OFFSET_Swarm_Sprint_4_BAA_FAQ.pdf

HR001117S0011 Amendment 5 – Swarm Sprint 4

OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET)

Frequently Asked Questions

As of April 18, 2019

IN THE EVENT OF ANY INCONSISTENCY BETWEEN THE ANSWERS PROVIDED

HEREIN AND THE BAA, THE BAA SHALL TAKE PRECEDENCE

Q1. Is the DI2E site currently enabled for the OFFSET efforts?

A1. The DI2E site is currently set up for access for the current Swarm Systems Integrators and Swarm Sprinters who are on contract with DARPA. To learn more about the

Swarm Systems Integrators’ Swarm Systems Architecture(s), potential proposers can sign up for their respective email lists and contact the lead Principal Investigator through their portals at http://www.swarmtactics.com and https://www.swarmtex.com

Q2. Is the program in full swing and would we need to find a partner to combine capabilities or can we submit on our own?

A2. The solicitation for Swarm Sprint 4 is to develop component technologies that would enhance and integrate with the existing (two) OFFSET Swarm Systems Architectures currently under continued development (by the Raytheon BBN and Northrop Grumman teams). DARPA is seeking to fund innovative ideas and technical efforts that will advance "swarm tactics" through (1) explorations of synthetic technologies in

OFFSET's game-based (Unity3D and Unreal) virtual environments, as well as (2) applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning frameworks to accelerate discovery and design of novel swarm tactics. It may be helpful to partner so as to propose an additional capability that would offer breakthroughs for swarm systems technologies

Q3. What are the current virtual environments currently under active development?

A3. There are two Swarm Systems Integrators (Raytheon and Northrop Grumman) who are developing their respective virtual environments based in Unreal Engine and Unity3D, respectively, which are designed to offer realistic virtual testbeds and also enable their physical swarm testbed capabilities as well. These virtual environments have models of settings (e.g., urban environments), of swarm vehicles (air and ground robots), and various other sensors/models in addition to underlying swarm algorithms that could potentially be enhanced in Swarm Sprint 4.

Q4. Would being able to virtualize an object in 6 DoF (6 Degrees of Freedom) sensed by the collective swarm's sensors into the virtual environment be in line with the sprint’s goals? What about drift correction/environment reconstruction so the swarm sensors can virtualize the battlefield in real-time?

http://www.swarmtactics.com/ https://www.swarmtex.com/

A4. Any innovative technologies which are compelling by nature of their taking advantage of the distributed/dispersed/disaggregated nature of swarm systems (i.e., large numbers, heterogeneous capabilities) to yield “super-linear” benefit to performance would nominally be of interest. Those technologies which are more focused on single-agent capabilities, perhaps offering only linearly improvements in performance with multiple agents acting independently, is less of interest to OFFSET.

Q5. How can we get in touch with the Swarm Systems Integrator teams?

A5. Potential proposers are encouraged to reach out to the Swarm Systems Integrators via their respective websites, which can be found at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/offensive-swarm-enabled-tactics. There are “Contact Us” forms, which will get potential proposers in touch with the POCs at each of the respective Swarm Systems

Integrator teams.

Q6. Is there a way to understand networking hardware limitations to best come up with an appropriate solution?

A6. Potential proposers are encouraged to reach out to the Swarm Systems Integrators, since both have different approaches to networking (e.g., message handling) and hardware (e.g., choice of radios for their respective physical swarm platforms).

Iteration with the Swarm Systems Integrators might yield potential concepts that would best accentuate innovative contributions for OFFSET.

Q7. Is there a project or program status report that can be shared, for Swarm Sprints

1, 2, and 3?

A7. All OFFSET performers, including the Swarm Systems Integrators and the Swarm

Sprinters for 1, 2, and part of 3, have been announced. Proposers can reach out to the

Swarm Systems Integrators and/or Swarm Sprinters in case there are specific questions about their specific efforts. Swarm Systems Integrators can be reached via their respective websites’ “Contact Us” forms located at: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/offensive-swarm-enabled-tactics.

Q8. Have any of the prior sprints made efforts to replicate any of the three virtual synthetic environments?

A8. The two OFFSET simulation environments (which incorporate their respective Swarm

Systems Architectures) are developed by the Swarm Systems Integrators, in Unreal and

Unity3D. The intent is for OFFSET Swarm Sprinters to integrate their technologies within these environments, not create or stand-up their own simulation environments. In other words, proposals should not seek to realize any new/standalone simulation environments but rather enhance and accelerate the ongoing development of one or both OFFSET virtual environments.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/offensive-swarm-enabled-tactics

Q9. The initial documents made a reference to OFFSET open-source. Have any of the

OFFSET open-source code bases been made public?

A9. Much of OFFSET’s Swarm Systems Architectures are based on open-source software, which have also resulted in some contributions back to the OSS communities (e.g., ArduPilot, AirSim).

Q10. Which simulation engine do the majority of system integrators prefer, UnrealEngine 4 (AirSim) or Unity 3D (e.g. FlightGoggles)?

A10. There are two Swarm Systems Integrators, and each one has their own respective

Swarm Systems Architectures which are manifested in, respectively, Unreal and

Unity3D.

Q11. When is the project expected to be awarded?

A11. The specific start date based on contract award will depend on contract negotiations, although notionally anticipated for the early fall timeframe.

Q12. In terms of project funding, will project funds be made available in its entirely, at the start of the project, or do we have to specify a preferred payment schedule

(e.g. project advance + equipment+ licenses + material costs, followed by monthly billing for the hours expended for the 6 months)?

A12. The proposal cost volume may specify the preferred contract vehicle and/or milestone payment schedule. Please refer to the BAA for further details.