Air force 12. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions
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| PHASE I: Investigate the number of agents needed and what map information they need to share. Explore feature representations and communications bandwidth requirements. Simulate the algorithms as a proof of concept. Develop a prototype plan and test plan.
PHASE II: Design the system architecture and build the required number of prototype agents. Procure the required hardware to test the agents. Demonstrate the capabilities of the agents in a realistic scenario e.g., in an indoor environment. The required number and type of sensors/agents should be a result of the research conducted in Phase I. PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Potential applications include counter IED, CSAR, and alternative navigation, particularly in asymmetric environments. Commercial Application: Potential applications include search and rescue, mapping, mining, robotics, in addition to applications mentioned for the military.
1. Adluru,N.; Latecki, L.J.; Sobel, M.; Lakaemper, R. “Merging Maps of Multiple Robots”. IEEE International Conference on Pattern Recognition, 1–4. Tampa, FL, 8-11 December 2008. 2. Agostino Martinelli, Viet Nguyen, Nicola Tomatis, Roland Siegwart. “A relative map approach to SLAM based on shift and rotation invariants”. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 55:50–61, June 2007. 3. Francois Chanier, Paul Checchin, Christophe Blanc and Laurent Trassoudaine. “Map fusion based on a multi-map SLAM framework”. IEEE International Conference on Multisensor Fusion and Integration for Intelligent Systems, 533–539. Seoul, Korea, August 2008. 4. Jennings, J.; Kirkwood-Watts, C.; Tanis, C. “Distributed Map-Making and Navigation in Dynamic Environments”. IEEE International Conference on Robots and Systems, volume 3, 1695–1701. Victoria, BC, Canada, 13-17 October 1998. 5. Joseph Djugash, Sanjiv Singh, and Benjamin Grocholsky. “Decentralized Mapping of Robot-Aided Sensor Networks”. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 583–589. Pasadena, CA, 19-23 May 2008. KEYWORDS: Multi-Agent Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (MA-SLAM), Cooperative Localization and Mapping (CLAM), Multi-Robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (MR-SLAM), feature descriptors, map management, submap joining, Cooperative Navigation (CN) AF121-105 TITLE: Infrared Panoramic Projection for Wide Field of Sensor Testing TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors Technology related to this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (DFARS 252.204-7009). As such, export-controlled data restrictions apply. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign citizens, including country of origin, type of visa/work permit held, and the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks to be performed. In addition, this acquisition involves technology with military or space application. Therefore, only U.S. contractors registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49017-3084, (800) 352-3572, are eligible for award. If selected, the firm must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. OBJECTIVE: Develop a panoramic scene projector based on emissive infrared panels for multi-aperture sensor testing. DESCRIPTION: Multi-aperture wide-field-of-view sensors enable high situational awareness, agile autonomous operation in complex environments, and ego-motion estimation based on visual sensing of the relative motion of the surrounding inertial environment. Infrared sensing offers the additional advantage of nighttime operation and operation in dark obscured environments. Testing this class of sensor requires representation of the dynamic in-band environment around the vehicle over the sensors full field of regard. While visible dome projectors currently exist, infrared equivalents do not. In addition, dome projectors based on reflective dome surfaces and conventional LCD or DMD projection technology suffer from poor contrast due to the self illumination of the dome surface. In addition, projector timing artifacts, which may be unobservable by the human eye, may be unnacceptable for many sensor configurations. Flexible programmible LED panels exist in rectangular formats in the visible having a sparse resolution of approximately 1 cm. The waveband is incompatible with infrared test requirements, the resolution is inadequate, and the rectangular format is not compatible with building a spherical surface. Technology is required to build flexible emissive panels that can be digitally driven to display dynamic infrared scene content in a shape format that is compatible with constructing a panoramic test environment. The objective is to have calibrated output independent of the sensor attitude. Absorptive surface characteristics are desired to minimize reflection from other panels. While the current experience is with spherical environments, concepts based on cubic or alternative shapes are also of interest if advantage can be demonstrated by reducing cost and operational complexity, and the hurdles associated with spatial mapping and source uniformity can be overcome. PHASE I: Investigate concepts for application of emissive infrared technology for panoramic scene projection. Perform detailed prototype design for concept demonstration and concept definition for full panoramic projector implementation. PHASE II: Implement, integrate and demonstrate hardware and software solution(s) developed in Phase I. Execute an experimental program using the prototype hardware to demonstrate performance capabilities and limitations. Document the design concept and prototype experimental results. Design and document a final concept based on lessons learned during the Phase II activity. PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Hardware-in-the-loop testing of future generation weapons using wide field of view sensors for situational awareness, obstruction avoidance and ego-motion estimations. Testing of night vision equipment. Commercial Application: Concept development and testing of robotic systems designed for night time operation that employ wide field-of-view or multi-aperture sensors. Testing of emergency response and law enforcement night vision equipment.
1. C. Ewing, "The Advanced Guided Weapon Testbed (AGWT) at the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate," AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference,12 Aug 2009, AIAA-2009-6129. 2. Joseph Giuliani, Daniel Hershey, David McKeown, Jr., Carla Willis and Tan Van, "Generation of large scale urban environments to support advanced sensor and seeker simulation", Proc. SPIE 7348, 734805 (2009); doi:10.1117/12.820254. 3. http://www.immersivedisplayinc.com/Gallery.html, example of visible panoramic display technology. 4. http://www.digiled.com/digiFLEX/, example of visible flexible LED panel technology. KEYWORDS: Infrared, Projector, hardware-in-the-loop, dome, emissive, LED, panel, night-vision AF121-106 TITLE: Autonomous Situational Awareness for Munitions TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Weapons Technology related to this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (DFARS 252.204-7009). As such, export-controlled data restrictions apply. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign citizens, including country of origin, type of visa/work permit held, and the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks to be performed. In addition, this acquisition involves technology with military or space application. Therefore, only U.S. contractors registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49017-3084, (800) 352-3572, are eligible for award. If selected, the firm must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. OBJECTIVE: Develop enabling technologies for compact multi-functional ordnance that can adapt its lethal mechanisms on-the-fly to a diverse target set and diverse engagement scenarios. DESCRIPTION: Future munitions must be precise, small, efficient, smart, and mission flexible. Their situational awareness in the terminal phase should be able to adapt to the target type, engagement, scenario, or mission constraints. For example, the terminal sense may want to command the ordnance to adjust its output from a high impulse blast for structures to a high temperature, low pressure blast for chem-bio targets, or change its fragmentation distribution from isotropic to directionally-biased to meet collateral damage constraints. This topic is emphasizing the munition sensors that are used for terminal burst point control. The Ordnance Division seeks cross-cutting technologies that advance rapid target detection, classification, and identification (potentially) by active on-board sensors that can determine range, range rate and target centroid for programming the required output. These munition sensors must function on platforms that may or may not have an active terminal seeker in the guidance loop. Although not limited to this description, we are interested in the technologies that will enable high fidelity simulations of forward looking active imaging fuze sensor algorithms to be realized. These algorithms will be hosted on advanced active imaging fuze sensors for the purpose of terminal burst point control and weapon mode decisions. The main need is for synthetic scene modeling & simulation tools that support active imaging fuze sensors with multiple coherent receivers and whose production run time is fast enough at sub-millimeter wave frequencies to support iterative munition sensor design. Scene models should support both non-metallic terrain (concrete, asphalt, short grass, dirt, etc.) and metallic targets that have rough surface scattering and cavities. The simulation environment should support a distributed architecture compatible with multiple independent processors while maintaining the phase information needed for multiple coherent receivers. This simulation architecture should support development of innovative synthetic aperture radar (SAR), inverse synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), Joint Time-Frequency Analysis (JTFA), or other signal processing techniques that could be synergistically combined to actively image and classify a target of interest that is < 5 degrees off boresight of the weapon’s velocity vector. PHASE I: The contractor will develop the concept(s) through modeling, simulation and analysis. A small-scale demonstration or computer simulation to show proof-of-principle is highly desirable. Merit and feasibility must be clearly demonstrated during this phase. PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and verify the concept technology using embedded algorithms or a high fidelity simulation environment. Deliverables consist of component demonstration hardware, experimental data, and high fidelity simulations. PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Apply technology to terminal burst point control of ordnance suitable for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) and other low collateral damage scenarios. Enable technology for emerging directional ordnance concepts. Commercial Application: Short-range, high-resolution, night/day sensors for Homeland Security operations and law enforcement operations.
1. Mehrdad Soumekh, “Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal Processing,” New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999. 2. Donald R. Wehner, “High Resolution Radar,” 2nd Edition Boston: Artech House 1995. 3. Lazarov, A.; Minchev, C.; , "Spectral 2-D image reconstruction in ISAR with linear frequency modulated signals," Digital Avionics Systems, 2001. DASC. The 20th Conference , vol.1, no., pp.4E2/1-4E2/10 vol.1, 14-18 Oct 2001. 4. Seybold, J.S.; Bishop, S.J.; , "Three-dimensional ISAR imaging using a conventional high-range resolution radar," Radar Conference, 1996., Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE National , vol., no., pp.309-314, 13-16 May 1996. 5. Fawwaz T. Ulaby and M. Craig Dobson, “Radar Scattering Statistics for Terrain,” Artech House, 1989. KEYWORDS: ordnance, selectable effects, active imaging, fuze sensor, radar scene generator, SAR, ISAR, JTFA, PEC target modeling AF121-107 TITLE: Kinetic Energy Control Technologies for Explosively-dispersed Fragments TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Weapons Technology related to this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (DFARS 252.204-7009). As such, export-controlled data restrictions apply. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign citizens, including country of origin, type of visa/work permit held, and the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks to be performed. In addition, this acquisition involves technology with military or space application. Therefore, only U.S. contractors registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49017-3084, (800) 352-3572, are eligible for award. If selected, the firm must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. OBJECTIVE: Develop enabling technologies for small, low-collateral-damage (LCD), fragmentation warheads with high lethality yet limited fragmentation footprints. DESCRIPTION: The Air Force needs ordnance technologies for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT), closed controlled strike (CCS), and other missions with stringent low collateral damage (LCD) requirements. There are two possible approaches: (i) focused (i.e., directional) effects, or (ii) omnidirectional effects with reduced fragment fly-out. Each of these concepts is explained below. (i) Directional fragmentation gives both high efficiency and low collateral damage since all (or most) of the kinetic energy is focused on the intended target. Generation of directional fragmentation patterns is challenging and will require innovative and cutting edge technologies in detonation science and materials (e.g., wound graphite fiber and epoxy cases, multipoint initiation techniques, detonation wave shaping, etc.). The form fact is particularly problematic. Most small missile warheads are cylindrical, and these warheads project case wall fragments perpendicular to the missile axis, rather than parallel to the missile axis, toward the designated target. (ii) Alternatively, collateral damage may be minimized by limiting the effective range of the kinetic energy. This requires innovative materials and techniques to effectively change the fragment energy from lethal at close range to sub-lethal at intermediate range. This might be done aerodynamically (e.g., controlled deceleration via drag), mechanically (e.g., fragment breakup via shock mechanics), or chemically (e.g., reactive/consumable fragments). This topic is predicated on pre-formed fragment warheads but it does not preclude natural fragmentation and fragmentation control techniques. Although this list is not meant to constrain other innovative concepts, technologies of interest include: (a) Design and control of directional effects in pre-formed fragment warheads. (b) Deconfliction of stacked forward-firing warheads in small-diameter geometries. (c) Consumable fragments of reactive materials [Reference 2] that are highly lethal at short distances, but, through mass loss and/or velocity loss, have a greatly reduced lethal radius relative to inert fragments. (d) Design and control of precision effects in rod warheads [Reference 1]. (e) The marriage of multiphase blast with pre-formed fragments, with the particulate phase including macro-particles up to micro-fragments.
Military Application: Ordnance suitable for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) and other low collateral damage scenarios. Commercial Application: Homeland Security operations and law enforcement operations requiring low collateral damage.
1. Various authors, “Multifunctional Energetic Materials,” Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Volume 896, 2006. 2. R. M. Lloyd, Conventional Warhead Systems Physics and Engineering Design, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, 179:79-192 (1998); ISBN 1-56347-255-4. KEYWORDS: munition, ordnance, low collateral damage, warhead, explosive, energetic materials, reactive materials, fragment, fragmentation, multiphase blast AF121-108 TITLE: Direct Detection Ladar Pulse Processing TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors Technology related to this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (DFARS 252.204-7009). As such, export-controlled data restrictions apply. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign citizens, including country of origin, type of visa/work permit held, and the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks to be performed. In addition, this acquisition involves technology with military or space application. Therefore, only U.S. contractors registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49017-3084, (800) 352-3572, are eligible for award. If selected, the firm must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. OBJECTIVE: Design and implement innovative HW and SW techniques to enhance the range accuracy, range resolution, measured intensity, and discrimination capability of linear mode direct detection ladar. DESCRIPTION: Linear mode, direct detection, imaging ladar which captures both range and intensity information has broad applications in weapon seekers and ISR systems. There are many ladar system design trades that can be made to maximize dynamic range in intensity and increase range accuracy and resolution. Approaches which focus on improving detector sensitivity and optical performance tend to be material intensive, expensive, and only suitable for low volume production. Even applying commercially available detectors and optical components, receivers using traditional pulse capture techniques are often the limiting factor in both range and intensity performance. Techniques utilizing some combination of analog and digital receiver electronics to achieve dynamic range in intensity and centimeter class range resolution while using current lasers, detectors, and optical components is highly desired. In addition, the techniques must be implemented in an embedded computing environment in real-time. The primary application for this technology is weapon seekers, so data produced in a single or small number of measurements must be high quality. In other words, the ability to take multiple measurements at a single region to improve detection statistics over time is limited. The direct detection ladar systems of interest utilize pulsed ladar systems operating at 10-35kHz, have 5-10ns pulse widths and have detector performance commensurate with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Si and InGaAs photodiodes. Application to both scanning and flash ladar systems should be considered. Generally, multiple phenomenon exist which cause loss of scene information in ladar data. Techniques for accommodating or extracting scene information from saturated pulses, conditions of output power variability, and small target separation distance should be considered. The approach to accurately determine start pulse timing should also be understood. Techniques which are adaptable and modular (i.e. independent of optical response) would be highly desirable. Real time fusion of other data collected by low cost/tactical grade sensors to improve the ladar performance may also be considered. PHASE I: Phase I effort should focus on proof of concept through simulation while taking advantage of simulated and representative ladar data for proof of concept. Design for implementation in hardware is essential (analog components and FPGAs). Final report should outline techniques used, design for implementation, and performance estimates. The government will provide the representative data to the contractor upon award at the contractor’s request. PHASE II: Phase II effort should implement HW and/or SW designed in Phase I into functional ladar system and result in delivery of HW and/or SW. Integration into AFRL/RW ladar assets is possible. Algorithms should be embedded in HW and run in real time for efficient data collection. PHASE III DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Use in seekers, ISR systems, fire control systems, & other machine vision systems with military utility. Pulse processing has also been shown to assist in ladar seeing through obscurants and occlusions. Commercial Application: Applicable to a broad range of civilian machine vision problems such as in manufacturing, robotics, and transportation. Direct detection Lidar systems could also benefit from improvements in pulse processing techniques.
1. McMahon, Jason R., Richard K. Martin, and Stephen C. Cain. "Three Dimensional FLASH Laser Radar Range Estimation via Blind Deconvolution". J. Appl. Remote Sens., 4(043517), 2010. 2. Jordan, S.; , "Range estimation algorithms comparison in simulated 3-D flash LADAR data," Aerospace conference, 2009 IEEE , vol., no., pp.1-7, 7-14 March 2009. 3. Sundaramurthy, P.; Neifeld, M.A.; , "Super-resolved laser ranging using the Viterbi algorithm," Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2005. QELS ''05 , vol.3, no., pp. 2000- 2002 vol. 3, 22-27 May 2005. KEYWORDS: Ladar, Receiver, Laser Pulse, Direct Detection, Range Estimation AF121-111 TITLE: Lightweight Electromagnetic (EM) Shielding Structural Materials TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Nuclear Technology Technology related to this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (DFARS 252.204-7009). As such, export-controlled data restrictions apply. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign citizens, including country of origin, type of visa/work permit held, and the Statement of Work (SOW) tasks to be performed. In addition, this acquisition involves technology with military or space application. Therefore, only U.S. contractors registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49017-3084, (800) 352-3572, are eligible for award. If selected, the firm must submit a copy of an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. OBJECTIVE: Development and demonstration of lightweight high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) hardened composite materials. DESCRIPTION: The US Air Force has several strategic nuclear weapon system modernization efforts in the developmental planning phase as well as periodic upgrades and modifications to existing legacy nuclear weapons systems. These systems will be required to survive and operate through a HEMP environment, which necessitates shielding of electronics from the resultant high-intensity fields with EM-protective materials. The radio frequency (RF) environment is defined by MIL-STD-464C and MIL-STD-2169B. Multilayer metallic shielding is typically employed, but can be heavy and subject to delamitation or separation of layers, especially with age or wear and tear caused by operations and maintenance. A lightweight composite material is desired with EM properties suitable for shielding aircraft or missile electronics from the EM environment caused by a HEMP and ionizing radiation environment caused by nearby nuclear detonations. A solution is desired in which the EM shielding and ionizing radiation protection is incorporated directly into the composite matrix in order to avoid wear-and-tear and age-induced vulnerabilities caused by delamitation or layer separation. The technology must be able to readily replace traditional material systems without major redesign and exhibit weight advantages over standard metallic enclosures. Furthermore, it must be producible with existing composite manufacturing technologies and have comparable unit cost when in mass production. Directory: osbp -> sbir -> solicitations -> sbir20121 solicitations -> Navy sbir fy09. 1 Proposal submission instructions solicitations -> Army 16. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Army 14. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program submitting Proposals on Navy Topics solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program solicitations -> Armament research, development and engineering center solicitations -> Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy 11. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Department of the navy (don) 16. 2 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions introduction sbir20121 -> Air force 12. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions Download 1.28 Mb. Share with your friends:
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