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

The resulting explosive feedstock shall be usable in current COTS systems. It shall satisfy the mechanical, chemical, and aging property requirements of the ordnance. It shall maintain performance and safety of a comparable qualified explosive formulation. If the approach to this topic is found to be sound following the review, a mutually acceptable existing qualified explosive formulation will be selected as the benchmark for performance and safety comparisons. The feedstock and final printed parts shall follow explosive safety policies outlined in OPNAVINST 8020.14A (the Department of the Navy Explosives Safety Policy Manual) and its referenced documents. The feedstock developed will utilize relevant explosive molecules, fuels, and oxidizers such as cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX), and/or hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20); aluminum or boron; and ammonium perchlorate, respectively.

Business case analysis efforts have demonstrated flat, production-volume independent costs when producing items via 3D printing over traditional manufacturing, where traditional manufacturing often becomes increasingly costly for lower production volumes. Often the production volume for ordnance is low, and requires a long and costly start-up process, as production lines are often not maintained year-to-year. The development of explosive feedstock for use in commercial-off-the-shelf 3D printer systems would enable the replacement of existing manufacturing processes in particular for low production volume, smaller ordnance items that would yield significant cost savings (= 25% cost reduction per item) to the Navy. Therefore, the proposers shall provide a business case analysis that projects the costs of the proposed energetic feedstock and that feedstock’s production costs at a range of volumes produced (on the order of 100 to 1000 items). Comparisons to costs associated with producing existing inert feedstock must be provided.

PHASE I: The company will develop a concept for the development of explosive feedstock for use in COTS 3D printers capable of meeting the requirements in the description section. The company will demonstrate the feasibility of the concept in meeting Navy needs and will establish that the concept can be feasibly developed into a useful product for the Navy. Feasibility will be established by assessing the quality of the preliminary explosive feedstock, the ability for the feedstock to be utilized in COTS 3D printers safely to yield a small-scale printed explosive structure, and the likelihood that the feedstock could be produced in larger quantities at an acceptable cost of about 25% cost reduction to the Navy . The Phase I Option, if awarded, will address a plan for technical risk reduction, provide performance goals, and give key technical milestones. The Phase I Option will include the initial design specifications, system for delivery, and capabilities description to build a prototype system in Phase II.

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the small business will develop and demonstrate a prototype system for delivery that will produce explosive feedstock. The produced feedstock shall be applicable to one type of additive manufacturing technology (such as material extrusion or binder jetting). The prototype system shall have the ability to operate remotely. The company will demonstrate system performance through the evaluation of the feedstock produced, to include a comparison to a mutually acceptable traditionally manufactured qualified explosive formulation, as well as the usability in the selected COTS 3D printer technology. The company will use the evaluation results to refine the prototype into an initial design that will meet Navy requirements. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy and potential commercial use.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The company will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the technology to its energetic enterprises, such as Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head EOD Technology Division (NSWC-IHEODTD) or Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWC-WD). The company will further refine a remotely operated system that produces explosive feedstock for use in a specific 3D printer technology. The company will support the Navy for test and validation at its energetic enterprises (NSWC-IHEODTD or NAWC-WD) to certify and qualify the system for Navy use. A manual of the system capabilities and limitations will need to be created to ensure appropriate use of the system. Private Sector Commercial Potential: A remotely operated explosive feedstock production system would be of great use to the Navy and other military branches, but would find use in commercial blasting, mining, or oil industries. A system for producing feedstock for 3D printers enables such industries to utilize COTS 3D printers to create customized explosive charges with minimal waste, at a reduced cost, and with a reduced development time. Additionally, producing feedstock as needed reduces the hazard of storing large quantities of explosive in magazines for future use. It is expected that commercial applications will need to be coordinated and licensed by relevant federal agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to insure legitimate usage.

REFERENCES:

1. Harris, Russ. "The 7 Categories of Additive Manufacturing.” Loughborough University Additive Manufacturing Research Group. Loughborough University. 25 March 2016. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/amrg/about/the7categoriesofadditivemanufacturing.

2. Jordan, Bryant. “3-D Printing Parts and Explosive May Reshape Fleet, Ship's Manning.” Military.com. 2015. Daily News Military.Com. 25 March 2016. http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/04/15/3d-printing-parts-and-explosive-may-reshape-fleet-ships.html.-

KEYWORDS: 3D Printing; Additive Manufacturing; Binder Jetting; Elastomers; Polymers; Thermoelastomers

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

N171-061

TITLE: Fusion Center/GUI for Shipboard Maintenance Activities and Supply Chain

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) 1.0 –AEGIS Combat System

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 GUI for shipboard Prognostic Health Management that optimizes innovative data visualization schemas and techniques for all available ship maintenance data.

DESCRIPTION: A basic tenet of Condition-Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) and Prognostic Health Management (PHM) is the use of machine data and algorithms to predict equipment failure in order to suggest that maintenance be performed in advance of that failure. The value of this approach has been well documented and is in fact a central focus of future Naval maintenance and logistics capability. However, knowing that a piece of equipment is predicted to fail does not adequately address whether or not maintenance can, should, or will be performed. The Navy seeks true operational readiness over and above equipment readiness via a comprehensive Graphical User Interface (GUI), where PHM results are simply the first step of a decision-tree approach to maintenance planning. The GUI approach developed must also include maintenance decision-making factors such as built-in redundancy, personnel availability, future mission need and planning, logistics impact, and strike group support. This is not currently possible with existing Navy systems.

Today, equipment status reporting systems such as Integrated Condition Assessment System (ICAS) and Operational Readiness Test System (ORTS) collect large amounts of data, which require human interpretation on shore in order to be useful for CBM+ and PHM. Additionally, these large data sets only present part of the picture; they only aid in understanding equipment condition. The Navy seeks a decision support GUI that is able to combine real-time equipment health results (created via advanced algorithms) with other large data sets of new and unstructured data in order to provide a comprehensive picture of shipboard operations. This solution would present data from disparate sources that are in different formats in order to provide a comprehensive view of situational awareness in order for these factors to weigh in on a decision to take maintenance action. It must take into consideration the development of maintenance algorithms that advance a definition of maintenance and operational need (reference 2). For example, equipment may be determined to need repair, but the overall need of the ship may dictate that the work should not be completed because there is no mission need. Thus, the understanding of measuring the mission need would have to be included when offering the decision within the GUI. As part of the enhanced decision-support capability, PHM calculations of availability would need to include certain support elements such as logistics (e.g., part and tool availability) and could also include future mission need, providing multi-tiered results depending upon specific shipboard operating conditions.

The US Navy drives to maintain a very high operational availability. It cannot do that without the proper tools in place for the shipboard maintainers. An improved GUI to enable CBM+ and PHM prognostics will make use of the available data and allow shipboard maintainers to make data driven decisions about their systems. The right data at the right time via this GUI would make it easier to maintain a high operational availability, drive down the number of spares required shipboard, and enable just in time delivery of spares based on system status. With the GUI, it has the potential to reduce the number of man hours required to maintain the system; if there is no reduction in man hours, there is the potential to at least make more efficient use of the man hours required.

The Phase II effort will likely require secure access, and NAVSEA will process the DD254 to support the contractor for personnel and facility certification for secure access. The Phase I effort will not require access to classified information. If need be, data of the same level of complexity as secured data will be provided to support Phase I work.

PHASE I: The company will develop an approach for the development of a Fusion Center/GUI for Shipboard Maintenance Activities and Supply Chain software solution for shipboard Prognostic Health Management that addresses the utility, affordability, and relevance of including multiple sources of non-maintenance data within a CBM+ environment. The small business will explore the feasibility of the proposed technology to meet the intent of expanded CBM+ prognostics in support of shipboard maintenance. The feasibility of proposed approaches will be established through Subject Matter Expert (SME) review of GUI models and their incorporation of Human Systems Integration (HSI) features to support advanced decision-making activities. The company will also define a plan of action for technology development, testing, and integration into a Combat Systems cross-domain environment.

PHASE II: Based on the Phase I approach and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), a prototype software solution for shipboard Prognostic Health Management with the ability to integrate with and use structured and non-structured data as factors for maintenance planning will be developed and delivered. The prototype must be capable of demonstrating a method for utilizing disparate sources of data in the analysis and prognostication of maintenance decision paths according to the factors set forth in the description in a relevant shore-based test environment using representative maintenance and operational data sources. The GUI will be evaluated on the timeliness and accuracy of the data being displayed. The offeror will provide a detailed test plan to demonstrate that the deliverable meets the intent of advanced CBM+ efforts. A Phase III qualification and transition plan for Navy and potential commercial use will be provided at the end of Phase II.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: During Phase III, the company will support the Navy in the system integration and qualification testing for the Fusion Center/GUI for Shipboard Maintenance Activities and Supply Chain software technology developed in Phase II. This will be accomplished through land-based and ship integration and test events managed by PEO IWS to transition the technology into the CBM+ efforts for AEGIS surface combatants. Private Sector Commercial Potential: Many private sector organizations are working to implement CBM+ as a means for reducing operating costs and increasing uptime. Markets such as manufacturing and transportation will be able to exploit the results of this topic.

REFERENCES:

1. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics & Materiel Readiness. “Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+).” April 2016. www.acq.osd.mil/log/mpp/cbm+.html.

2. Collum, P. H. “OPNAVINST 4790.16B Condition Based Maintenance and Condition Based Maintenance+ Policy.” 2015. 01 Oct 2015. https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/Directives/04000%20Logistical%20Support%20and%20Services/04-700%20General%20Maintenance%20and%20Construction%20Support/4790.16B.pdf.-

KEYWORDS: GUI; CBM+; Maintenance Decision-making; Maintenance Planning Software; Maintenance Algorithm; Analytics Onboard Ship; Comprehensive View of Situational Awareness

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

N171-062

TITLE: 3D Image from Sensor Fusion

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS495, Mine Warfare Program Office

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 software to fuse underwater sensor data into a 3D model to assist operators with target identification.

DESCRIPTION: The Navy needs an innovative software tool to assist operators with identifying undersea objects (particularly naval mines) based on available sensor data. In mine hunting operations, human operators identify mines before neutralizing them. The 2D images available are typically from poor angles and/or do not reveal characteristic 3D shapes. This requires an increased level of training and potentially a slow identification response time. In mine neutralization operations, the system presents the operator with a continuous, real-time, video image of the target. The video cannot be paused or rewound, except during post-mission analysis. Frequently the target and/or the mine neutralizer housing the camera will move in response to waves and currents. The operator must observe and remember salient features of the target and mentally recreate the 3D structure of the target to positively identify it as a mine. An innovative software tool will ensure rapid, positive target identification and reduce the time required for operations.

The desired state for target identification is a software tool capable of constructing a virtual 3D model of the target based on available sensor data, including visual and acoustic sources. The tool will run in parallel with the existing operator interfaces and enable the operator to zoom and rotate the model to ensure positive target identification. For Phase I and Phase II, the government will provide test data that may be used in the development and evaluation of the tool. For Phase III, design interfaces will be developed to allow the transfer of data and information between the tool and existing operator interfaces. For example, the software may allow the live feed and the model to appear in separate windows or allow a "picture in picture" arrangement.

The last five years have seen vast leaps in photogrammetry and related technologies, such as 3D scanning, for professional and amateur use. However, there are several gaps between existing technologies and the desired state to support warfighter needs. Existing Structure from Motion and Photogrammetry software systems require trained users with complex workflows. The technologies are too slow for real-time operational use, requiring processing on the order of tens of minutes. Further, the systems are optimized for processing images taken in the air rather than undersea. Technologies that fuse data from multiple sensors (such as optical and acoustic sensors) are unique solutions customized to the specific sensors.

The tool should be capable of providing a 3D model, rendered from optical images taken undersea. The ability to fuse data from additional sensors, such as sonar, is highly desired of the tool. For example, data from a sonar system may be used to “seed” the structure to be derived from the images, provide scaling, and/or to fill in structure that has not been imaged optically. The vendor may also use vehicle acceleration or position data, if available; however, this data should not be required to construct the 3D image. In order to support tactically relevant timelines, the tool should be capable of providing a 3D model of the target within 2 minutes of initial data collection. The tool should be capable of updating the model such that after a sensor observes a different part of the target, that information is added to the model. The tool should be compatible with multiple common data formats available from optical sensors (such as .jpeg, .mpeg, .mp4, .mov, .wmv, .bmp, .avi, .png). The tool should be compatible with multiple common data formats available from sonar sensors (such as .xtf). Ideally, the tool should provide dimensionality to the 3D model such as object lengths and diameters to aid in post-mission analysis and identification of specific mine types.

PHASE I: The company will develop a concept for an innovative software tool that is capable of creating a 3D Image from Sensor Fusion and that meets the requirements listed in the description section. The company will demonstrate the feasibility of the concept in meeting Navy needs and will establish that the concept can be developed into a useful product for the Navy through software prototyping and analytical modeling. The Phase I Option, if awarded, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype in Phase II. The company will provide a Phase II development plan that addresses technical risk reduction and provides performance goals and key technical milestones, within the costs of a Phase II SBIR.

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II Statement of Work, the company will develop and deliver a software prototype system capable of creating a 3D Image from Sensor Fusion for testing and evaluation. The company will develop the prototype and evaluate it to determine if it meets Navy performance goals described in the Phase II SOW. The company will use operationally representative data for the evaluation. The company will identify performance and technical requirements to be met during evaluation. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology for Navy and potential commercial use.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The company will support the Navy in transitioning the technology for Navy use. The company will further refine the software to ensure compatibility with existing mine warfare operator interfaces and workstations according to the Phase III development plan for evaluation to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. The final state is a tool that will run in parallel with the existing operator interfaces and enable the operator to zoom and rotate the model to ensure positive target identification. The tool may run in parallel on a standalone system or may be incorporated into existing operator interface applications. The desired technology will be used in target identification in mine countermeasure systems. The company will support the Navy for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Navy use. Private Sector Commercial Potential: There are significant applications of near-real-time photogrammetry and structure from motion technologies based on fused undersea sensor data. Most significantly are commercial applications such as use by the oil and gas industry to plan, build, and inspect undersea structures. Municipal applications include port and harbor monitoring and undersea tunnel inspection. The US Bureau of Reclamation is already evaluating potential applications of photogrammetry from an ROV, for example. Scientific applications include undersea archeology and investigation of marine structures such as coral reefs and hydrothermal vents.

REFERENCES:

1. Drap, Pierre. “Underwater photogrammetry for archaeology.” INTECH Open Access Publisher, 2012. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/special-applications-of-photogrammetry/underwater-photogrammetry-for-archaeology.

2. Singh, Hanumant, et al. "Sensor fusion of structure-from-motion, bathymetric 3D, and beacon-based navigation modalities." Robotics and Automation, 2002. Proceedings. ICRA '02. IEEE International Conference. Vol. 4. IEEE, 2002. Available from: http://robots.engin.umich.edu/publications/hsingh-2002a.pdf.

3. Skarlatos, Dimitrios, Demestiha, Stella, and Kiparissi, Stavroula. "An ‘open’ method for 3D modelling and mapping in underwater archaeological sites." International Journal of Heritage in the Digital Era 1.1 (2012): 1-24. Available from: https://www.ucy.ac.cy/marelab/documents/Mazotos/Anaskafi/Publications_/Skarlatos_Demesticha_Kyparissi_2012.pdf.-

KEYWORDS: Underwater photogrammetry; Structure from Motion; Sensor fusion; 3D scanning; 3D point clouds; Mine Counter Measures (MCM)

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

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace, Electronics, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: VIRGINIA-Class Shipbuilding Program, AN/BQQ-10 (V) Sonar 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.