HR001119S0035-01.pdf

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Opportunity Announcement

HR001119S0035-01

Extreme Environment Sensors

Which program will fund this topic?

SBIR

What type of proposals will be accepted?

Both Phase I and Direct to Phase II (DP2)

Technology Area(s): Air Platforms, Weapons DARPA Program: Advanced Full-Range Engine (AFRE)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Small Business Programs Office (SBPO) is issuing an SBIR/STTR Opportunity (SBO) inviting submissions of innovative research concepts in the technical domain(s) of Air Platforms and Weapons. In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of Extreme Environment Sensors.

This SBO is issued under the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR, HR001119S0035. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under HR001119S0035, found here:

https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/HR001119S0035/listing.html

a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of HR001119S0035 for full eligibility requirements.

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Proposers must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with applicable proposal preparation instructions. Please refer to section 2.3 of HR001119S0035 for further information on Export Control.

b. Anticipated Proposal Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in HR001119S0035 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility.

If a proposer can provide adequate documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described in the Phase I section of this topic has been met and describes the potential commercial applications, the Direct to Phase II (DP2) authority allows the DoD to make an award to a small business concern under Phase II of https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/HR001119S0035/listing.html the SBIR program without regard to whether the small business concern was provided an award under Phase I of an SBIR program. This SBO is accepting DP2 proposal submissions.

For this SBO, DARPA will accept Phase I proposals for cost of up to $225,000 for a 6-month period of performance. DARPA will accept DP2 proposals for a cost up to $1,750,000. This is inclusive of a 24-month Phase II base period and a 10-month Phase II option period, not to exceed a cost of $1,500,000. A separately priced option of up to $250,000 shall be proposed for participation in the DARPA Entrepreneurial Investigator Initiative.

Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission Information, of HR001119S0035 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in HR001119S0035 and the research objectives of this SBO are considered non-conforming and, therefore, are not evaluated nor considered for award.

Phase I proposals shall not exceed 20 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 5 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 20-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of HR001119S0035 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation.

DP2 Feasibility Documentation shall not exceed 75 pages. DP2 Technical Proposal shall not exceed 40 pages. Phase II commercialization strategy shall not exceed 5 pages. It should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 40-page limit. Please refer to Appendix B of HR001119S0035 for detailed instructions on DP2 proposal preparation.

c. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume inclusive of supporting documentation, and Company Commercialization Report) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website in accordance with the instructions outlined in Section 4 of HR001119S0035 no later than August 6, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

II. TOPIC OVERVIEW

a. Objective

Develop and validate performance of robust distributed instrumentation in air-platform extreme environments (combined thermal, mechanical, and acoustic loading).

b. Description Turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) vehicles will be flying in conditions that subject their propulsion systems to harsh environments not previously seen by reusable air vehicles. While they fly over narrower regimes, other single-use hypersonic vehicles experience many of the same harsh conditions experienced by TBCC vehicles. Even conventional aircraft may have areas of combined thermal, mechanical, and acoustic loading. For control systems in high-speed systems, the improvement in advanced instrumentation technologies are required to achieve the required performance and operability over the vehicle’s flight trajectory. This wide range of application environments necessitates extensive ground testing, which must also utilize advanced instrumentation technologies to characterize the performance and operability of the vehicles. At the same time, these instruments will need to be robust enough to survive repeated testing in simulated environments, and in operational environments on flight vehicles with low false-alarm rates. Physical understanding and modeling of representative environments is required to provide invaluable insight into the challenge of integrating these instruments into future applications. Sensing modalities addressing key phenomena, including aerodynamics, boundary layer transition, thermal protection system performance, ablative properties, material effects, and scramjet engine operation are desired. Improvements in instrumentation techniques could reduce uncertainty in ground and flight tests, increase safety, and improve design of future air platforms.

Conventional instruments suffer from an inability to survive extreme environments and do not provide reliable, distributed data such as pressure, temperature, heat flux, shear, displacement, flow velocity, Mach, equivalence ratio, core flow properties, etc. Proper instrument types that are robust, reliable, have a low packing factor, and are easy to replace are vital to enabling next-generation air platforms and high-speed weapons.

This topic seeks to address the above challenges through the construction of innovative distributed instrumentation applicable to high-speed testing and operations. This effort will culminate in a robust instrumentation system (e.g. sensor, wiring, signal processor) to advance testing capabilities and provide more effective decision-making data for both test and/or operational vehicles. The validation data that could be gathered by an instrumentation system resulting from this work would assist in effective operation of next-generation hypersonic vehicles. It is also expected that the instrumentation system developed by this effort will help to improve data gathering in any propulsion system experiencing high thermoacoustic loads (i.e., buried engines in subsonic and supersonic platforms).

c. Phase I Develop a distributed instrumentation system design to meet hypersonic propulsion system requirements. Develop instrument design and fabrication techniques. Conduct system-level modeling and analysis and show improvements in propulsion and overall vehicle and/or test article performance. Develop plans for demonstrating the instrumentation system in a relevant environment. Designs capable of advancing hypersonic vehicle research are of particular interest, but designs that facilitate hypersonic research article testing are also desired. Phase I deliverables will include a final report that contains the initial instrumentation system design and preliminary performance results.

Phase I payable milestones for this SBO should include:

i. Month 2: Report on requirements for instrumentation system architectures, and potential instrumentation system architectures

ii. Month 4: Report on acquisition/fabrication feasibility of potential instrumentation architectures; preliminary plans for demonstrating the instrumentation system in a relevant environment

iii. Month 6: Phase I Final Report containing initial instrumentation system design and preliminary performance results

Proposers interested in submitting a Direct to Phase II (DP2) proposal must provide documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described above has been met and describes the potential commercial applications.

Documentation should include all relevant information including, but not limited to:

technical reports, test data, prototype designs/models, and performance goals/results. For detailed information on DP2 requirements and eligibility, please refer to section 4.2 and Appendix B of HR001119S0035.

d. Phase II Complete development of the instrumentation system and perform ground and/or flight testing of the system. Focus should be on validation of the system in the harsh environments experienced by hypersonic vehicles, but other extreme environment applications may also be considered. Collect instrument performance data and demonstrate utility for hypersonic systems. Phase II deliverables will include a final report that contains the finished instrumentation system and demonstrations results.

Phase II payable milestones for this SBO should include:

i. Month 2: Technical and financial status update

ii. Month 4: Technical and financial status update

iii. Month 6: Report on final design of instrumentation system; technical and financial status update

iv. Month 8: Technical and financial status update

v. Month 10: Technical and financial status update

vi. Month 12: Report on status of demonstrating the selected instrumentation system in a relevant environment; technical and financial status update

vii. Month 16: Technical and financial status update

viii. Month 18: Technical and financial status update

ix. Month 20: Technical and financial status update

x. Month 22: Technical and financial status update

xi. Month 24: Phase II Final Report on finished instrumentation system;

demonstrations results

xii. Month 26: Option-period technical and financial status update

xiii. Month 28: Option-period technical and financial status update

xiv. Month 30: Option-period technical and financial status update

xv. Month 32: Option-period technical and financial status update

xvi. Month 34: Phase II Option Final Report

e. Dual Use Applications (Phase III) An innovative sensing and instrumentation system may be an enabler of future supersonic and hypersonic commercial aircraft, enable reusable access to space, and enable the military to develop reusable hypersonic aircraft and expendable weapons.

f. References

1. “The Future of Hypersonics Research and Development,” panel at AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum, Cincinnati, OH, 2018.

2. Thomas, S. R., “TBCC Technical Challenge Overview: Hypersonics Project,” Fundamental Aeronautics 2012 Technical Conference, Cleveland, OH, 2012.

3. “Sensing in a Hypersonic Environment,” session at 2018 Hypersonic Technology & Systems Conference, Redondo Beach, CA, 2018.

4. Hank, J., Murphy, J., Mutzman, R., “The X-51A Scramjet Engine Flight Demonstration Program,” 15th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, AIAA 2008-2540, Dayton, OH, 2008.

g. Keywords turbine-based combined cycle, TBCC, hypersonic, sensor, instrumentation, ground test, flight test, propulsion

III. SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

DARPA intends to use electronic mail for all correspondence regarding this SBO. Questions related to the technical aspect of the research objectives and awards specifically related to this SBO should be emailed to HR001119S0035@darpa.mil. Please reference BAA HR001119S0035-01 in the subject line. All questions must be in English and must include the name, email address, and the telephone number of a point of contact.

DARPA will attempt to answer questions in a timely manner; however, questions submitted within seven (7) calendar days of the proposal due date listed herein may not be answered.

DARPA will post a consolidated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. To access the posting, please visit: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities. Under the HR001119S0035-01 summary, there will be a link to the FAQ. The FAQ will be updated on an ongoing basis until one week prior to the proposal due date.

In addition to the FAQ specific to this SBO, proposers should also review the SBIR/STTR General FAQ list at: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=29934. Under the HR001119S0035 summary, there will be a link to the general FAQ.

Technical support for the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET. Requests for technical support must be emailed to sbirhelp@bytecubed.com with a copy to sbir@darpa.mil.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities