DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

Submission of Proposals

 

 

DARPA’s charter is to help maintain U.S. technological superiority over, and to prevent technological surprise by, its potential adversaries.  Thus, the DARPA goal is to pursue as many highly imaginative and innovative research ideas and concepts with potential military and dual-use applicability as the budget and other factors will allow.

 

DARPA has identified technical topics to which small businesses may respond in the second fiscal year (FY) 01 solicitation (FY01.2).  Please note that these topics are UNCLASSIFIED and only UNCLASSIFIED proposals will be entertained.  Although they are unclassified, the subject matter may be considered to be a “critical technology”.  If you plan to employee NON-U.S. Citizens in the performance of a DARPA SBIR contract, please inform the Contracting Officer who is negotiating your contract.  These are the only topics for which proposals will be accepted at this time.  A list of the topics currently eligible for proposal submission are included, followed by full topic descriptions.  The topics originated from DARPA technical program managers and are directly linked to their core research and development programs.

 

Please note that 1 original and 4 copies of each proposal must be mailed or hand-carried.  DARPA will not accept proposal submissions by electronic facsimile (fax).  A checklist has been prepared to assist small business activities in responding to DARPA topics.  Please use this checklist prior to mailing or hand-carrying your proposal(s) to DARPA.  Do not include the checklist with your proposal.

 

·                      DARPA Phase I awards will be Firm Fixed Price contracts.

 

·                      Phase I proposals shall not exceed $99,000, and may range from 6 to 8 months in duration.  Phase I contracts can not be extended.

 

·                      DARPA Phase II proposals must be invited by the respective Phase I technical monitor (with the exception of Fast Track Phase II proposals – see Section 4.5 of this solicitation).  DARPA Phase II proposals must be structured as follows: the first 10-12 months (base effort) should be approximately $375,000; the second 10-12 months of incremental funding should also be approximately $375,000.  The entire Phase II effort should generally not exceed $750,000.

 

·                      It is expected that a majority of the Phase II contracts will be Cost Plus Fixed Fee.  However, DARPA may choose to award a Firm Fixed Price Contract or an Other Transaction, on a case-by-case basis.

 

Prior to receiving a contract award, the small business MUST be registered in the Centralized Contractor Registration (CCR) Program.  You may obtain registration information by calling 1-888-352-9333 or internet: http://ccr.edi.disa.mil and www.ccr.dlsc.dla.mil.

 

The responsibility for implementing DARPA’s SBIR Program rests in the Contracts Management Office.  The DARPA SBIR Program Manager is Ms. Connie Jacobs.  DARPA invites the small business community to send proposals directly to DARPA at the following address:

 

DARPA/CMO/SBIR

Attention:  Ms. Connie Jacobs

3701 North Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203-1714

(703) 526-4170

Home Page http://www.darpa.mil 

 

SBIR proposals will be processed by the DARPA Contracts Management Office and distributed to the appropriate technical office for evaluation and action.

 

DARPA selects proposals for funding based on technical merit and the evaluation criteria contained in this solicitation document.  DARPA gives evaluation criterion a., “The soundness and technical merit of the proposed approach and its incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution” (refer to section 4.2 Evaluation Criteria - Phase I), twice the weight of the other two evaluation criteria.  As funding is limited, DARPA reserves the right to select and fund only those proposals considered to be superior in overall technical quality and highly relevant to the DARPA mission.  As a result, DARPA may fund more than one proposal in a specific topic area if the technical quality of the proposal(s) is deemed superior, or it may not fund any proposals in a topic area.  Each proposal submitted to DARPA must have a topic number and must be responsive to only one topic.

 

·                      Cost proposals will be considered to be binding for 180 days from closing date of solicitation.

 

·                      Successful offerors will be expected to begin work no later than 30 days after contract award.

 

·                      For planning purposes, the contract award process is normally completed within 45 to 60 days from issuance of the selection notification letter to Phase I offerors.

 

The DOD SBIR Program has implemented a streamlined Fast Track process for SBIR projects that attract matching cash from an outside investor for the Phase II SBIR effort, as well as for the interim effort between Phases I and II.  Refer to Section 4.5 for Fast Track instructions.  DARPA encourages Fast Track Applications ANYTIME during the 6th month of the Phase I effort.  The Fast Track Phase II proposal must be submitted no later than the last business day in the 7th month of the effort.  Technical dialogues with DARPA Program Managers are encouraged to ensure research continuity during the interim period and Phase II.  If a Phase II contract is awarded under the Fast Track program, the amount of the interim funding will be deducted from the Phase II award amount.  It is expected that interim funding generally, will not exceed $40,000.

 

To encourage the transition of SBIR research into DoD Systems, DARPA has implemented a Phase II Enhancement policy.  Under this policy DARPA will provide a phase II company with additional Phase II SBIR funding, not to exceed $200K, if the company can match the additional SBIR funds with non-SBIR funds from DoD core-mission funds or the private sector; or at the discretion of the DARPA Program Manager.  DARPA will generally provide the additional Phase II funds by modifying the Phase II contract.

 


 

DARPA FY2001.2 Phase I SBIR

Checklist

 

1)   Proposal Format

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

      a.      Cover Sheet (formerly referred to as Appendices A and B) MUST be submitted electronically                              ______

               (identify topic number)

 

      b.      Identification and Significance of Problem or Opportunity                                                                                       ______

 

      c.      Phase I Technical Objectives                                                                                                                                      ______

 

      d.      Phase I Work Plan                                                                                                                                                      ______

 

      e.      Related Work                                                                                                                                                              ______

 

      f.      Relationship with Future Research and/or Development                                                                                           ______

 

      g.      Commercialization Strategy                                                                                                                                        ______

 

      h.      Key Personnel, Resumes                                                                                                                                            ______

 

      i.       Facilities/Equipment                                                                                                                                                   ______

 

      j.       Consultants                                                                                                                                                                 ______

 

      k.      Prior, Current, or Pending Support                                                                                                                            ______

 

      l.       Cost Proposal (see Appendix C of this Solicitation).  Ensure your cost proposal is signed.                                    ______

 

      m.     Company Commercialization Report (formerly referred to as Appendix E)                                                             ______

               MUST be registered electronically and a signed hardcopy submitted with your proposal

               (register at http://www.dodsbir.net/companycomercialization)

 

 

2)   Bindings

 

      a.      Staple proposals in upper left-hand corner.                                                                                                               ______

 

      b.      DO NOT use a cover.                                                                                                                                                ______

 

      c.      DO NOT use special bindings.                                                                                                                                  ______

 

 

3)   Page Limitation

 

      a.      Total for each proposal is 25 pages inclusive of cost proposal and resumes.                                                            ______

 

      b.      Beyond the 25 page limit do not send appendices, attachments                                                                                ______

               and/or additional references.

 

      c.      Company Commercialization Report (formerly referred to as Appendix E)                                                             ______

               IS NOT included in the page count.

 

4)   Submission Requirement for Each Proposal

 

      a.      Original proposal, including signed Cover Sheet (formerly referred to as Appendix A)                                            ______

              

b.         Four photocopies of original proposal, including signed Cover Sheet                                                                       ______

and Company Commercialization Report

(formerly referred to as Appendices A, B and E)

 

 

DARPA SB012-001 TITLE:  Spectral Cueing/Spatial Confirmation Targeting System

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics, and Battlespace Environment.

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a common optic system that will allow the capability to perform wide field of view spectral cueing and narrow field of view spatial confirmation on military targets of interest.  Spectral resolution should be on the order of 1nm in the visible.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Most current Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) systems utilize panchromatic spatial imagery.  Unfortunately, these systems require high resolution, i.e. many pixels on target (narrow field-of-view), and are susceptible to Camouflage, Concealment, and Deception (CC&D) techniques.  Multi/Hyperspectral Imagery, on the other hand, requires much more effort to perform effective CC&D since the techniques must be robust across many spectral bands.  Also, since spectral detection techniques do not require high spatial resolution, wide field of view searches are possible.  Tunable filter systems are of particular interest since they possess the capability to collect data in spectral regions-of-interest rather than gathering massive amounts of unutilized data.  Unfortunately, there is not a common optic system that can perform both tasks of spatial and spectral recognition.  This effort will focus on a system that can perform wide field of view spectral anomaly detection and narrow field of view spatial confirmation.

                PHASE I:  Draft a paper design system with common fore-optics that allow: 1) Wide field-of-view with selective spectral tuning from 400-1200nm and spectral bands having less than 5nm bandwidth.   2) Narrow field-of-view that has the capability to pan, or search, within the wide field-of-view.

                PHASE II:  Fabricate and demonstrate the system designed in Phase 1.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technology developed under this SBIR effort can be utilized in the commercial sector to monitor such areas as agricultural growth, geological formations, and water pollution.

 

KEYWORDS:  Automatic Target Recognition, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, Imaging Spectroscopy, Remote Sensing.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Chavez, P.S., Jr., Sides, S.C., and J.A. Anderson. (1991) Comparison of three different methods to merge multiresolution and multispectral data: Landsat TM and SPOT panchromatic. PE & RS., v. 57 (3),  295-303.

2.  Ehlers, M. (1991) Multi-sensor image fusion techniques in remote sensing.  ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing., v. 46, .19-30.

3.  Garguet-Duport, B., Girel, J., Chassery, J., and G. Pautou. (1996) The use of multiresolution analysis and wavelets transform for merging SPOT panchromatic and multispectral image data. PE & RS., v. 62 (9),  1057-1066.

4.  D. G. Goodenough, D. Charlebois, S. Matwin, and M. Robson (1994)  Automating Reuse of Software for Expert System Analysis of Remote Sensing Data  IEEE Trans. on Geos. and Rem. Sens., 32:525-533.

5.  Larsen, M. (1997) Crown modelling to find tree top positions in aerial photographs. International Airborne remote sensing Conference and Exhibition, Proceedings II-428-435.

 

DARPA SB012-002 TITLE:  Robust, No Power MEMS Sensors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics and Battlespace Environment.

 

OBJECTIVE:  To develop robust, no power, low cost MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors for missile guidance and missile health monitoring applications.

 

DESCRIPTION:  With increasing developments in MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), new sensing techniques and devices are emerging rapidly.  However, three significant deterrents to military application of many of these devices exist: 1) the miniature size and, in some cases performance of the sensors, are nullified by the size and performance of the power supply for the MEMS sensing devices; 2) the fabrication of different sensors on a single substrate is often difficult or impossible due to the incompatibility of certain processes; or 3) the devices cannot withstand military environments (shock, vibration, humidity, temperature, etc.).  There is significant technical risk in all of the above areas; however, the pay-off if successful makes it well worth the investment.  The purpose of this topic is to identify and develop MEMS sensing technologies that address these issues.  Techniques such as Rayleigh surface wave detection or resetting latch banks have the potential for providing good performance while providing robust, no power, low cost sensors which can sense a variety of parameters and be fabricated in a single device.  A variety of sensors are needed, including inertial (gyroscopes and accelerometers), temperature, humidity, chemical/biological/ neurological agents, strain, shock, and barometric pressure and wind speed sensors.  Proposals should address as many of these sensor types as possible in accordance with each of the issues above.  Award consideration will be based heavily upon the completeness of addressing the named concerns, the innovative nature of the technology proposed, the economical advantages of the device(s) proposed, the applicability of the devices to both military and commercial uses, and the performance specifications/expectations of the sensor(s).

                PHASE I:  Identify specific design and fabrication techniques for MEMS sensors that address the enhancement of two or more application issues.  Develop a detailed approach and schedule and develop a design concept for integration of multiple sensor types.  Analytically demonstrate the capability of the proposed technology(ies) that will provide robust, low-cost, no power MEMS sensing devices for military applications.  Define theoretical limitations of, and any technological barriers to implementation of, your design (including such parameters as performance, size, reliability, cost, etc.).  Quantify the advantages of your approach, and conduct proof-of-principle experiments to verify proposed techniques.  Short-term performance goals for inertial sensors must achieve a bias of 30 °/hr, with a dynamic range of ± 2,000 °/sec, over a temperature range of 0°C to +50°C.

                Phase II:  Validate your robust, no power MEMS sensors for military applications by fabricating and demonstrating a brass-board prototype(s) of a no power m-sensor suite, m-Inertial Measurement Unit and/or m-sensor components.  Teaming with industry, or academia foundries as necessary is encouraged.  Confirm performance through laboratory testing and quantify performance specifications for the micro-devices.  Component-only demonstrations must be substantiated with judicious examination of integration issues.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The dual use potential of the product(s) from this effort is phenomenal.  Markets extend from numerous automotive, aeronautical and robotic applications to mining and oil-drilling applications to medical and food industry applications.  Potential market sales of small, low-cost conformal environmental and inertial sensing devices are astronomical.

 

KEYWORDS:  MEMS, Sensors, Inertial Measurement Units, Rayleigh Waves.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Department of Defense, “Microelectromechanical Systems: A DoD Dual Use Technology Industrial Assessment,” December 1995.

2.  Varadan, V. K. and Varadan, V. V., “Wireless Smart Conformal MEMS-Based Sensors for Aerospace Structures,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA-98-5244, 1998.

 

 

DARPA SB012-003 TITLE:  New Approach to Wave Oriented Radio Propagation Modeling

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Information Systems Technology

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop a new wave-oriented approach to the simulation of terrestrial radio wave propagation in high bandwidth, high data rate channels, with greater physical accuracy, which can predict relevant channel parameters for end-to-end paths over a variety of terrain features and under different atmospheric conditions.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The computation of radio wave propagation over terrain of military and commercial wireless interest requires the simulation of end-to-end electromagnetic propagation over a variety of terrain and manmade features: hills, mountains, relatively flat earth, water bodies, rural areas, and suburban and urban areas.  Propagation paths into buildings and into and through foliage need to be considered.  Path configurations of interest include ground-mobile-to-ground-mobile, tower-to-tower, tower-to-ground-mobile, air or satellite-to-ground-mobile, and air-to-air.  Special cases such as propagation in tunnels also need to be modeled.  Path parameters affecting high bandwidth, high data rate communication channels must be simulated accurately.  Path loss, polarization effects, and multi-path effects, such as angle of arrival, path delay and delay spread, coherence lengths, and fading statistics are potentially critical parameters.  Existing methods of modeling such propagation paths include ray tracing approaches and the approximate full wave Parabolic Equation Method.  New propagation simulation approaches with greater physical accuracy and greater computational efficiency need to be developed.  Such approaches should be oriented to wave field propagation, but allow the expedient transition between wave-like and ray tracing or asymptotic techniques.  A suite of modeling EM engines should allow the selection of different levels of physical accuracy, with correspondingly different computation times.  The model must be capable of calculating the effect of atmospheric conditions on the propagation.  Interfaces must be provided for the major commercial and government terrain, urban, and foliage databases.  The model must be capable of analyzing narrow band frequency waveforms and arbitrary ultra-wideband waveforms.  The frequency range of interest is HF through 100 GHz.

                PHASE I:  Demonstrate an EM computational engine capable of predicting channel parameters in the limited case of hilly, rural terrain.  Demonstrate a graphical user interface optimized for radio wave propagation and radio channel parameter prediction.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate the full capability propagation code, capable of predicting the channel parameters noted above for end-to-end paths through a variety of terrain and manmade structures.

 

PHASE III: DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The resulting propagation code will be used by commercial wireless companies and government and military activities to design wireless communications networks and to design or procure the communications hardware.  It will be used to test new network and systems concepts for both military and commercial applications and to evaluate the ability of communications to support new military warfighting concepts such as the Future Combat Systems.  It will be used to develop and evaluate communications plans for specific military operational areas and emergency and disaster areas for government activities.  It will be used for en-route tactical communication planning by military and government contingency elements.  It will be used to inject realistic communications path characteristics in war gaming and training.  The market is expected to be wireless communications companies, government communications contractors, military communications planning and training activities, and the consultants supporting these activities.

 

KEY WORDS:  Radio Wave Propagation, Propagation Model.

 

REFERENCES:  None are provided because doing so will lead candidate proposals toward the use of existing propagation models, rather than the desired innovation.

 

 

 

DARPA SB012-004 TITLE:  Processing Techniques for Dynamic Sources

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors, Electronics, and Battlespace Environment

 

OBJECTIVE:  The work will develop innovative processing techniques for multiple moving acoustic sources.  The intent is to be able to suppress a field of moving acoustic interferers while simultaneously enhancing the signal from a weak source that is also moving.  The objective is to obtain significant passive sonar gains by extending coherent integration times by robustly compensating for source/receiver motion.  The goal is to obtain 10 dB better interference rejection and a 6 dB or more improvement in signal gain for passive sonar.

 

DESCRIPTION:  One of the fundamental limitations of adaptive signal processing stems from the need to estimate source statistics.  Standard techniques make stationarity assumptions that are demonstrably inappropriate for passive sonar.  In shallow water, the expected acoustic environment will include many discrete interferers that have appreciable range and bearing rates.  Standard processing techniques have a limited ability to suppress these interferers; weak signals of interest from sources that are also in motion are also difficult to enhance.  The goal here will be to develop processing techniques that significantly improve processing performance in this situation.  Motion compensation techniques have been developed for radar sensors, imagery (the MPEG standard), and are emerging in sonar, but complex propagation environments and the large number of sources complicate the sonar problem.  Emerging techniques for motion compensation in sonar are focused on narrowband models; the goal here is to develop compensation techniques that may be applied to broadband source signals.  There is substantial risk, as evidenced by the fact that there are as of yet no standard techniques for performing this function, and indeed it is unclear whether practical optimum techniques exist, especially for broadband passive sonar.  Generally, adaptive signal processing involves adaptively computing beam patterns by applying variable complex gains (weights) to individual sensor outputs, then summing the results.  The optimum adaptive weights require knowledge of the data covariance matrix.  This matrix is usually unknown, and therefore, must be estimated.  In a dynamic environment, the sources are temporally non-stationary, so the problem is not ergodic, and covariance estimates obtained by temporal smoothing are inherently mismatched.  There have been two approaches to this problem.  First, there are a host of techniques designed to more efficiently estimate the data covariance matrix.  At some scale, the problem becomes quasi-stationary; the amount of mismatch due to source/interferer mismatch negligible, and optimum performance may be recovered.  The issue for this approach is that coherent integration times are not extended, so coherent gain on the signal of interest is not improved, although interference may be adequately suppressed.  The second approach is to incorporate models of the source/receiver dynamics directly in the problem formulation.  This model-based approach has been much less explored.  One such approach is to model the time-varying behavior of the covariance matrix and incorporate this into adaptive weight estimators.  Regardless, issues associated with a dynamic signal, as opposed to dynamic interference, have not been thoroughly studied.

                PHASE I:  This phase will develop a feasibility concept and implement processing techniques that target source fields that are known to be in motion.  A software implementation of the concept will be tested on simulated data.

                PHASE II:  The task in Phase II is to more completely develop and test the processing developed in Phase I.  A software prototype should be developed and demonstrated on a sample data set.

                PHASE III:  A real-time software module suitable for production will be developed and tested at sea.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Candidate applications for the product of this SBIR range from medical ultrasonic diagnostics and therapy, marine biology/fisheries and non-invasive testing to military issues such as undersea sound navigation, threat detection, and weapons guidance.

 

KEYWORDS:  Acoustics, Adaptive Signal Processing, Motion Compensation.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  Rapidly Adaptive Matched Field Processing for Nonstationary Environments and Active Sonars, J. Ward and A. Baggeroer, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 1998, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 1998.

2.  Multi-Rate Adaptive Nulling of Moving Interferers, H. Cox, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2000, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2000.

3.  Theory of Partially Adaptive Radar, S. Goldstein and I.S. Reed, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electonic Systems, Oct. 1997.

4.  Performance Analysis of the Derivative-Based Updating Method, M. Zatman, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2001, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2001.

5.  Multi-Rate Adaptive Nulling of Moving Interferers, H. Cox, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2000, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2000.

6.  Theory of Partially Adaptive Radar, S. Goldstein and I.S. Reed, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electonic Systems, Oct. 1997.

7.  Performance Analysis of the Derivative-Based Updating Method, M. Zatman, Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop 2001, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, 2001.

 

 

DARPA SB012-005 TITLE:  RF Polymers for Integrated Sensors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Sensors

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop innovative uses for radio frequency (RF) polymers with application to integrated RF sensor technologies that provide increased functionality to reduce physical size, power consumption, signal loss, weight, and cost for structurally integrated apertures.

 

DESCRIPTION:  The research will explore revolutionary concepts and conduct feasibility demonstration efforts of RF sensors that employ RF polymers to provide a low cost manufacturing capability.  The effort will examine advanced RF polymer materials and RF aperture concepts for use on affordable, structurally integrated apertures.  The effort will consider ideas that lead to a working aperture demonstration at the end of Phase II.  This includes multi-function/integrated aperture concepts.  Also, the effort could focus on the RF polymer conductive, dielectric or magnetic properties that will dramatically improve the above type of integrated apertures for final demonstrations.  Limited material coupons or hardware breadboards will be fabricated to verify modeling results required.  Selection of the demonstration vehicles shall be based on the developed RF polymers suitability for a specific integrated aperture and the availability of suppliers transferring these technologies from a research to a production environment.  This program shall be divided into two phases.

                PHASE I:  Phase I will be the concept exploration phase that includes the verification of the novel integrated aperture architectures that make best use of the advanced RF Polymers.  Concept Validation and Verification.

                PHASE II:  Functional demonstration vehicles and design of potential products shall be completed, such as an RF Polymer with a magnetic property appropriate for use as part of a circulator in an integrated aperture.  It is expected that fabrication capability of commercial and military RF Polymer products will be established by end of Phase II.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL:  Commercial applications include portable electronics, wearable electronics, space-based systems, automotive electronics, and RF tags.

 

KEYWORDS:  RF Polymers, Integrated Apertures, RF on Flex.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  AFOSR Polymer Workshop, Dr. Charles Lee, AFOSR, 7-8 Dec, Hyatt, Chicago, IL.

 

 

DARPA SB012-006 TITLE:  Gun Launched Interceptors

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Weapons (Conventional Weapons)

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop technologies to enable supersonic, highly maneuverable, gun launched, guided medium caliber projectiles.  Leap-ahead improvements are sought for survivable actuation devices, innovative flight control, inertial measurements and data links.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Dynamic engagement simulations have suggested that gun-based weapon systems utilizing guided hit-to-kill projectiles have a number of militarily significant applications.  A new generation of gun launched projectiles compatible with 12-40 millimeter weapons may be possible using recent advances in actuation technologies (materials/microfluidics/thrusters/synthetic jets), flight hardened electronics and packaging for +100,000g setback accelerations and power sources.  Advanced manufacturing processes and multi-layer fabrication techniques may make it possible to fabricate the fins or structure of the interceptor with embedded electronic or control components.  Of particular interest are technologies which enable the development of interceptors with greater than 50g’s of lateral acceleration and less than 20 millisecond time constants.

                PHASE I:  Develop a low fidelity, system-level concept employing gun launched, supersonic projectiles having an outer diameter less than or equal to 40 millimeters.  Demonstrate through analysis, models or detailed simulations the feasibility of the projectile.  Although the emphasis is on enabling technologies, the devices must correlate back to the constraints of the offerer-developed system level concept.  The hypothetical system concept must predict a system accuracy of less than 1 meter at 3000 meters downrange, be capable of exceeding 50 g’s of controlled lateral acceleration within 300 meters of barrel exit, survive over 100,000 g’s of firing setback and possess a minimum terminal velocity of 1000 meters per second at 3000 meters while carrying approximately 750 grams of payload.  The design must then focus on one or more of the specific component technologies required by the system concept to launch the projectile, track targets, provide fire control and communicate with the projectile, etc.  Continued development of the specified components will be the focus for Phase II.  The technical and manufacturing risks associated with the concept must be identified in this phase and a detailed risk reduction plan for follow-on development must be presented.

                PHASE II:  Design, fabricate and demonstrate the performance of critical components needed to achieve the required performance levels or a complete projectile.  Performance demonstrations will strive to utilize and demonstrate prototypes that are consistent with the volume and mass requirements of the offerer-developed system concept.  Teaming with munitions-related industrial partners who are funding relevant internal R&D efforts is encouraged.  Collaboration with munitions-related partners within government labs (at no cost to the SBIR program) is encouraged as a means to; 1) understand the launch and flight environments, 2) gain access to wind tunnels, air guns or other valuable development tools, 3) leverage advanced technologies developed under previous DoD-sponsored programs, and 4) facilitate commercialization/Phase III opportunities.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technologies for supersonic control, drag reduction, inertial sensors, projectile communications and power can be used as a basis to design civilian projectiles for law enforcement applications and aerodynamic flight bodies for the civil and military aircraft industry.

 

KEYWORDS:  Guided Projectiles, Micro-Fluidics, Controllable Drag, Inertial Sensors, Communications, Tracking, Fire Control, Supersonic Flight Control, High-G Maneuvers, Hit-to-Kill Lethality, Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles, Man Portable Air Defense Systems, Embedded Electronics, Structurally Integrated Devices, Smart Materials, Wind Tunnels, High-G Launch Setback.

 

 

DARPA SB012-007 TITLE:  Multi-Modal Command Interaction

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE:  Develop multimode command interaction technology integrating speaking and sketching protocols with maps; these innovative interaction techniques must work in harmony with current command methods, significantly improving overall performance.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Computer systems and digital information in command posts often go unused or are used in tandem with paper-based systems because operators trust the paper-based system to a greater degree.  This lack of confidence in digital systems can largely be attributed to difficult-to-learn and difficult-to-use systems, or to the fact that systems go down if you lose power.  The overall goal of this research and development effort is to develop and test innovative new forms of multimodal human-computer interaction in command posts with a focus on improving overall confidence and performance.  Key factors that must be evaluated relative to performance are productivity gains, ease of training, fewer errors, flexible collaboration, and less susceptibility to power and communications failures.  In addition success will mean that the command post staff has significant confidence in the digital system and the specific user interface and interaction methods.  Special emphasis must be given to multimodal interfaces that allow users to speak and draw to maps in order to provide normal modes of interaction for operators.

                PHASE I:  Develop an architecture for multimodal interaction with emphasis on combining speech and sketching on maps.  Perform initial implementation experiments that provide evidence that the approach can be applied to map-based command post tasks operating in diverse hardware platforms and form factors, including wearable, wall-sized and paper-based systems.  Develop a set of metrics and an experimental paradigm for demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of the technology.

                PHASE II:  Develop and conduct experiments with a collaborative system based on the architecture from Phase I, which supports multimodal interaction with map-based systems.  The system should employ voice and sketching technologies, accept military symbology found in Army and Marine Corps field manuals, and should operate with a wide range of devices including:  Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablets, laptops, workstations, paper maps, and wall-sized systems.  The system should be usable by inexperienced military personnel, as well as by expert military users, with a minimum of training.  The system should be evaluated in US Army or US Marine Corps exercises according to the experimental paradigm established in Phase I.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  The technology developed under this SBIR can be used in the interfaces for a number of commercial technologies, including PDAs, cell-phones, as well as desktop and pen-based computers.  Applications that can utilize this technology include executive information systems, commercial command and control systems, and data-entry systems.

 

KEYWORDS:  Multimodal Interaction, Integrated Speech and Sketching.

 

 

DARPA SB012-008 TITLE:  Genetically Engineered Biofilms

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Biomedical

 

OBJECTIVE:  To determine the efficacy of genetically engineering biofilms for the detection of bacteriological warfare/chemical warfare (BW/CW) hazards and the potential for immediate warning and intervention at the site of the event.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Biofilms are common in the environment and represent a unique non- vegetative state of microbial existence.  In this state, many microbes exists in a lamellar protein matrix with greatly expanded metabolic and functional characteristics including the natural ability to sense other organisms via built-in signal transduction pathways.  Common occurrences of biofilms include dental plaque, fouled ship hulls and cooling systems, the protein matrix seen on indwelling catheters and the organic coating in most irrigation and plumbing systems.  Their ubiquitous nature, hardiness, and potential for genetic engineering, makes them a promising candidate for exploring their use as broad surveillance devices for the presence of hazardous substances such as pathogens or environmental contaminants.  A secondary application is in the potential to link detection and neutralization by the same genetically engineered biofilm.

                PHASE I:  Feasibility:  Explore the ability of natural biofilms to sense environmental contaminants and pathogens.  Genetically modify the physiology, biochemistry and structural features of biofilms to explore their possible use as simple detection systems; demonstrate safety of biofilm-based system.

                PHASE II:  Demonstration:  Characterize biofilm systems for specific detection; link detection and activation or neutralization; selection of specific agents of interest; broaden application to chemical agents.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Genetically engineered biofilms which are capable of detecting environmental hazards such as biological or chemical agents and initiating a neutralization process would shorten the time between detection and the safety of an area, food or water source.  Commercially, biofilms are relatively untapped and under utilized by both the medical and environmental scientists.  Applications include early detection of exposure to disease, ecological contaminants and increased food safety.

 

KEYWORDS:  Biofilm, Food Safety, Water Safety, Biological/Chemical Defense.

 

REFERENCES:

1.  http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/research/Cell-cell%20communication/default.htm.

2.  Biofilms: Community Interactions and Control (Biofilm Club Publications) by Martin Jones, Hilary Lappin-Scott (Editor), Peter Gilbert (Editor), Pauline Handley (Editor), Julian Wimpenny (Editor).

 

 

DARPA SB012-009 TITLE:  Autogenous Repair of High Performance Materials

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Materials / Processes

 

OBJECTIVE:  Establish practical technology for fail-safe use of highly stressed materials/components of military platforms by development of rapid means for their automatic and autogenous repair or amelioration of damage.

 

DESCRIPTION:  All military platforms and weapons unavoidably contain inherent flaws in the materials of their construction.  It is these flaws and other damage sites introduced while in service, which grow and ultimately lead to either sudden catastrophic failures or to less dramatic, but very costly and performance-limiting aging/wear-out failures.  There is a need to avoid such failures for the sake of successful mission performance, safety and reduction of life cycle maintenance and repair costs.  Current means for achieving this are expensive, take assets out of service for prolonged periods for maintenance and require retirement of parts based on statistical criteria.  None of these deal with unanticipated conditions leading to failure while a system is in service.  To avoid all of these limitations, methods and technologies are needed which cause materials to self-correct damage features and damage effects automatically while in service.  Achievement of this goal for high performance materials requires innovations that can automatically and internally reinforce or repair them while in operation.  Materials to be considered must be relevant to military systems and include metals, polymers and composites.  Incorporation of capabilities into the microstructure of a material for its self-modification upon experiencing damage is to be emphasized.  Modifications leading to self-repair or self-patching of a material must be automatically and locally triggered by in-service conditions/effects (e.g., damage features, failure precursors, intensity of mechanical response, heat generation, chemical reactions, etc.)  Schemes that require external intervention when damage occurs, rather than those that are automatic and self-contained within a materials system are not included in this program.  Any such automatic schemes must be capable of being effective rapidly enough to offer hope for avoidance of catastrophic failure. Proposers must address this response/effectiveness time explicitly for specific materials.  In addition to self-healing concepts, this program also includes self-triggered, self-reinforcement considerations leading to increased capabilities for damping, stiffening, deflection and vibration control which would provide resistance to damage from dynamic loads.  There are many phenomena, which might be considered as the basis for self-repair/self-reinforcement of high performance engineering materials.  Practicality of implementation of a specific modification mode should be a major consideration in proposals.

                PHASE I:  Demonstrate efficacy of phenomena and approaches proposed to achieve automatically-triggered self-repair or self-reinforcement of high performance materials, or bringing damage propagation to a halt, or reinforcing sites undergoing damaging influences and even the restoration of soundness to damaged specimens.  Proposed approaches for self-healing and related effects should consider triggering phenomena, the self-contained character of a self-healing materials system, shelf life concerns and measurements of the extent of restoration of property levels for materials investigated.  Laboratory specimens of selected materials with seeded, controlled damage features (or potential damage initiation sites) should be evaluated as demonstration of proof principle of any proposed concepts.  Analyze rate at which triggering and self-repair can occur for the approach proposed.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate integrity of self-repair/self-reinforced specimens by testing after their exposure, under mechanical loads to relevant environmental conditions.  Analyze load-carrying capability of self-repaired/self-reinforced materials and functions of time and imposed stress.  Demonstrate best approach on specimens damaged under simulated in-service conditions.  Identify and evaluate most suitable non-distractive evaluation (NDE) method for evaluation of self-repaired/self-reinforced materials under practical (non-laboratory) conditions.  Modify approach to self-repair/self reinforcement as needed. Document approach and test procedures.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Successful development will result in processes, methods and systems with multiple applications in military aircraft, ships, and other vehicles.  Commercial applications can be found, among many others, in the aircraft and propulsion industries, heavy machinery, chemical and other plants, power generation systems, and civil structures which will be subjected to combined influences of mechanical stresses, cyclic loads, humid and harsh chemical environments and perhaps vibration and seismic loads.

 

KEYWORDS:  Materials Failure, Fracture, Self-Repair, Fatigue, Damage Accumulation, Fail-Safe Operation, Reliability, Metals, Composites, Polymers, Crack Growth.

 

 

DARPA SB012-010 TITLE:  Portable Lifts

 

KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA:  Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE:  Development of a chemical-mechanical powered machine that would enable a small unit of soldiers to scale buildings quietly and quickly in the urban terrain.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Military doctrine in the urban terrain recommends that buildings be cleared from the top down, allowing the adversary to escape rather than force a confrontation.  Current tactics rely on folding ladders, which can be bulky and awkward to carry and assemble in battlefield conditions.  Other more traditional approaches utilize grappling hooks and a soldiers climbing ability.  Either approach leaves soldiers exposed for an extended period of time.  The energy required for lifting a soldier is rather modest, i.e., the potential energy change is equivalent to a small amount of hydrocarbon fuel.  The Carnot efficiency of engines, power transmissions, heat transfer, noise generation and engine controllers all contribute to the technical challenge and will ultimately limit the achievable performance of such a machine.  Creating a reasonably efficient and power dense conversion device that is capable of creating 1-2 hp of mechanical work quietly will be a tremendous challenge.  Designing and developing a man-portable lifting device places stringent constraints on mass and volume.  Moreover, a device should not exceed 50 decibels of volume and probably be less than 40 dB for special operations.  The device should be capable of lifting soldiers with fighting load (~ 100 kg) at a rate of approximately 1 meter per second.  It should be compact, approaching and exceeding 1 kWatt per kilogram and be as efficient as possible to minimize the fuel weight and thermal signature.  There are a variety of new approaches that can be developed for efficient and quiet operation of chemical-mechanical devices utilizing advances in smart materials, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), modern controls, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and materials technology to develop efficient, power dense, quiet, mesoscale power plants.

                PHASE I:  Design a power conversion device, providing analysis that proves the feasibility of the overall design.  Critical subsystems or a complete system should be demonstrated.

                PHASE II:  Demonstrate the use of the system to carry the equivalent of a fire team of soldiers (e.g., 4) with fighting load, ~100 kg, up the side of a multiple story building.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  This device would have a number of applications in power generation, the construction industry, law enforcement, fire fighting and rescue equipment.  Power generation is always a concern for the military.  A quiet, nearly silent small efficient power generation system could be developed from the power plant developed herein.  The recent development of chemical-mechanical powered nail guns ha