HR001119S0035-09.pdf

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer

(STTR)

Opportunity Announcement

HR001119S0035-09

Expeditionary Maritime Mine Countermeasures

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): Battlespace Environments, Ground and Sea Vehicles

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 Expeditionary Maritime Mine Countermeasures.

In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of miniaturizing mine influence sweeping effectors to be carried on expendable unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

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 3.3 of the Announcement for further information on Export Control.

b. Anticipated 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 Department of Defense (DoD) to make an award to a small business https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/HR001119S0035/listing.html concern under Phase II of the SBIR program without regard to whether the small business concern was provided an award under Phase I of an SBIR program.

For this SBO, DARPA will accept Phase I proposals for cost of up to $225,000 for a 6-month period of performance. Phase I will include design of systems for future bench testing and field testing of maritime mine influence sweep systems for incorporation into an expendable UUV.

Phase II will demonstrate this payload in a laboratory bench test and in-water demonstration scenario. DARPA will accept DP2 proposals for cost of up to $1,750,000.

This includes an 8-month base period not to exceed a cost of $500,000 and a 4-month option period not to exceed a cost of $1,000,000. A separately priced option of up to $250,000 must also be proposed for contractors who would like to be considered for participation in the DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative (EEI).

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 are therefore neither 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. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in HR001119S0035 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this SBO.

d. 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 per the instructions outlined in HR001119S0035 no later than September 12, 2019 at 2:00 PM E.T.

II. TOPIC OVERVIEW

a. Objective

The objective of the technology demonstration will be to miniaturize maritime MCM sweep systems for incorporation into predefined UUV payload volumes. The current state of practice for maritime MCM involves cumbersome, expensive, and slow processes often involving manned assets in the vicinity of potentially mined waters. Performers will be tasked to conduct research and development for expendable UUV MCM payloads that ensures the UUV mission performance is not impeded by the integration of the payload, and that the experimentation conducted yields integrated measurements as dictated by

DARPA.

b. Description Expendable UUV payloads to miniaturize mine countermeasures (MCM) influence systems will be developed, tested, and fielded on UUVs. Delivery of a MCM capability at a closer proximity to a mine than traditional sweeping systems should allow for lower power output, significant reductions in cost, and the development of sweeping modalities beyond current programs of record.

UUV payloads for MCM influence systems are desired in one or more of the following modalities: Pressure; Seismic; Magnetic; Acoustic. Payloads may be developed as one or more modality per UUV. The intention of this SBO is to demonstrate the MCM influence sweeping modality at a sufficiently low price point to allow one or more expendable UUVs to complete the influence sweep operations.

c. Phase I Performers will be expected to develop payload systems at the bench level in conformance with the size, weight, and power constraints put forth under the UUV design guidelines provided by DARPA. Performers will be expected to produce a final bench test prototype design and final simulation results. A measurable demonstration of their working prototype on a dry bench or wet testing would be preferable but not required.

i. Schedule/Milestones/Deliverables Phase I fixed payable milestones for this program should include:

Month 1: Report on initial designs, bench testing plan, in-water demonstration plan, and proposed evaluation metrics

Month 4: Report on initial simulation results and final bench test prototype design Month 6: Final Phase I Report summarizing approach; results of final simulation results; quantification of accuracy; quantification of robustness to errors, noise, dropouts, and distortions; and in-water prototype design.

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, Direct to Phase II (DP2) Requirements, and Appendix B of HR001119S0035.

d. Phase II Phase II expands the bench testing in Phase I to design, field, and test an in-water prototype of the mine influence module. Successful completion of Phase II results in demonstration of the mine influence modules in a representative in-water environment to replicate signature elements of a ship traversing a minefield.

i. Schedule/Milestones/Deliverables Phase II fixed milestones for this program should include:

Month 1: Report on fielding plan and proposed evaluation metrics Month 3: Interim report describing bench test results of prototype system Month 4: Report on final in-water prototype design Month 8: Report of in-water testing plan Month 10: Complete in-water testing Month 12: Final Phase II in-water demonstration report documenting final prototype testing; methods; results; comparisons with alternative methods; and quantification of accuracy, robustness and generalizability.

e. Dual Use Applications (Phase III) Dual use applications may be found in the miniaturization of electronic-based payloads for other UUV applications. The ability to reapply the miniaturized components of one payload to an infinite number of other undersea robotics problems is created under this scope. Demonstrating discrete and miniaturized payloads on expendable UUV platforms opens a new design space for a traditionally monolithic MCM mission set. Businesses will then be able to design, develop, test, and field other similar capabilities using expendable UUVs outfitted with miniaturized payloads.

f. References Bachkosky, J. M., et al. Unmanned vehicles (UV) in mine countermeasures (U). No.

NRAC-2000-03. NAVAL RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ARLINGTON VA,

2000.

Weber, Timothy R. An Analysis of Lemmings: A Swarming Approach to Mine Countermeasures in the VSW/SZ/BZ. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL

MONTEREY CA, 1995.

Healey, A. "Application of Formation Control for Multiple Vehicle Robotic Minesweeping." Proceedings of the IEEE CDC-2001. 2001.

Schulz, Bryan, et al. "The development of a free-swimming UUV for mine neutralization." Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE. IEEE, 2005.

g. Keywords Mine countermeasures; autonomous underwater vehicles; minesweeping; payload integration; expendable systems; unmanned swarm; unmanned system; marine robotics

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 HR001119S0035-09 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 HR001119S0035-09 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 is 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 sbirhelpdesk@u.group with a copy to sbir@darpa.mil.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=29934 http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=29934 mailto:sbirhelpdesk@u.group mailto:sbir@darpa.mil