FA8650-18-S-5002-Atch5.pdf

FA8650-18-S-5002

Attachment ____ 1/24/2018

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Statement of Objectives

Basic Program

Spatial Registration for Materials State Awareness

1. Background: Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate’s

Structural Materials Division, Materials State Awareness Branch (AFRL/RXCA) is interested in developing and demonstrating novel ways to locate and track Non-destructive Inspection (NDI) probe position and orientation relative to aircraft structure coordinates, whether internal or external to the aircraft, for enhanced capability of NDI instruments to record the placement and movement of the sensor during the inspection to ensure the inspection is accomplished as intended in accordance with the procedure defined by the Air Force Technical Orders (T.O. 33B 1-1 & 1-2 and others) that provides the instructions for each inspection. The correlation of probe location with aircraft location and the establishment of measurement precision and accuracy will enhance NDI inspections and assure Technical Order compliance. Spatial Registration of NDI data may also accelerate inspections and help minimize aircraft disassembly in depot or field maintenance environments.

Potential technologies that may apply to this goal include, but are not limited to: positioning and registration technologies from key industrial sectors such as nuclear, medical, oil & gas, aerospace, and automotive, or other novel methods from robotics, metrology, manufacturing, computer vision, and virtual/mixed/augmented reality.

2. Statement of Objective/Needs: The contractor shall determine the most appropriate spatial/positional registration technologies for aircraft nondestructive inspection applications, and develop integrated technology capabilities at breadboard and prototype levels with necessary validation/verification and demonstration at each stage of advancement. The ultimate goal of this effort is to demonstrate a system that can track NDI sensor probe location in line-of-sight as well as obstructed (e.g. personnel stands, equipment, etc.) exterior and confined interior sections of aircraft, such as bays, interior of wings, and other limited access areas. System enhancements should include providing guidance to the operator for proper placement/orientation of the probe and to ensure full inspection area coverage is accomplished per the technical order. The system should record and report probe spatial registration data fused with NDI instrument data in a report format meeting or exceeding current tech order needs or depot maintenance inspection practices.

The goals for this effort are broken down into the following threshold (minimum desired result), objectives, and goals. These must be traded off against size, weight, complexity, cost of the integrated system as well as timeliness of operation and data collection.

A. Location: NDI probe location plotted against aircraft three dimensional structural location to identify the position of the NDI probe within a threshold of 5 mm, an objective of 0.5 mm, and a goal of 0.05 mm and data fused with the raw NDI data.

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B. Orientation: Angular alignment of the NDI probe to the vector prescribed for the local aircraft structure, with a threshold of 1 degree from desired angular position, an objective of 0.1 degree, and a goal of 0.01degree and data fused with the raw NDI data.

C. Operator Assist: Real-time feedback and guidance to inspectors on NDI probe position, angle, and NDI data to facilitate efficient, effective inspections and Technical Order compliance.

D. Automated Reporting: NDI probe location plotted against existing aircraft three dimensional (spatial) data, computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, point cloud data, video or photographic data to document results of the inspection in a digital format appropriate to the technical orders and for quick transfer to required team members and archiving.

2.1 Research and Development (R&D) shall be provided in the following four task areas:

A. Spatial Registration Development (TRL 3-4): The contractor shall develop technologies and design components to allow integration and demonstration of a Spatial Registration System for Materials State Awareness for use in an aircraft maintenance depot and field environment. Components should operate on exterior (open or active maintenance area), or large interior cavities, as well as in a small constrained interior space (>1m x >1m x >5 cm, with an access openings as small as

7.62 cm in diameter). The contractor shall demonstrate the potential of achieving an integrated system to match NDI data with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) probe location data (orientation and position) to produce a 3D spatial map of time-resolved NDI data. The impact of line-of-sight obstruction (internal and external) shall be addressed to define effect on full area coverage. The contractor shall show the potential of utilizing the components in the confined space. The contractor shall deliver an initial design/plan for integration.

B. Integration and Breadboard Demonstration (TRL 4-5): The contractor shall develop and acquire subcomponents and integrate into breadboard assembly(ies) to allow demonstration against Spatial Registration goals for Materials State Awareness.

Ideal form is a single system, but multiple devices may be prototyped to achieve goals for open and small constrained interior spaces defined in Task 2.1A above. The contractor shall demonstrate the integrated system in laboratory on relevant geometry structure, determine accuracy metrics, and demonstrate tracking of NDI probe 6 DOF in near real time. It is desired at this stage, but not required, that the NDI instrument and sensor be integrated into the breadboard to demonstrate the fusion of sensor data with orientation data. It is also desired, but not required, that feedback to the operator is included in the breadboard to allow the operator to optimize angular or spatial position or velocity of the probe to optimize data collection. The contractor shall demonstrate breadboard equipment and system functionality as well as the system versatility to various inspection scenarios. The contractor shall deliver a prototype design/plan for demonstration as well as provide access to the breadboard equipment for Air Force evaluation.

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C. Integrated Prototype Demonstration in a Laboratory Environments (TRL 5-6):

The contractor shall integrate a prototype system to demonstrate Spatial Registration for Materials State Awareness. The ideal form is a single system, but multiple devices may be needed to achieve goals in both the open and small constrained interior spaces defined in Task 2.1A above. The contractor shall demonstrate the integrated system in laboratory on representative aircraft structures, determine accuracy metrics, and demonstrate tracking of NDI probe orientation and position at data rates exceeding 120 Hz. The contractor shall integrate at least one (1) NDI instrument and sensor into the prototype to demonstrate the time-stamping of 6-DOF probe location and orientation data with NDI data. It is also desired, but not required that multiple types of NDI sensors and form factors be included in the prototype demonstration. The contractor shall demonstrate the ability of the prototype to report current 6DOF data for each NDI sensor data point in both open and constrained interior space on several representative aircraft structures. The contractor shall determine the accuracy of both angular and spatial position and velocity measurements from the probe, determine the effect of probe velocity on accuracy of measurement, and demonstrate the use of the prototype to actively correct for the operator’s sub-optimal position or velocity through active feedback. The contractor shall generate a 3D map of time-resolved NDI measurements reported against aircraft coordinate space. The digital NDI measurements shall be saved and reported in at least one non-proprietary data format. The contractor shall determine size and weight of system and recommend if changes/ adjustments are necessary for routine use. The contractor shall deliver a design and plan for small-scale production and deliver an integrated prototype for Air Force evaluation.

D. Prototype Capability Demonstration in Relevant and Operation Environments (TRL 6+): The contractor shall produce a minimum of three (3) prototype Spatial Registration for Materials State Awareness systems with ability to integrate multiple different NDI probes along with written operating procedures. The contractor shall evaluate the systems on actual aircraft systems (subject to Air Force approval) in a depot maintenance environment. The Contractor shall collect data and compare time and accuracy of inspections to inspections performed by current inspection tech orders. The contractor shall deliver a final design, a minimum of three (3) prototype systems with instructions for Air Force evaluation. The contractor shall provide training for Air Force evaluators in the use of the system.

3. Deliverable Items:

A. Data Items: The Contractor shall deliver in accordance with the DD Form 1423, Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs) as attached to the model contract.

Specific CDRLs will be identified for each task order. A final report will be required for each task order, but not for the basic ID/IQ contract.

B. Software: To be specified on individual task orders as applicable.

C. Hardware: To be specified on individual task orders as applicable.

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D. Other: To be specified on individual task orders as applicable.

4. Schedule:

A. Overall effort: 72 months technical effort + 3 months final reporting (75 months total); 48 months ordering period. Individual task orders will indicate the actual period of performance for those orders.

B. Data Items: As specified on individual CDRLs specified on individual task orders.

C. Software: As specified on individual task orders as applicable.

D. Hardware: As specified on individual task orders as applicable.

E. Other: To be specified on individual task orders as applicable.

5. Security Requirements:

A. All contractors shall participate in all activities associated with the disciplines of the organization’s Industrial Security, Information Security, Personnel Security, Operations Security (OPSEC), and Antiterrorism, following appropriate measures in each program as required for this particular contract. These are required in an effort to reduce program vulnerability from successful adversary collection, exploitation of critical information, and violations of export control requirements. The prime contractor will ensure that all subcontractors, if applicable, conform to these requirements as required by the prime contractor. Guidance can be provided by AFRL/RX Security as needed.

B. Program Protection Plan (PPP) – Any potential critical program information (CPI) generated as part of this effort will be reviewed to determine the need for a PPP.