HR001119S0035-19.pdf

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

(STTR)

Opportunity Announcement

HR001119S0035-19

Ultrathin Dielectric Elastomer Fibers for Actuation

Which program will fund this topic?

SBIR

What type of proposals will be accepted?

Both Phase I and Direct to Phase II

Technology Area(s): Materials/Processes DARPA Program: SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms (SHRIMP)

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 Materials/Processes and Sensors, Electronics, and Electronic Warfare. In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of Ultrathin Dielectric Elastomer Fibers for Actuation.

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.

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 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. 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 9-month period of performance.

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

DARPA will accept DP2 proposals for cost of up to $1,750,000. This includes a 24-month base period not to exceed a cost of $1,000,000 and a 12-month option not to exceed a cost of $500,000. 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). Refer to Section 2.5, DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative, of HR001119S0035 for detailed information on 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 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 40 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. Human Subjects Research (HSR)/Animal Use Proposers that anticipate involving Human Subjects Research or Animal Use must comply with the approval procedures detailed at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa. For more information, refer to Section 4.7, Human Subjects/Research/Animal Use, of HR001119S0035.

Proposers are highly encouraged to clearly segregate research tasks from human and/or animal testing tasks to allow for partial funding while internal and DoD approvals are being obtained.

d. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in HR001119S0035 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this SBO.

e. 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 October 10, 2019 at 2:00 PM E.T.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa

II. TOPIC OVERVIEW

a. Objective

Develop ultrathin dielectric elastomer fibers as actuators in functional fiber electronic systems. The objective fiber characteristics are 20 micron diameter total, with 10 micron inner diameter electrode and tube thickness of 5 microns.

b. Description Dielectric elastomers (DE) are an attractive actuator material due to large actuation strains (>10% in conventional parallel plate configurations) and the ability to be formed into a variety of actuator configurations. However, DE actuators require large actuation voltage (>1kV), which limits their applications in size, weight, and power (SWaP) constrained or untethered systems. Fiber actuators composed of dielectric elastomers are particularly attractive as they can be formed into artificial muscle architectures to realize high actuation forces and potentially large displacements. Moreover, required actuation voltage of DE fibers scales proportionally to tube wall thickness; thus, moderate actuation voltages (100-300 V) can be realized if the tube wall thickness can be shrunk to <20 microns. The proposed effort will develop DE fibers with threshold and objective total fiber diameters of 75 and 20 microns, respectively. Included in the total fiber diameter is an inner and outer electrode material. The proposed approach must identify and demonstrate a scalable fabrication method to produce DE fibers that can be repeatedly and robustly operated at voltages less than 300 V capable of achieving actuation strains in excess of 1%.

c. Phase I The Phase 1 effort will identify and demonstrate at least one DE fiber manufacturing method capable of producing a tubular fiber with a total diameter of 150 microns or smaller. Phase 1 will identify and demonstrate methods to integrate appropriate inner and outer electrodes to DE fibers of 150 microns or smaller. The performer will also conduct laboratory testing to measure fiber diameter characteristics including inner and outer diameter, wall thickness, uniformity over fiber length, size distribution and variance, the actuation strain (> 0.75 % strain), actuation force, operating voltage (< 1 kV) of a single DE fiber, actuation repeatability through voltage cycling (> 50 cycles), and environmental stability from room temperature to 60°C. The contact connections to the fibers must be described and characterized. The Phase 1 final report will identify a pathway to further shrink DE fibers with total diameters to 75 microns and 20 microns.

As part of the Phase I final report, a Phase II projected plan must be included that details a scaled test of DE fiber bundles consisting of 25, 50, and 100 individual fibers.

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

Month 1: Kickoff meeting detailing initial manufacturing and electrode integration approaches Month 3: Interim report on DE fiber characteristic geometry measurements describing diameter, wall thickness, uniformity, and size distribution Month 5: Interim report on fiber electrode integration and reduction in fiber diameter

Month 7: Interim report on DE fiber actuator characteristic measurement describing actuation strain, force, operating voltage of a single fiber, repeatability and environmental stability

Month 9: Final Phase I Report summarizing approach; prototype geometric and actuation characteristics; data sets; results; a pathway to further shrink DE fibers with total diameters of 75 and 20 microns; project plan that details a scaled test of DE fiber bundles consisting of 25, 50, and 100 individual fibers.

Proposers interested in submitting a Direct to Phase II (DP2) proposal must include detailed feasibility data within their proposal that demonstrates the achievement of < 150 micron fiber diameter, > 0.75% actuation strain, < 1 kV operating voltage, and > 50 actuator cycles of a single fiber without fiber failure. DP2 proposals must also include detailed plans that describe a pathway to shrink DE fibers to total diameters of 75 microns and 20 microns, as well as testing of DE fiber bundles consisting of 25, 50, and 100 individual fibers.

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 The Phase II base effort (24 months) will demonstrate DE fiber total diameter reduction to 75 microns (threshold) and 20 microns (objective). Further, the inner diameter electrode should be in the range of 25 microns along with a tube thickness of 25 microns (threshold) and 10 microns along with a tube thickness of 5 microns (objective). The performer will demonstrate DE fiber manufacturing at scale by producing at least 1,000 individual fibers and demonstrate electrical contacts to DE fiber bundles consisting of 25, 50, and 100 individual fibers. Laboratory testing to measure fiber diameter characteristics including size distribution and variance, the actuation strain (> 1% strain), actuation force, operating voltage (< 300 V) of a bundle of DE fibers consisting of a minimum of 100 individual fibers, actuation repeatability through voltage cycling (> 1000 cycles), and environmental stability from room temperature to 60°C will be carried out. As part of the Phase II final report, the performer will recommend a pathway to further shrink fiber diameter to 10 microns or smaller and document final results from Phase II in a final report.

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

Month 1: Kickoff meeting detailing manufacturing and electrode integration approaches for reduced diameter fibers Month 4: Interim report on reduced diameter DE fiber characteristic geometry measurements describing diameter, wall thickness, uniformity, and size distribution

Month 8: Interim report on fiber electrode integration on reduced diameter DE fibers bundles with at least 25 individual fibers

Month 12: Interim report on reduced diameter DE fiber actuator characteristic measurement describing actuation strain, force, operating voltage of a single fiber, repeatability and environmental stability

Month 16: Interim report on fiber electrode integration on reduced diameter DE fibers bundles with at least 100 individual fibers

Month 20: Interim report on operating voltage of a bundle of DE fibers consisting of a minimum of 100 individual fibers, actuation repeatability through voltage cycling, and environmental stability from room temperature to 60°C

Month 24: Final Report summarizing final results from Phase II along with a recommended pathway to further shrink fiber diameter to 10 microns or smaller.

Delivery of samples (minimum of 5) of each bundle configuration for independent government evaluation

The Phase II option effort (12 months) will demonstrate a further shrinking of DE fiber total diameter with a goal of demonstrating fibers with a diameter of 10 microns or smaller. The performer will demonstrate DE fiber manufacturing at scale by producing at least 1,000 individual fibers and demonstrate electrical contacts to DE fiber bundles consisting of 25, 50, and 100 individual fibers. Laboratory testing to measure fiber diameter characteristics including size distribution and variance, the actuation strain, actuation force, operating voltage of a bundle of DE fibers consisting of a minimum of 100 individual fibers, actuation repeatability through voltage cycling (>1000 cycles), and environmental stability from room temperature to 60°C will be carried out.

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

Month 1: Kickoff meeting detailing manufacturing and electrode integration approaches for reduced diameter fibers Month 3: Interim report on reduced diameter DE fiber characteristic geometry measurements describing diameter, wall thickness, uniformity, and size distribution

Month 6: Interim report on fiber electrode integration on reduced diameter DE fibers bundles with at least 25 individual fibers and describing the actuation strain, force, operating voltage of a single fiber, repeatability and environmental stability

Month 9: Interim report on fiber electrode integration on reduced diameter DE fibers bundles with at least 50 individual fibers and measurements of the actuation strain and actuation repeatability through voltage cycling

Month 11: Interim report on operating voltage of a bundle of DE fibers consisting of a minimum of 100 individual fibers, actuation repeatability through voltage cycling, and environmental stability from room temperature to 60°C

Month 12: Final Report summarizing final results from Phase II option along a delivery of 10 samples for each bundle configuration for independent government evaluation

e. Dual Use Applications (Phase III) Potential commercial uses of dielectric elastomer fiber actuators include artificial muscles, soft robotics, prosthetics, micromechanical systems, miniature sensors, and high force-displacement actuators. Potential military applications include sensors, actuators, and robotics.

f. References

1. S. Arora, T. Ghosh, and J. Muth, “Dielectric elastomer based prototype fiber actuators”, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 136, (2007) p. 321

2. G. Kofod, J. Stoyanov., and R. Gerhard, “Multilayer coaxial fiber dielectric elastomers for actuation and sensing”, Applied Physics A, 102 (2011) p. 577

3. R. Shankar, T.K. Ghosh, and R.J. Spontak, “Dielectric elastomers as next-generation polymeric actuators”, Soft Matter, 3, (2007), p. 1116

g. Keywords Dielectric elastomer, soft actuators, fibers, manufacturing, artificial muscle

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 HR001119S0035-19 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 HR001119S0035-19 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