly) and included work by programmers such asHal Laning, Dick Battin andDon Eyles.
Draper has locations in several US cities:[4]
Former locations includeTampa, Florida atUniversity of South Florida (Bioengineering Center).
According to its website,[4] the laboratory staff applies its expertise to autonomous air, land, sea and space systems; information integration; distributed sensors and networks; precision-guided munitions; biomedical engineering; chemical/biological defense; and energy system modeling and management. When appropriate, Draper works with partners to transition their technology to commercial production.
The laboratory encompasses seven areas of technical expertise:
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Project areas that have surfaced in the news referred to Draper Laboratory's core expertise ininertial navigation, as recently as 2003. More recently, emphasis has shifted to research in innovative space navigation topics, intelligent systems that rely on sensors and computers to make autonomous decisions, and nano-scale medical devices.
The laboratory staff has studied ways to integrate input fromGlobal Positioning System (GPS) intoInertial navigation system-based navigation in order to lower costs and improve reliability. Military inertial navigation systems (INS) cannot totally rely on GPS satellite availability for course correction (which is necessitated by gradual error growth or "drift"), because of the threat of hostile blocking or jamming of signal. A less accurate inertial system usually means a less costly system, but one that requires more frequent recalibration of position from another source, like GPS. Systems which integrate GPS with INS are classified as "loosely coupled" (pre-1995), "tightly coupled" (1996-2002), or "deeply integrated" (2002 onwards), depending on the degree of integration of the hardware.[20] As of 2006[update], it was envisioned that many military and civilian uses would integrate GPS with INS, including the possibility of artillery shells with a deeply integrated system that can withstand 20,000g, when fired from a cannon.[21]
In 2010 Draper Laboratory and MIT collaborated with two other partners as part of the Next Giant Leap team to win a grant towards achieving theGoogle Lunar X Prize send the first privately funded robot to the Moon. To qualify for the prize, the robot must travel 500 meters across the lunar surface and transmit video, images and other data back to Earth. A team developed a "Terrestrial Artificial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator" to simulate operations in the space environment, using Draper Laboratory's guidance, navigation and control algorithm for reduced gravity.[22][23]
In 2012, Draper Laboratory engineers inHouston, Texas developed a new method for turning theInternational Space Station, called the "optimal propellant maneuver", which achieved a 94 percent savings over previous practice. The algorithm takes into account everything that affects how the station moves, including "the position of its thrusters and the effects of gravity and gyroscopic torque".[24]
As of 2013[update], at a personal scale, Draper was developing a garment for use in orbit that uses Controlled Moment Gyros (CMGs) that creates resistance to movement of an astronaut's limbs to help mitigate bone loss and maintain muscle tone during prolonged space flight. The unit is called a Variable Vector Countermeasure suit, or V2Suit, which uses CMGs also to assist in balance and movement coordination by creating resistance to movement and an artificial sense of "down". Each CMG module is about the size of a deck of cards. The concept is for the garment to be worn "in the lead-up to landing back on Earth or periodically throughout a long mission".[25]
In 2013, a Draper/MIT/NASA team was also developing a CMG-augmented spacesuit that would expand the current capabilities of NASA's "Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue" (SAFER)—a spacesuit designed for "propulsive self-rescue" for when an astronaut accidentally becomes untethered from a spacecraft. The CMG-augmented suit would provide better counterforce than is now available for when astronauts use tools in low-gravity environments. Counterforce is available on Earth from gravity. Without it an applied force would result in an equal force in the opposite direction, either in a straight line or spinning. In space, this could send an astronaut out of control. Currently, astronauts must affix themselves to the surface being worked on. The CMGs would offer an alternative to mechanical connection or gravitational force.[26]
On November 29, 2018, Draper Laboratory was named aCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contractor byNASA, which makes it eligible to bid on delivering science and technology payloads to the Moon for NASA.[27] Draper Lab formally proposed a lunar lander calledArtemis-7.[28][29] The company explained that the number 7 denotes the 7th lunar lander mission in which Draper Laboratory would be involved, after the six Apollo lunar landings.[29] The lander concept is based on a design by a Japanese company calledispace, which is a team member of Draper in this venture.[30] Subcontractors in this venture includeGeneral Atomics which will manufacture the lander, andSpaceflight Industries, which will arrange launch services for the lander.[30][31] As of September 2023, Draper and ispace are developing a lunar lander calledAPEX 1.0 to deliver CLPS payloads to the moon in 2026.[32]
Draper researchers develop artificial intelligence systems to allow robotic devices to learn from their mistakes, This work is in support ofDARPA-funded work, pertaining to the ArmyFuture Combat System. This capability would allow an autonomous under fire to learn that that road is dangerous and find a safer route or to recognize that its fuel status and damage status. As of 2008[update], Paul DeBitetto reportedly led the cognitive robotics group at the laboratory in this effort.[33]
As of 2009[update], the USDepartment of Homeland Security funded Draper Laboratory and other collaborators to develop a technology to detect potential terrorists with cameras and other sensors that monitor behaviors of people being screened. The project is calledFuture Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). The application would be for security checkpoints to assess candidates for follow-up screening. In a demonstration of the technology, the project manager Robert P. Burns explained that the system is designed to distinguish between malicious intent and benign expressions of distress by employing a substantial body research into the psychology of deception.[34]
As of 2010 Neil Adams, a director of tactical systems programs for Draper Laboratory, led the systems integration ofDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Nano Aerial Vehicle (NAV) program to miniaturize flying reconnaissance platforms. This entails managing the vehicle, communications and ground control systems allow NAVs to function autonomously to carry a sensor payload to achieve the intended mission. The NAVS must work in urban areas with little or no GPS signal availability, relying on vision-based sensors and systems.[35]
In 2009, Draper collaborated with theMassachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary to develop an implantable drug-delivery device, which "merges aspects ofmicroelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, with microfluidics, which enables the precise control of fluids on very small scales". The device is a "flexible, fluid-filled machine", which uses tubes that expand and contract to promote fluid flow through channels with a defined rhythm, driven by a micro-scale pump, which adapts to environmental input. The system, funded by theNational Institutes of Health, may treat hearing loss by delivering "tiny amounts of a liquid drug to a very delicate region of the ear, the implant will allow sensory cells to regrow, ultimately restoring the patient's hearing".[36]
As of 2010[update], Heather Clark of Draper Laboratory was developing a method to measure blood glucose concentration without finger-pricking. The method uses a nano-sensor, like a miniature tattoo, just several millimeters across, that patients apply to the skin. The sensor uses near-infrared or visible light ranges to determine glucose concentrations. Normally to regulate their blood glucose levels,diabetics must measure their blood glucose several times a day by taking a drop of blood obtained by a pinprick and inserting the sample into a machine that can measure glucose level. The nano-sensor approach would supplant this process.[37]
Laboratory staff worked in teams to create novel navigation systems, based on inertial guidance and on digital computers to support the necessary calculations for determining spatial positioning.
Draper Laboratory applies some of its resources to developing and recognizing technical talent through educational programs and public exhibitions. It also sponsors theCharles Stark Draper Prize, one of the three so-called "Nobel Prizes of Engineering" administered by the USNational Academy of Engineering.
From time to time, Draper Laboratory hosts free exhibitions and events open to the public, which are presented in special semi-public spaces at the front of the central atrium space in the main Duffy Building. For example, in 2019 Draper presentedHack the Moon, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of thefirst Apollo Moon landing on July 20, 1969. The exhibition featured artifacts, such as theApollo Guidance Computer hardware developed at Draper, and the mission software developed by Draper staffers includingDon Eyles,Margaret Hamilton, andHal Laning. Visitors could practice landing theApollo Lunar Module on a software simulator, and then attempt to land while riding inside a full-sizedmotion simulator like the one used by the astronauts to practice the actual mission. Talks by Draper staffers and retirees, and free public concerts rounded out the festivities. A specialHack the Moon website was created to memorialize the celebration.[46][47][48]
Other exhibitions have highlighted different aspects of the research projects conducted at Draper, including information about employment opportunities. All visitors must pass through asecurity scanner similar to those used at airports, but specialsecurity clearances are not required to access the semi-public areas.[49]
The research-based Draper Fellow Program sponsors about 50 graduate students each year.[50] Students are trained to fill leadership positions in the government, military, industry, and education. The laboratory also supports on-campus funded research with faculty and principal investigators through the University R&D program. It offers undergraduate student employment and internship opportunities.
Draper Laboratory conducts aSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) K–12 and community education outreach program, which it established in 1984.[51] Each year, the laboratory distributes more than $175,000 through its community relations programs.[52] These funds include support of internships, co-ops, participation in science festivals and the provision of tours and speakers-is an extension of this mission.[53]
As of 2021[update], Draper Laboratory also sponsors Draper Spark!Lab, at theNational Museum of American History on theNational Mall in Washington, DC. The hands-on invention workspace operated by theSmithsonian Institution is free to all visitors, and focuses on educational activities for children aged 6 to 12 years.[54]
The company endows theCharles Stark Draper Prize, which is administered by theNational Academy of Engineering. It is awarded "to recognize innovative engineering achievements and their reduction to practice in ways that have led to important benefits and significant improvement in the well-being and freedom of humanity". Achievements in any engineering discipline are eligible for the $500,000 prize.[55]
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