DARPA-SN-26-98.pdf

DARPA-SN-26-98 PINPOINT Proposers Day 1

Special Notice (SN) DARPA-SN-26-98 Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT)

Proposers Day July 27, 2026

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT) program. The Proposers Day will be held in person on July 27, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) in Arlington, VA, with a webcast for those who would like to participate remotely. Advance registration is required for attending the Proposers Day in person and viewing the webcast. Note all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.

The goals of the PINPOINT Proposers Day are to: (1) introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the PINPOINT program vision and goals; (2) explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the milestones of this particular effort; and

(3) encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential organizations with the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the PINPOINT program goals.

DARPA anticipates releasing the PINPOINT BAA in July 2026. If released, the BAA will be available on https://sam.gov/ and http://www.grants.gov/. Following Proposers Day, DARPA may post the presented materials on the DARPA website.

To maximize the pool of innovative proposal concepts, DARPA strongly encourages participation by non‐traditional proposers (i.e., small businesses, academic and research institutions, and first‐time government contractors) in events such as this and any subsequent solicitation.

PINPOINT OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION

PINPOINT aims to develop next-generation micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) that deliver precise positioning over multi-hour missions in GPS-denied environments. Currently, the performance of compact, low-cost MEMS IMUs is severely limited due to rapid sensor drift and noise. PINPOINT will shatter this performance plateau by challenging the research community to exploit the untapped physics of nonlinear electro-mechanics. The program will explore revolutionary approaches, such as electromagnetically levitated proof masses and high-velocity tethered microsystems, tightly co-designed with advanced, real-time adaptive control systems. Ultimately, PINPOINT will transform tactical munitions and unmanned systems into resilient, all-weather platforms capable of assured positioning and navigation without reliance on external signals.

TEAMING

DARPA highly encourages teaming before proposal submission and will facilitate team formation with the necessary expertise. Potential proposers may choose to participate in either, none, or both of the following options:

1. Attendee List (limited distribution): Participant contact information (name, organization, email address) will be distributed to all other PINPOINT Proposers Day https://sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/

DARPA-SN-26-98 PINPOINT Proposers Day 2 registrants. The registration website will ask registrants to indicate whether they approve distribution of their contact information.

2. Proposer Profile List (limited distribution): Interested parties will submit a one-page profile consisting of their contact information (name, organization, email, telephone number, mailing address, and, if applicable, organization website), a brief description of their technical competencies, and, if applicable, their desired expertise from other teams/organizations. All profiles must be emailed to PINPOINT@darpa.mil no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 30, 2026. Following the deadline, the consolidated teaming profiles will be sent via email to the proposers who submitted a valid profile. Specific content, communications, networking, and team formation are the sole responsibility of the participants. Neither DARPA nor the Department of War (DoW) endorses the information and organizations contained in the consolidated teaming profile document, nor does DARPA or DoW exercise any responsibility for improper dissemination of the teaming profiles.

POSTER SESSION

Attendees will be afforded the opportunity to prepare posters describing areas of interest and capabilities. The purpose of these presentations is to facilitate teaming discussions among the attendees. Upon registering, attendees may indicate whether they would like to present a poster. Due to limited availability, DARPA does not guarantee all requests will be fulfilled.

Digital versions of posters, which should be appropriate for public release, must be submitted to PINPOINT@darpa.mil for approval no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 22, 2026. DARPA will notify attendees if their poster has been approved for presentation no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 24, 2026.

LIGHTNING TALKS

Attendees may be afforded the opportunity to give a Lightning Talk (a brief, 5-minute oral presentation) to both the in-person and virtual audience outlining their interests and capabilities. Additionally, performers from the Highly Accelerated Learning of Vibratory Systems (HALOVS) program (performer details, projects and publications are available at https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/halovs) will present their latest scientific achievements. The purpose of these presentations is to facilitate teaming discussions among the attendees.

Upon registering, attendees may indicate if they would like to give a Lightning Talk. Due to limited availability, DARPA will accept submissions on a first-come, first-served basis and does not guarantee an attendee’s request to brief will be fulfilled. Submitted briefing materials are limited to a single PDF-format slide, which should be appropriate for public release, as they will be shared with all attendees both in the room and via the webcast. The slide must be submitted to PINPOINT@darpa.mil by 5:00 p.m. on July 22, 2026. DARPA will contact submitters upon receipt of their slide with additional guidance for the presentation.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

The PINPOINT Proposers Day will be held on July 27, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Arlington, VA and via webcast. There is no registration fee for the Proposers Day meeting or webcast.

mailto:PINPOINT@darpa.mil mailto:PINPOINT@darpa.mil https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/halovs mailto:PINPOINT@darpa.mil

DARPA-SN-26-98 PINPOINT Proposers Day 3

Registration opens: As of publication of this announcement.

Registration website: https://events.sa-meetings.com/PINPOINTProposersDay Registration closes (in person attendance): July 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first.

Registration closes (webcast): July 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first.

Advance registration via the above website is required for attending the Proposers Day in person and for receiving access to the webcast. The advance registration requirement applies to every individual intending to view the webcast, whether alone or as part of a group.

Due to the limitations of the conference facility space, in-person attendance is restricted to the first 136 registrants with a maximum of five (5) individuals from any one organization and no more than two (2) representatives per division/department of that organization. Interested parties are encouraged to coordinate attendance internally within their organizations prior to registration.

Registrants in excess of the maximum capacity limitations (136 for in-person attendance and 350 individuals for the webcast) may be added to a waitlist. Individuals who are unable to register for in-person attendance because the deadline has passed or capacity has been reached may have the option of choosing to be added to the waitlist OR registering for attendance via webcast. If slots become available due to cancellations, the slots may be filled on a first-come, first-served basis from the waitlist.

DARPA encourages participants to register a contracting representative to attend the Proposers Day and participate in the separate meeting with the DARPA Contracts Management Office from 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

ELIGIBILITY

DARPA hosts Proposers Days to: (1) promote teaming arrangements between researchers; (2) provide potential proposers with information on whether and how they might respond to the Government’s research and development solicitations; and (3) increase efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation. Therefore, Proposers Days are only open to registered potential proposers, i.e., the events are closed to the general public and media. For this program, Proposers Day registration is open to potential proposers who are U.S. citizens, U.S.

permanent residents, and foreign nationals.

All registrants who are not U.S. citizens must complete and submit either a DARPA Form 60 (U.S. Permanent Resident and Foreign National Visit Request – e.g., industry or academia) or an Official Visit Request (foreign government personnel, only) through their country’s embassy based in Washington, DC, no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 13, 2026. We strongly encourage all non-U.S. citizens to complete their event registration and submit their DARPA Form 60 as soon as possible (ASAP). IMPORTANT: Foreign Nationals must complete their event registration BEFORE this deadline to receive the required eForm 60 submission instructions. Any Foreign National who registers for the event or submits their eForm 60 after 5:00 p.m. on July 13, 2026, will not be processed for clearance and will not be permitted to attend. Form 60 submission instructions are provided on the registration website and in the registration confirmation email. Registrants who have submitted a Form 60 that was approved within the last six months do not need to re-submit. The Form 60 will remain valid for six https://events.sa-meetings.com/PinpointProposersDay

DARPA-SN-26-98 PINPOINT Proposers Day 4 months. Contact your Embassy staff for assistance in submitting the Official Visit Request.

Upon entry to the physical meeting, all attendees must present valid, Government-issued photo identification.

Q & A Administrative, technical, and contractual questions about the PINPOINT should be emailed to PINPOINT@darpa.mil. All questions must be in English and must include the name and email address of a point of contact. Following Proposers Day, DARPA may post an FAQ list on the DARPA website.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Please refer to the PINPOINT Proposers Day in all correspondence.

Technical Point of Contact: Sunil Bhave, Program Manager, PINPOINT@darpa.mil

Registration Website: https://events.sa-meetings.com/PINPOINTProposersDay

DARPA Opportunities Website: https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities

DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES

Attendance at the PINPOINT Proposers Day or viewing the webcast is voluntary and is not required to propose to the anticipated PINPOINT BAA. Interested parties to this notice are cautioned that nothing herein obligates the Government to issue a solicitation. The Proposers Day does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. This announcement is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, the Government will not accept submissions against this notice, with the exception of the one-page profile referenced in the Teaming section above and briefing materials associated with the Poster Session and Lightning Talks.

No classified, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) controlled, or proprietary information shall be presented by the Government at Proposers Day. Inclusion of proprietary information during the Poster Session and/or Lightning Talks is at the presenter’s discretion;

however, any submitted posters and Lightning Talk presentation slides should be appropriate for public release. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in this Proposers Day. Recording Proposers Day is not permitted.

For those new to DARPA or national security, DARPA makes available a free, comprehensive resource via DARPAConnect on how to do business with the agency. In addition to DARPA 101 materials, relevant preparatory modules include “Making the Most of a Proposers Day” and “Understanding DARPA Broad Agency Announcements.” Registration and access are free at www.darpaconnect.us.

mailto:PINPOINT@darpa.mil mailto:PINPOINT@darpa.mil https://events.sa-meetings.com/PinpointProposersDay https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities http://www.darpaconnect.us/