Department of the navy (don) 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions introduction

Fundamental sonobuoy information can be found in References 3 and 4 to support Phase I proposal development. Specific sonobuoy information and specifications will be provided during Phase I.

The performance objectives of this capability are:

2) Provide a cost analysis of AM for sonobuoy components versus machining or tooling, which should include the cost of time to acquire the parts (impact on enabling a rapid prototype turnaround) as well as material and any associated labor costs.

3) Based on research, develop a timeline of events for when the developed AM technology may be extended to high rate production of sonobuoys.

4) Develop a plan and process for using the developed AM technology for the manufacturing of sonobuoy components such that after the end of Phase II the process could be implemented in a Phase III to develop and manufacture selected sonobuoy components.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by DoD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DSS and NAVAIR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advanced phases of this contract.

PHASE I: Analyze the current state of the art of AM technology. Identify the technological, innovative and reliability challenges to determine the feasibility of using AM for the manufacture of sonobuoy components and propose a plan for how these will be addressed in Phase II. Perform a preliminary identification of cost comparisons for AM of sonobuoy components that will be validated during Phase II.

PHASE II: Design and fabricate, using AM, prototype components suitable for use in a Q53F sonobuoy. Perform sonobuoy testing on the components and compare to current production components. Integrate the prototype components into ten Q53F (provided by Navy) sonobuoys and perform a series of evaluation tests to validate their feasibility. This should include key environmental factors along with operating and non-operating conditions. Sonobuoy specification documentation that includes metrics and testing methods will be provided prior to Phase II.

Develop an initial process that will be further refined in Phase III as part of a sonobuoy component AM capability, including a timeline of events envisioned.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Finalize the process and demonstrate the capability to manufacture sonobuoy components using AM to reduce cost and enable rapid prototype turnaround times. Perform operational testing of manufactured sonobuoy as deemed appropriate based on modified components. Pursue commercial applications for rapid prototype AM manufacturing capability. Private Sector Commercial Potential: AM is providing more prototype and production capabilities every year. If this technology can be applied to sonobuoys it can also be applied to other Military products such as towed arrays and ground sensors. There are also numerous commercial and medical applications that could benefit from a rapid prototype and cost effective manufacturing capability, such as, spare part production, custom component production, specialized ultrasound sensors, electronic device covers, and tooling components.

REFERENCES:

1. The bases of 3D, Opportunity for Additive manufacturing, Deloitte University Press, Mark J. Cotteleer, et al. Retrieved from http://dupress.com/collection/3d-opportunity/

2. JTEC/WTEC Panel Report on Rapid Prototyping in Europe and Japan, VOLUME I. ANALYTICAL CHAPTERS, Friedrich B. Prinz (Panel Chair), March 1997. Retrieved from http://www.wtec.org/loyola.pdf/rp_vi.pdf

3. Concurrent printing and thermographing for rapid manufacturing: executive summary. Hayes, Jonathan (2002), EngD thesis, University of Warwick

4. The Ears of Air ASW: A History of U.S. Navy Sonobuoys. ISBN 978-0-615-20113-9, 2008-

KEYWORDS: 3D printing; Adaptive Manufacturing; Sonobuoy; Rapid prototype; Volume manufacturing; Cost reduction

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-251, Aircraft Launch & Recovery Equipment (ALRE)

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a man portable diagnostics tool, (MPDT) capable of giving diagnostics and health information concerning the Advance Arresting Gear (AAG) Water Twister.

DESCRIPTION: The Advanced Arresting Gear aims to drastically reduce manpower during operations and maintenance as well as increase the arresting envelope to account for the expanding variety of aircraft carrier capable aircraft. The AAG Water Twister is the most critical mechanical component in absorbing kinetic energy. The current instrumentation, signal processing, and data acquisition capabilities have been identified as incapable of delivering an accurate health assessment. The current instrumentation consists of vibration monitors which will likely only be useful for detecting already failed bearings. The MPDT is envisioned to be able to detect water twister health through successive testing throughout the life of the machine. By periodically sampling the attributes of the system during pull out and retracts with the MPDT the system will be able to look for changes in signatures that alert engineering to pending structural failures. With six water twisters per carrier (3 arresting wires, 2 per wire), there is a need for a portable piece of equipment capable of quickly instrumenting the water twister for vibration, acoustics, etc., and determining health status during retract of the arresting cable.

A solution must be able to be set up in no more than 4 hours initially, with an ultimate goal of 1 hour, with no AAG disassembly required; should be portable, either handheld or a rolling solution capable of traversing the CVN 78 and be easily moved to a different water twister; be rugged enough to survive an arrestment and the environmental conditions on board ship; and, collect data during a cable retract. The instrumentation should be expandable and modular with regard to numbers and types of sensors with redundant sensors to maximize use.

PHASE I: Design a concept for the development of an Advanced Arresting Gear Water Twister Diagnostics and Health Monitoring instrumentation package to effectively assess health of the Water Twister. A preliminary design of the portable modules should also include potential signal processing methods used to determine health status.

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate the Advanced Arresting Gear Water Twister Diagnostics and Health Monitoring instrumentation prototype and its ability to acquire necessary data as discussed in the Description section. Establish architecture to process data/model driven health monitoring; display test results on the portable device. Prepare preliminary manufacturability, acquisition cost, and supportability report.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Refine final design and perform final operational testing. Produce a minimum of 2 units and transition developed Advanced Arresting Gear Water Twister Diagnostics and Health Monitoring instrumentation technology to appropriate platforms for use by the fleet. Private Sector Commercial Potential: Successful development would have civil applications in power plant maintenance, wind mill maintenance, and would apply to any industry with the need for rotating machinery maintenance.

REFERENCES:

1. Aircraft Carrier Reference Data Manual, NAEC-MISC-06900. http://www.docs-egine.com/pdf/a/naec-misc-06900.html

2. Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment; Advanced Arresting Gear http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.displayPlatform&key=650609CF-A54F-4DDA-8181-312B7555C194-

KEYWORDS: AAG; Prognostics; Turbo machinery; Bearings; health monitoring; decision analysis; condition based maintenance

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

N171-012

TITLE: Transition of Mission Planning Software to a Next Generation Component Based, Open Architecture using Advanced Refactoring Technology

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Human Systems, Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 281 Strike Planning and Execution Systems

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an advanced software refactoring algorithm, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology or other similar innovative development approach, to facilitate transition of legacy mission planning software to a capabilities based, open architecture, next generation mission planning software suite. The resulting components must generate all required planning and initialization data for uploading to multiple disparate platforms, both manned and unmanned.

DESCRIPTION: Current Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) software is highly complex, tightly coupled to individual platforms, and costly to maintain. The current software, designed for individual platform planning and data loading, is not well suited for future mission planning on heterogeneous computer systems and mobile devices, and is not portable for use by manned or unmanned aircraft for the purpose of multi-platform mission development. The increasing complexity associated with mission planning makes it difficult to develop software with new capabilities. Additionally, this complexity makes it difficult to update and maintain existing software. A new development paradigm supporting standardized mission planning capabilities, allowing rapid prototyping, and the reuse of capability based software, needs to be developed. It must be usable by multiple Services (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines) and heterogeneous platforms, both manned and unmanned.

A new mission planning software tool capable of addressing these issues is needed, but as a first step, research and innovative analysis and design must be done, not only with regards to service oriented architecture (SOA) approaches, but also the use of embedded software based AI and/or suitable refactoring approaches and tools that can analyze and support the mission planning software and the human based mission planner processes. The potential and innovative solution of using AI and SOA to achieve a mission planning tool capable of use by multiple platforms, both manned and unmanned is game changing.

The use of AI model-based software concepts has been demonstrated [Ref 1] for reuse of software modules across different missions/capabilities. Using the flexibility of the symbolic representation of goals, constraints, logic, and parameters allow optimization of code during software development. In this project, AI or other advanced refactoring technology should be applied to track the decision making process, facilitating creation of software models of the behavior of mission planners. These behavior models can form the basis for services, or components, within an open architecture for mission planning.

Mission planning software needs to be digitally interoperable, open and include mission planning tools capable of conducting both integrated and stand-alone missions. The software should allow dynamic, real-time, and networked planning in operational, training, and virtual environments and it must be easy to maintain.

Future development of automated mission planning capabilities will logically flow into near real-time integration into onboard platforms allowing rapid re-planning and critical decision-making to be executed onboard during mission execution. Flexible infrastructure and properly designed tools will be essential for that migration to occur.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by DoD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret NAVY – 45 level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DSS and NAVAIR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advanced phases of this contract.

PHASE I: Design and demonstrate the feasibility for the development of an innovative software model for a capability based mission planning software concept, supported through the use of AI, for manned and or unmanned mission planning processes. This is to include establishing appropriate performance metrics, e.g., speed of refactored functionality, behavior retention of critical functionality and others as applicable. The JMPS Operational Requirements Document and other pertinent documents will be made available to companies selected for Phase I award.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype of a capability-based mission planning software architecture that demonstrates the use of the AI model. The prototype should also demonstrate its reusability by multiple platforms. Developed capability will be integrated into a functioning JMPS suite for integration and performance testing. Performance improvement metrics will be developed during the Phase II development effort.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Transition the developed innovative software model for a capability based mission planning software technology, using the JMPS government integration and testing laboratories for operational testing and refine if necessary, with subsequent integration into the JMPS laptops. Private Sector Commercial Potential: The software tool could be suitable for applications in various government agencies and the commercial market sector using shipping and mailing services that would benefit from technology capable of major software refactoring of complex legacy codes.

REFERENCES:

1. Fratini, S., Policella, N., & Donati, A. “A Service Oriented approach for the Interoperability of Space Mission Planning Systems” June 2013, accessed 20 June 2016,https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254864613

2. LeCun, Y., Nosek, L., & Bostrom, N. (2016 June 14) “What’s Next for Artificial Intelligence.” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-next-for-artificial-intelligence-1465827619

3. Fowler, M. “Workflow of Refactoring.” (2014 January 8) accessed 28 June 2016, http://martinfowler.com/articles/workflowsOfRefactoring/

4. Murphy-Hill, E., (2015 December). “The Past, Present, and Future of Refactoring.” Retrieved from https://www.computer.org/web/computingnow/archive/refactoring-december-2015-

KEYWORDS: Mission Planning; Artificial Intelligence; Architecture; Software; Automation; Refactoring

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

N171-013

TITLE: Photonic Switch for Laser Power Distribution

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Electronics, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 272 Advanced Tactical Aircraft

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative, stand-alone switch for distribution from a central source of laser power to multiple outputs using photonic switch technologies with one input and “N” outputs.

DESCRIPTION: Air vehicle platforms are limited in their ability to accommodate increases in weight, volume and power demands. One means of mitigation for systems using power is to provide a central source and distribute the energy over a network to different locations. This allows for locating vital avionics in a protected area with convenient provision of electrical service and environmental conditioning. In the case of a central laser power source it also reduces weight penalties and cost by reducing the number of lasers on the aircraft. Current state of the art for a fiber-optic photonic switch allows for a single laser input but is limited to two laser outputs. Due to a lack of a photonic solution, current implementations of laser distribution devices use either a mechanical rotary barrel switch, or mechanical mirror reflectors. Ideally, the laser power from a central source would be distributed by means of a rapid photonic switch with one input and “N” outputs, which do not use mechanical means to distribute power over optical fiber.

The envisioned photonic switch would be an external line/lowest replacement unit (LRU) to the laser source with its own requirements for packaging, capable of withstanding military power conditioning and environmental enclosure. The input laser power to the switch would be from the source via a single fiber coupling, one input, and would accommodate “N” fiber outputs, but only one at a time in the current concept. (Future embodiments could envision power division schemes over multiple fiber outputs.) The proposed conceptual design should show how the proposers will produce a prototype stand-alone photonic switch that can take a mid-infrared laser input source, continuous-wave, line-width<.001micons, and a power level scalable from 10 Watts up to 100 Watts.

A single photonic switch that could accommodate laser energy from 1.060 microns through the mid-wave infrared (<5.0 micron) would be ideal; otherwise technical solutions for separate spectral regions will be considered that combine the capability in a single form factor. Respondents should detail their method for accommodating the full spectral range. Power handling capabilities of the fiber and the switch should accommodate tens of Watts of power, up to 100 Watts of either continuous wave (CW) or modulated power by fiber coupled input to the switch with an efficiency of 80-90% into the output fiber. Respondents should describe loss modologies in the switch. Respondents will be responsible for vetting their own choices for fiber composition over the desired spectral range, but should be 100 micron core, .25 NA, and multi-mode in order to achieve optimum pulse shape and power handling. Contrast between the switches ON / OFF state should be 20 to 30 decibels (db). A pick-off collimator on the output to sample <2% of the output power is desired in order to determine laser characteristics and power variation. The laser source can be of multiple varieties, including fiber, Quantum Cascade, VCSEL, etc. The laser source will be linearly polarized, linewidth can be <.001 microns and M2 near diffraction limited at the input to the source fiber.

The respondent should discuss the capability of their switch to accommodate multiple spectral lines in a specific range, and the effects of changing the laser spectral input +/- 5% from a central wavelength. The proposed switch should also be able to take roughly 1 to 5 Watt variations in laser power input, and should be able to work under high power without damage during operation.

The desire for a photonic switch is primarily to accommodate speed of switching between output fibers, 1.0 milliseconds or faster, but also has the added advantage of no mechanical moving parts, e.g. mirrors, galvos, electro-static Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), that are effected by temperature and vibration, or that provide an electro-static source that could be considered contributing to an explosive atmospheric hazard that would prevent flight clearance certification.

PHASE I: Develop and demonstrate feasibility of the proposed conceptual photonic switch and output. Provide sufficient evidence to support the proposed concept. Evidence of feasibility may include results from theoretical models, but should preferably include experimental results or initial laboratory demonstrations of key technological elements. Theoretical models used to illustrate and support feasibility should be directly relevant to the key technological issues of the proposed concept. Notional system, subsystem, and component functional and technical specifications should be identified and any critical interface requirements between the subsystems should also be defined and explained.

PHASE II: Further define the concept design developed in Phase I and execute the prototype system fabrication, construction, and integration activities that lead to the development of a photonic switch prototype. The prototype design should provide compelling evidence that the final product will be a device that is a 4 inches by 4 inches by 3 inches in volume. This device should not consume more than 10 Watts of electrical power. It should be able to handle at least 100 Watts of mid-IR optical energy. It should have at least 30 dB of isolation between ports. This device should be able to operate in high (less than 50 KHz) and low frequency (Hertz to sub Hertz) vibration environment. Additionally, it should be able to operate in environment that air platforms operate in. In addition to producing a hardware prototype, a final technical data package that includes design drawings and descriptions, subsystem and component specifications, interface descriptions and definitions, and operating instructions for the prototype will be produced and delivered.