DoD 2017.2 SBIR Solicitation

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a high-resolution, rail-based synthetic aperture radar capable of operating in bands within the 100-300 GHz frequency range. 

DESCRIPTION: Extremely high frequency (EHF, alternatively millimeter or sub terahertz) imaging and sensing has become increasingly important for both military and commercial applications, providing capabilities for RADAR-type precision targeting, terminal guidance, height-of-burst fuzing, navigation assistance RADAR, imaging through obscurants, and non-destructive testing. Of growing interest is a non-ionizing alternative to X-ray imagers for high resolution, non-destructive testing of objects, such as identifying obscured failures, screening personnel for concealed weapons, and detecting strong scatterers in obscuring media. Of particular interest is the ability to locate scatterers of varying composition and cross section embedded in dielectric panels (e.g. nails in sheetrock, fasteners beneath laminates, metallic fragments in ceramic panels, and defects in composite tiles). As technological advances increase the power of EHF sources and the sensitivity of EHF detectors, one of the greatest remaining challenges facing EHF imaging is cost, particularly for heterodyne receivers. Since sensitive EHF focal plane arrays are not available for the foreseeable future, an alternative is needed for rapidly rendering high-resolution images of scenes containing a variety of weakly and strongly scattering targets. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques have successfully been developed and deployed at traditional microwave frequencies, whose remarkable image quality is provided by the motion of the transceiver and/or target. Applying SAR techniques to extremely high frequencies (100-300 GHz) affords the opportunity for range and cross-range resolution approaching one millimeter. However, implementation of an EHF SAR will be challenging for several reasons. First, the position of the transceiver must be known with sub-wavelength precision required for the reconstruction, so a scanning rail is preferred over a moving platform. Second, the beam must diverge to cover a large area, thereby limiting range because of the limited source power. Finally, the heterodyne receiver must be co-mounted with the transmitter in a monostatic or quasi-monostatic configuration with extremely high phase stability and calibrated frequency sweeps for accurate reconstructions. To demonstrate the concept, a rail-based EHF SAR prototype can be constructed for quiet, non-destructive testing of static targets in which the platform can have the necessary sub-wavelength stability. Such a prototype can be used to explore the fundamental operating principles, to optimize the operational envelope, and to collect proof-of-concept images. 

PHASE I: Design an EHF rail SAR with range and cross-range resolution approaching one millimeter for static targets. Operation over bands within the 100-300 GHz region is required, and a thorough link budget analysis must be performed to assess the range, resolution, sensitivity, and stability expected of the radar for each band. The deliverable for Phase I will be a detailed, component-level design of a prototype EHF rail SAR based on this thorough trade analysis. 

PHASE II: Construct, characterize, and deliver the prototype EHF rail SAR designed in Phase I. This prototype must demonstrate range and cross-range resolution approaching one millimeter and render the image scene with a user-friendly graphical user interface. The range, resolution, sensitivity, and stability of the radar must be thoroughly characterized for each of the operational frequency bands and for a variety of targets, especially dielectric or ceramic tiles with embedded metallic scatterers of varying size and shape. 

PHASE III: Develop a stabilized, ruggedized EHF rail SAR instrument capable of being taken into the field or deployed in various military or commercial sectors where high-resolution imaging is required and x-ray imagers cannot be used. 

REFERENCES: 

1: A. Bandyopadhyay, A. Stepanov, B. Schulkin, M. D. Federici, A. Sengupta, D. Gary, J. F. Federici, R. Barat, Z.-H. Michalopoulou, and D. Zimdars, Terahertz interferometric and synthetic aperture imaging, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 23, pp. 1168-1178 (2006).

2: W.L. Chan, J. Deibel, D. M. Mittleman, Imaging with terahertz radiation, Reports on Progress in Physics 70, p. 1325 (2007).

3: A. A. Danylov, T. M. Goyette, J. Waldman, M. J. Coulombe, A. J. Gatesman, R. H. Giles, X. Qian, N. Chandrayan, S. Vangala, K. Termkoa, W. D. Goodhue, and W. E. Nixon, Terahertz inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging with a quantum cascade laser transmitter, Opt. Exp. 18, pp. 16264-16272 (2010)

4: B. Cheng, G. Jiang, C. Wang, C. Yang, Y. Cai, Q. Chen, W. Huang, G. Zeng, J. Jiang, X. Deng, J. Zhang, Real-time imaging with a 140 GHz inverse synthetic aperture radar, IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Tech. 3, pp. 594-605 (2013).

5: J. Ding, M. Kahl, O. Loffeld, P. Haring Bolívar, THz 3-D Image Formation Using SAR Techniques: Simulation, Processing and Experimental Results, IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Tech. 3, pp. 606-616 (2013).

KEYWORDS: Radar, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Extremely High Frequency, Millimeter Wave, Sub-terahertz, Non-destructive Test 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Improve operational performance by enhancing position, navigation, and timing (PNT) on missile systems operating in contested GPS environments. 

DESCRIPTION: Given the vital and irreplaceable role of GPS in mission success as well as recent developments in advanced electronic attacks such as jamming and spoofing, it has become paramount to design robust methods of detecting and suppressing electronic attacks (EA) against GPS receivers. Recent techniques that preprocess RF data, apply advanced signal processing within software defined receivers, or incorporate precision clocks have demonstrated PNT improvements when the GPS receivers are subjected to electronic attacks. This SBIR is seeking novel techniques that can be matured and ultimately implemented into US Army missile systems. Vector tracking and deeply integrated GPS receiver architectures have shown the ability to improve signal tracking while the platform is performing high-g maneuvers or when the J/S ratio is elevated. These systems improve tracking, and therefore PNT, by exploiting cross correlations that exist in the received GPS signals and knowledge of platform dynamics. While these approaches provide improved resistance to EA, they are still susceptible to jamming and spoofing in some operational environments. These architectures may be enhanced or augmented by other techniques to further improve EA resistance. Proposals should address how the technology can be transitioned to fielded platforms. Coordination with DoD GPS equipment manufacturers is encouraged in order to guide the development process to ensure the end product is a transitionable solution. 

PHASE I: Work performed under Phase I is expected to develop and determine the feasibility of novel techniques and to develop a preliminary design for a selected approach. The technique development and evaluation is expected to provide a reasonable literature search and an evaluation of the proposed method. The Phase I deliverable will be a final report detailing all methods studied plus evidence of their feasibility on an aerial platform. The final report will also include an initial prototype design to be implemented in Phase II. All hardware and software requirements should be defined. 

PHASE II: Work performed in Phase II is expected to mature the Phase I design, implement selected approaches, and develop a prototype system to improve PNT in the presence of EA such as jamming and spoofing. Use of GPS simulators and laboratory signal generators to simulate electronic interference will be used in this phase. Phase II deliverables will be a prototype system, as well as final report describing the prototype design and implemented approaches. 

PHASE III: In Phase III, the prototype system will be matured and finalized. A technology transition plan will be developed for consideration of US Army program managers. Commercialization applications include other DoD users operating in contested GPS environments, as well as commercial sectors relying on GPS (e.g. aviation, shipping, etc.). 

REFERENCES: 

1: P. W. Ward, "Performance comparisons between FLL, PLL and a novel FLL-assisted-PLL carrier tracking loop under RF interference conditions," in Proceedings of the 11th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation. Nashville, TN: ION, September 1998.

2: Lashley, Matthew, Bevly, David M., "Performance Comparison of Deep Integration and Tight Coupling", NAVIGATION, Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 60, No. 3, Fall 2013, pp. 159-178.

3: Broumandan, A., et.al. Spoofing Detection, Classification, and Cancelation (SDCC) Receiver Architecture for a Moving GNSS Receiver, GPS Solutions, Vol. 19, No. 3, July 2015, pp 475-487.

4: Starling, J. and Bevly, D. M. "Error Analysis of Carrier Phase Positioning Using Controlled Reception Pattern Array Antennas," Proceedings of the Institute of Navigation International Technical Meeting, Monterey, California, January 2017

5: Powell, R., Starling, J., Bevly, D. M., "A Multiple-Antenna Software GPS Signal Simulator for Rapid Testing of Interference Mitigation Techniques," Proceedings of the 2017 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Monterey, California, January 2017

KEYWORDS: GPS, PNT, GPS Threats 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop an innovative approach to detecting, locating, and potentially mitigating RF sources of GPS jamming and spoofing. 

DESCRIPTION: Novel processing techniques have increasingly begun utilizing the geometric RF-diversity of hostile transmitters, i.e., jammers, to mitigate unfriendly signal injection. These techniques typically "form" weighted divergent measurements, from RF samples, based on energy, directional delay and Doppler. In addition to mitigation of these signals, some algorithms have been developed to determine direction of arrival of these hostile RF signals (primarily jammers). For example, MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) algorithms use controllable reception pattern antenna (CRPA) derived covariance matrices to determine angle-of-arrival for jamming signals (or signals with higher-than-expected energy). This SBIR aims at the development of novel techniques, which use existing antenna configurations or minor changes to the vehicle's RF front-end, to determine direction-of-arrival of malicious interference sources (i.e., trackable spoof signals) on a missile platform (potentially extendable to other platforms). Direction-of-arrival determination of such interference may rely on the geometric diversity of multiple antennas, multipath assumptions or other RF characteristics that highlight unique transmitter-related RF characteristics. For example, trackable interference, aka spoofers, likely generate the entire GPS-like constellation and transmit from a common point; thus, these signals generate exogenous constellation-wide delay (i.e., in a bend-pipe versus line-of-sight RF transmission). Other defining characteristics of a malicious interference may include increased energy (i.e., jammers), clock drift/offset coloring, inter-satellite interference, etc. In the proposed solution, SBIR respondents are encouraged to use generally realizable, or available, hardware and assets on missile platforms to achieve an on-board mitigation routine for interference signals. The available hardware may include on-board CSAC (chip scale atomic clocks), a FRPA antenna and, potentially, one multiple-element CRPA antenna+module (with available covariance estimation). Software approaches are encouraged, but minor hardware upgrades may be considered. 

PHASE I: Initial research and first-order simulated results. Work performed under Phase I is expected to develop and determine the feasibility of several novel techniques and to develop a preliminary design for a selected approach. The technique development and evaluation is expected to provide a reasonable literature search and an initial evaluation of at least two options in software (The software may assume static or dynamic motion relative to the interference source.). Each technique should also incorporate hardware/software requirements. The Phase I deliverable will be a final report detailing all methods studied plus evidence of their feasibility on an aerial platform. The final report will also include an initial prototype design to be implemented in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Work performed in Phase II is expected to mature the Phase I design, implement selected approaches, and develop a prototype system to detect, locate, and potentially mitigate RF sources of GPS jamming and spoofing. Use of GPS simulators and laboratory signal generators to simulate electronic interference will be used in this phase. Phase II deliverables will be a prototype system, as well as a final report describing the prototype design and implemented approaches. 

PHASE III: In Phase III, the prototype system will be matured and finalized. A technology transition plan will be developed for consideration by US Army program managers. Commercialization applications include other DoD users operating in contested GPS environments, as well as commercial sectors such as aerial transportation, and potentially truck, train, and naval transportation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chen, Yu-Hsuan, et al., Design and Implementation of Real-Time Software Radio for Anti-Interference GPS/WAAS Sensors, Sensors journal, ISSN 1424-8220

2: (Removed on 5/16/17.)

3: (Removed on 5/16/17.)

4: (Removed on 5/16/17.)

5: Tao, Huiqi, Li, Hong, Zhang, Weinan, Lu, Mingquan, "A Recursive Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (Recursive-RAIM) Technique for GNSS Anti-Spoofing," Proceedings of the 2015 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Dana Point, California, January 2015, pp. 738-744. (Updated on 5/16/17.)

6: (Removed on 5/16/17.)

7: Timothy Pitt, Greg Reynolds, US Army, AMRDEC; Will Barnwell, US Army, PM UAS; Laura McCrain and Jonathan Jones, NTA, "Test and Evaluation of Mitigating Technologies for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in GPS Degraded and Denied Environments", ION PACIFIC PNT Conference, May 2017. (Added on 5/16/17; uploaded in SITIS on 5/16/17.)

8: Starling, J. and Bevly, D. M. "Error Analysis of Carrier Phase Positioning Using Controlled Reception Pattern Array Antennas," Proceedings of the Institute of Navigation International Technical Meeting, Monterey, California, January 2017. (Added on 5/16/17.)

9: Powell, R., Starling, J., Bevly, D. M., "A Multiple-Antenna Software GPS Signal Simulator for Rapid Testing of Interference Mitigation Techniques," Proceedings of the 2017 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Monterey, California, January 2017. (Added on 5/16/17.)

KEYWORDS: RF, GPS, GPS Threat 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Three-dimensional measurements of the spectral emissions from a particle laden, supersonic plume. 

DESCRIPTION: Light-field imaging provides a method for three-dimensional imaging of flows. This has been applied to particle image velocimetry 1,2 and more recently to scalar measurements using modified schlieren methods. 3,4 Application to particle-laden, afterburning plumes could provide valuable data for both the solid and gas phase. 

PHASE I: This solicitation seeks innovative concepts for collecting non-intrusive imaging of missile plumes and on the volumetric distribution of combustion dynamics. The effect of mass loading of the particulates on the combusting regions in the plume needs to be addressed. During this phase, the focus can be on the qualitative observation of the plume structures. 

PHASE II: The concepts formulated in Phase I will be developed and demonstrated both analytically and experimentally in a program defined by the contractor. Quantitative measurements will be required of the spatial distribution of the scalar variances in the missile plume. Briefly describe expectations and minimum required deliverable. 

PHASE III: If successful, the end result of this Phase-I/Phase-II research effort will be an experiment to collect three dimensional measurements of the spatial distributions of the scalar variance in a particle laden, supersonic plume. For military applications, this technology is directly applicable to all missile systems with extended flight times and may aid in signature reductions. For commercial applications, this technology is directly applicable to gas turbines burning waste gases. There is interest by NASA in its new solid rocket booster program. A full volumetric diagnostic of the flow in the base region will help in the understanding of the heating requirement. 

REFERENCES: 

1: K. Lynch, T. Fahringer, and B. Thurow, Three-dimensional particle image velocimetry using a plenoptic camera, in 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2012-1056 (AIAA, Nashville, TN, 2012).

2: B. Thurow and T. Fahringer, Recent development of volumetric piv with a plenoptic camera, in Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry (Delft, The Netherlands, 2013).

3: Johnathan T. Bolton, Brian Thurow, Nishul Arora, and Farrukh S. Alvi, Volumetric measurement of a shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interaction using plenoptic particle image velocimetry, in 32nd AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference (2016) p. 4029.

4: Jenna Klemkowsky, Brian Thurow, and Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez, 3-d visualization of compressible flow using a plenoptic camera and background oriented schlieren, in 54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (2016) p. 1047.

KEYWORDS: Volumetric Spectral Diagnostics, Light-field Imaging, Three-dimensional Imaging, Volumetric Distribution, Combustion Dynamics, Particles, Supersonic Plumes 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: The production of data and low-dimensional, empirical-base models that will allow the enhancement and validation of numerical tools to move beyond anecdotal comparisons for particle-laden missile plumes. 

DESCRIPTION: There remain key fundamental questions that must be addressed to achieve fully resolved computational modeling of combustion in a supersonic, turbulent flow. Molecular mixing of scalar quantities, and hence chemical reactions in turbulent flows, occurs essentially on the smallest turbulent scales and is characterized and quantified by the dissipation rate of the scalar variance, which plays a central role in combustion modeling.1 Key quantities of interest include things like the mixture fraction probability density function and the Farve-filtered rate of strain. In short, the key quantities of turbulence and scalar variance are independently necessary and intrinsically linked. While advancing the modeling tools is of significance to the Army, the availability of benchmark data that includes both realistic chemistry and a realistic flow field are limited. In recent past, there have been significant advances in spectral measurements and non-intrusive full-field flow measurements. The top-level goal is to leverage one or more of these in a combined measurement to produce correlated sets of data that are used to develop low-dimensional, empirical-based models for the evolution of scalar and vector quantities in particle-laden, afterburning plumes. The base region is likely to lend itself well to low-order models. Successful approaches in other aerodynamic flows have leveraged orthogonal mode decomposition and stochastic estimation to reduce the number of degrees of freedom in separated flows where strong two-point correlations exist.2“6 One effort applied these methods to cold-gas, base flows.7 Extending this application through data acquisition and analysis in afterburning base flows is likely to provide valuable insight to fundamental questions that involve the links between scalar and vector quantities. 

PHASE I: This solicitation seeks innovative concepts for collecting data with two-phase flow using combined fluid dynamic and spectral diagnostics in the near base region of an afterburning, supersonic plume. The concepts will be identified, simulated, and compare with low dimensional empirical base models. The comparisons will include, at minimum, the scalar and vector quantities of the local velocity and turbulence fields. 

PHASE II: The concepts formulated in Phase I will be developed and demonstrated both analytically and experimentally in a program defined by the contractor. Empirical based models will be derived base on physics-based analysis of correlations that arise from the data collection. Briefly describe expectations and minimum required deliverable. 

PHASE III: If successful, the end result of this Phase-I/Phase-II research effort will be an experimentally validated numerical tool for two-phase flow in the base region of an afterburning supersonic plume. For military applications, this technology is directly applicable to all missile systems with extended flight times. For commercial applications, this technology is directly applicable to gas turbines burning waste gases. While the focus of this SBIR Topic is on the understanding of the fluid dynamics of the base region of missile systems, the topic also has direct application in both the military and commercial arenas. The most likely customer and source of funding for Phase-III will be in the field of turbomachinery that burn reclaimed waste gas that contains particulates. There is possible interest by NASA as it develops its new solid rocket booster. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Heinz Pitsch, Large-eddy simulation of turbulent combustion, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 38, 453“482 (2006).

2: Nathan E Murray, E. S ¨allstr ¨om, and L. Ukeiley, Properties of subsonic open cavity flow fields, Physics of Fluids 21, 095103 (2009).

3: Nathan E Murray, Richard Raspet, and Lawrence Ukeiley, Contributions of turbulence to subsonic cavity flow wall pressures, Physics of Fluids 23, 0151041“13 (2011).

4: C. Tinney, F. Coiffet, J. Delville, A. Mall, P. Jordan, and M. Glauser, On spectral linear stochastic estimation, Experiments in Fluids 41, 763“775 (2006).

5: C. E. Tinney, P. Jordan, A. M. Hall, J. Delville, and M. N. Glauser, A time-resolved estimate of the turbulence and sound source mechanisms in a subsonic jet flow, Journal of Turbulence 8, 1“20 (2007).

6: Clarence W. Rowley, Tim Colonius, and Richard M. Murray, Model reduction for compressible flows using pod and galerkin projection, Physica D 189, 115“129 (2004).

7: R. Humble, F. Scarano, and B. van Oudheusden, Unsteady planar base flow investigation using particle image velocimetry and proper orthogonal decomposition, in 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2006-1092 (2006).

KEYWORDS: Empirical-base Models, Two-phase Flow, Particles, Afterburning Supersonic Plumes 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Development of hybrid flowfield modeling tools that produce accurate aerodynamic/thrust augmented maneuver forces and vehicle/exhaust plume flowfields as well as associated observable signatures for high altitude maneuvering configurations. 

DESCRIPTION: Army missiles launched from the ground towards high altitude targets generally require thrusted augmentation of aerodynamic controls to achieve maneuverability needed to ensure lethal intercept. Current modeling techniques often need significant amounts of computational time to provide accurate representations of the flowfields and the observable signatures associated with such maneuvers. The Army is seeking hybrid continuum/rarefied flowfield modeling approaches that significantly reduce the necessary computational time, increase responsiveness to customers, and produce accurate flowfields and observable signatures for configurations maneuvering at high altitudes. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of developing a physics-based, hybrid continuum/rarefied modeling capability for missile exhaust plume flowfields and observable signatures that fully accounts for 3D effects such as angle-of-attack, multi-nozzle interactions, and plume/body interactions. Develop a plan to mature the selected technique(s) in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Integrate the model from the Phase I effort into the current DoD plume flowfield modeling tools. Validate the integrated model against available plume flowfield and signature data. Deliver technical and software user documentation, software, model demonstrations and validation for Army use. Maximum practical use of existing plume flowfield modeling software is desired to reduce development and validation costs. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate applicability of the newly developed capability for multiple configurations of interest to the Army and/or the space launch industry that are undergoing both steady and transient maneuvers at high altitude. 

REFERENCES: 

1: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

2: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

3: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

4: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

5: Simmons, F. S., Rocket Exhaust Plume Phenomenology, The Aerospace Press, El Segundo, CA, 2000. (Added on 4/27/17.)

6: Boyd, Iain D., Deschenes, Timothy R.; Hybrid Particle-Continuum Numerical Methods for Aerospace Applications; Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; 2011 (http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA588168) (Uploaded in SITIS on 4/27/17.)

KEYWORDS: Hybrid Flowfield Methods, Continuum/rarefied Techniques, High Altitude, Maneuvering Configurations 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Development of modeling tools that properly account for flame lifting within the exhaust plumes of missile threats to Army assets. 

DESCRIPTION: Army interests in the field can be threatened by both low altitude tactical and theater ballistic missiles adversaries. To defend these interests, it is critical that all observable signatures be exploited to guide defending assets. To do so threat plume flowfields and signatures must be modeled accurately to provide correct and authentic information when designing detection, track, and guidance algorithms. It has been observed that flame lifting occurs frequently enough to substantially alter observed plume signatures; this could cause a defending asset to miss the incoming threat. Consequently, the Army is seeking modeling approaches that properly account for this effect to enhance the development of effective defenses. 

PHASE I: Develop a physics-based modeling techniques that fully accounts for the fluid dynamic and chemical interactions that produce flame lifting in missile exhaust plumes. 

PHASE II: Integrate the model from the Phase I effort into the current DoD plume flowfield modeling tools. Demonstrate coupling between radiometric process and local flowfield properties. Validate integrated modeling suite against available observable plume signature data (visible/IR and radar). Deliver the technical and software user documentation, software, model demonstrations and validation for Army use. Maximum practical use of existing plume flowfield modeling software is desired to reduce development and validation costs. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate applicability of the newly developed capability for (1) multiple missile threat configurations of interest to the Army that are undergoing flame lifting at altitudes of interest to the Army, and/or (2) multiple launch vehicle configurations of interest to the space launch industry that are undergoing flame lifting at various altitudes. 

REFERENCES: 

1: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

2: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

3: Simmons, F. S., Rocket Exhaust Plume Phenomenology, The Aerospace Press, El Segundo, CA, 2000.

4: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

5: Calhoon, W. H., Kenzakowski, D. C.; Flowfield and Radiation Analysis of Missile Exhaust Plumes Using a Turbulent-Chemistry Interaction Model, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL; 2000 (http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA461273) (Uploaded in SITIS on 4/27/17.)

KEYWORDS: Flame Lifting, Afterburning Shutdown 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Identification and physical characterization of significant chemical constituents and reaction mechanisms that alter the observable signatures of maneuvering missiles at high altitudes. 

DESCRIPTION: Theater missile threats to Army interests often fly through and maneuver at high altitudes where the significant chemical contributors to observable signatures are substantially different than those at low altitude. This change in contribution is important because it alters the look of the threat to defending assets. Hence, it must be taken into account when designing and training detection, track, and guidance algorithms. As a result, the Army is seeking the identification and physical characterization of significant chemical constituents and reaction mechanisms that alter the observable signatures of maneuvering missiles at high altitudes. 

PHASE I: For a missile maneuvering at high altitude, to include low thrust propellant systems, identify the chemical and physical phenomena that is required to model and properly account for the complete process from propellant combustion through plume signature emissions. Once identified, at a minimum, prioritize the importance of each phenomena as a function of altitude, velocity, and spectral band. Finally, select one important complex mechanism and demonstrate an experimental innovative methodology to model or characterize the phenomena. 

PHASE II: Integrate the model or characterizations from the Phase I effort into the current DoD plume flowfield modeling tools. Identify all phenomenology signature processes that are required to model observable signatures of high altitude maneuvering missile, to include low thrust propellant systems. Demonstrate that the new or updated code/modules can predict the most dominant chemical and physical processes. Deliver the technical and software user documentation, software, model demonstrations and validation for Army use. Maximum practical use of existing plume flowfield modeling software is desired to reduce development and validation costs. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate applicability of the newly developed capability for (1) multiple missile threat configurations of interest to the Army that are undergoing flame lifting at altitudes of interest to the Army, and/or (2) multiple launch configurations of interest to the space launch industry that are undergoing flame lifting at altitudes of interest. 

REFERENCES: 

1: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

2: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

3: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

4: (Removed on 4/27/17.)

5: Simmons, F. S., Rocket Exhaust Plume Phenomenology, The Aerospace Press, El Segundo, CA, 2000. (Added on 4/27/17.)

6: Bruno, Domenico; Internal Energy Excitation and Chemical Reaction Models for Rarefied Gases; ISTITUTO DI METODOLOGIE INORGANICHE E PLASMI DEL CNR BARI (ITALY); 2011 (http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA582770) (Uploaded in SITIS on 4/27/17.)

KEYWORDS: Observable Signatures, High Altitude, Maneuvering Missiles 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: To develop, scale-up and demonstrate nanometallic matrices for use in explosive and propellant energetic formulations translating to enhanced lethality and range effects. 

DESCRIPTION: Metals have been added to high energetic formulations for many decades to change the characteristics of their base compositions. Metallized formulations predominantly utilize aluminum and are used in a variety of munitions as theoretical equilibrium calculations predict increases in the formulation density, detonation temperature, gurney output and blast performance. However, these benefits are not always recognized as there are factors that prevent significantly less than 100% of the aluminum from contributing to the reaction. As such, efforts on developing and testing energetic explosive and propellant formulations utilizing conventional metals and improved oxidizers still suffer from incomplete combustion, low burn rates, low specific impulse and low exhaust velocities. As with any metallized energetic material, the performance of metallized explosives is intimately linked with the reactivity (i.e., burn rate, extent of combustion, etc.) of the metal particles used in the formulation. Fundamentally, one issue associated with all types of metallized energetic formulations is the incomplete recovery of the energy potential of the fuel. For metals, the two primary causes are incomplete metal combustion during the primary energetic event and/or excessive oxidation prior to combustion. To address the former issue, more rapidly reacting metal particles with higher surface-to-volume ratios (e.g. nanoparticles) have been investigated; however, these types of materials are generally even more vulnerable to oxidation which can significantly reduce their effectiveness. Therefore, in order to achieve higher lethality and extended range in munition systems, a need exists to develop air-stable, minimally-oxidized nano-metallic matrices with greater energy release capabilities in explosive and propellant formulations. Of particular interest are those metal and semi-metal-based fuel composites which possess relatively high specific energies, such as (but not limited to) aluminum, lithium, or silicon. Further consideration is given to materials possessing the ability to exist as hydrogen carriers in a stable, passivated state. Use of such hydride materials would benefit propellants and explosives by yielding hydrogen and subsequent water as a combustion product. Furthermore, such materials could possibly be used as hydrogen and energy storage devices for mobile power generation applications. In general, the addition of metals is also desired as they are non-explosive ingredients that provide insensitivity benefits while still contributing to the energetic output. If nano-metallized matrices or nanocomposites can be developed to contribute close to 100% to the energy, it would help bridge 3 distinct technical gaps. 1) Insensitive munition (IM) requirements as the metal is an inert material. 2) Enhanced lethality as more metal contributed to energy output. 3) Extended range as metalized propellants have enhanced burn rates and impulse and the payload can be decreased as well reducing the weight while matching lethality. 

PHASE I: This phase shall consist of the development and preparation of lab-scale quantities of nano-metallic matrices or nanocomposites with improved properties and small particle size (< 50 nm). Basic studies shall ensure to demonstrate safety in handling (effective passivation technologies), stability with energetic compounds (differential scanning calorimeter tests of compatibilities), minimal oxide layer (not more than 10% oxide content by mass), negligible aging in air, and effective processing techniques that demonstrate control of particle size and repeatable batch characteristics (crystallinity and chemical uniformity). Sample sizes of up to 1 pound shall be formulated in an existing metallized formulation and compared to baseline data. For instance, PAX-3 utilizing the new nanometallic would be compared to traditional PAX-3 and the non-metallized analog composition of PAX-2A utilizing detonation calorimetry and small scale detonation tests. These tests serve as reliable screening tools to assess whether or not the metal reacts early in the detonation to promote gurney enhancement. A propellant formulation will also be used to compare the nanometallic with traditional ingredients, and burn rate and impulse will be measured. Data would be compiled to determine the extent of metal contributing during the detonation. Theoretical studies using thermodynamic equilibrium software will explore the gas phase product formation and estimate the enhancement level of blast products. At the conclusion of this phase, a data set characterizing lab-scale nano-metallic matrices or nanocomposites is expected, as well as a data set for their inclusion in energetic formulations. This data is expected to show evidence of enhanced lethality and extended range benefits. Additionally, the information required for a smooth scale-up to larger batch sizes is recommended. 

PHASE II: The synthesis/preparation of the enhanced nano-metallic matrices or nanocomposites will be scaled up to produce approximately 1 kg of materials for further evaluation. Scale-up procedures and required equipment will be well documented to illustrate the potential for producing within existing infrastructure or up-and-coming methods. Material quantities will be needed to support characterization testing demonstrating the enhanced lethality and extended range benefits from the incorporation of the metallized additives into the formulations. Tests include blast overpressure testing and cylinder expansion tests. Additionally, sensitivity characterization can be conducted to illustrate the benefits the inert metallized materials have on IM properties. These tests include large scale gap testing and other related IM tests. 

PHASE III: The synthesis/preparation of the enhanced nano-metallic matrices or nanocomposites will be scaled-up to a level supporting quantities for system level demonstrations. Scale-up demonstrations will be performed in triplicate for verification and validation purposes. Metallized material quantities will be utilized to support system level engineering tests to verify and validate the accomplishments of the characterization testing conducted in Phase II. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Klapke, T.M. (2012) Chemistry of High-Energy Materials, 2nd ed., Walter de Gruyter & Co.: Berlin, 2012. 257 pp. ISBN 978-311027358-8.

2: Teipel, U. (2005) Energetic Materials, Particle Processing and Characterization," Ulrich Teipel, editor; Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, FRG.

3: Akhaven, J. (2011) The Chemistry of Explosives," 3rd Edition; Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK.

KEYWORDS: Explosives, Propellants, Fuels, Metals, Munitions, Combustion, Impulse, Nano, Hydride 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) mounted radar system capable of surveillance, detection, identification, and tracking of air born threats. This innovative and cost effective radar must meet the size, weight, and power characteristics to be fitted onto a Group 1 or Group 2 UAS. Track information acquired by the radar should be transmitted to an operator at a weapons system, who can request visual confirmation from the UAV's onboard camera system before engaging the threat. 

DESCRIPTION: The rapid proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may provide many new potential capabilities to the warfighter, especially during forward observation missions. Type 1 and Type 2 UAVs are considered man portable allowing the warfighter to easily transport and bring the asset with them on various missions. This will save the warfighter valuable time from having to call in similar assets from disparate locations while on the mission. The UAV mounted radar and camera system will also allow precise targeting, while keeping the warfighter out of harm's way. A radar system mounted on a UAV will provide high fidelity radar information to blue forces on forward observation missions. The actionable intelligence gathered from this detailed radar track information will allow for timely decisions on how to react to any potential airborne threats. Operators will be able to request visual confirmation from the UAV's onboard camera system prior to engaging the threat. In order to realize the aforementioned potential benefits a small footprint, lightweight, power conservative, and cost effective radar system must be designed and developed. Said radar system must be able to be integrated onto the UAV, with particular design considerations being given to the UAV's resulting weight and flight time. The radar system must be able to communicate with the weapon system or operator and provide relevant radar information, such as threat detection and tracking data. This information must be easily understood by the warfighter, and therefore a graphical user interface should be considered part of the design. 

PHASE I: Design a prototype radar system with Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) characteristics that can be integrated onto a Group 1 or Group 2 UAV. The design should consider UAV characteristics such as overall weight, power consumption, and flight time. An example of a Concept of Operation (CONOP) includes a warfighter transporting said UAV in a hardened backpack or similar. The overall design should also include communication between the UAV mounted radar system and weapons system operator, and a graphical user interface to display threat detection and track information. 

PHASE II: Develop the prototype UAV mounted radar system and associated software, firmware, and communications. Integrate the prototype radar system onto a Group 1 or Group 2 UAV. Design or leverage an existing graphical user interface to display the target track and location information and develop the necessary communications between the UAV and ground station. Finally, demonstrate in an end-to-end scenario that the UAV mounted radar system can detect and track threats, while providing relevant information to the ground station. 

PHASE III: Finalize all aspects of the UAV mounted radar system and prepare for distribution. Develop a commercialization plan to transition to industry and relevant users. The final system can be provided to federal, state, and local government organizations such as police and state troopers for radar based speed enforcement. Various industries in the private sector can also make use a UAV mounted radar, such as building security or job site surveys. 

REFERENCES: 

1: UAS Task Force Airspace Integration Integrated Product Team. Unmanned Aircraft System Airspace Integration Plan version, March 2011, http://www.acq.osd.mil/sts/docs/DoD_UAS_Airspace_Integ_Plan_v2_(signed).pdf

2: Small and Short Range Radar Systems, Gregory L. Charval", 2014 (2Radar Handbook, Third Edition, "Merrill Skolnik", McGraw Hill, Feb 2008

3: Radar Range Equations for Modern Radar "David Knox Barton, Arthech House", January 2013

4: Basic Radar Analysis, "Mervin C. Budge Shawn R. German", Arthech House, October 2015.

KEYWORDS: Radar, UAS, UAV, Unmanned, Aerial, System, Counter, Countermeasure, Forward, Observation, Targeting 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: To design and build a system that measures the strain of or the force transferred through the parachute riser fabric throughout a paratrooper jump. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently, a load cell is utilized to measure the forces seen by personnel parachute risers from aircraft exit to ground impact. To install the load cell, the risers of the parachute is specially modified by the manufacture to accept the load cell in line with the riser. This modifying of the riser increases the risk to the paratrooper because of a non-standard design, increases program scheduled due to the time to design/manufacture/install the modified riser, and increases program costs to implement the modified riser. To address these limitations, a new methodology for recording the forces transferred through the risers, without modifying the personnel static line and free fall parachute systems, is required. The solution will need to interface with the riser of personnel parachutes (static line and free fall), survive the airdrop environment, have an effective operational range of 300 pound (lb.) to 10,000 lb. of loading, calibrated utilizing standard calibration equipment, supports reduced operational ranges through calibration (typically 300 lb. to 7500 lb.), can support data collection at 14 bit threshold (T) or 16 bit resolution objective (O) in the 300 lb. to 7500 lb. calibration range, withstand forces up to 30,000 lb., and operate with the standard data recorders used with load cells (if required by the solution) (T) or have an onboard self-contained data recorder (objective.) The solution must be compatible with T-11, RA-1, and MC-6 personnel parachute systems; for live jump and cargo airdrop. The solution will be no bigger than 3 inch (in) wide, 3 in tall, and 1 in deep; tall is orientated along the riser and deep through the riser. The solution will weigh no more than 0.5 lb. threshold, 0.2 lb. objective. The solution supports producing data in pounds forces over time at a sample rate of 2000 Hz or greater. The primary event that the system will collect data on is parachute opening shock. For personnel systems this event will occur over one second, with the primary peak of the event occurring over a period of <20ms. For personnel system weighing 400 lb., the sensor will transition from 0 lb. for, to the peak opening shock of 15gs, to a suspended weight of 350 lb. over the period of one second. The system shall be able to support collection of opening shock data in this dynamic environment. The airdrop environment for the system to operate will be from a maximum aircraft exit altitude of 35,000 ft. MSL to a minimum 0 ft. MSL. The system shall be operational in the Hot and Basic (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, and C1) climatic design environments listed in MIL-STD-810G. Any equipment placed on the load or parachute will be able to withstand the parachute opening, flight, and ground impact. Additionally, any equipment place on the aircraft, airdrop load, or parachute should not present a safety hazard to personnel on the aircraft or the ground and should be able to be certified for use on U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft. Also, the implementation of the system should not impact the system performance that is under measurement. The measurement system might be susceptible to electrostatic energy induced in the canopy fabric during inflation and descent. Therefore, steps should be taken to mitigate any electrostatic discharge or EMI induced failures in the system. 

PHASE I: Perform a feasibility study in support of the development of a system that can be installed in a non-intrusive manner on the risers of static line and free fall personnel parachute and record the forces seen on risers during deployment and flight until ground impact. Conduct an assessment of innovative technologies which may be utilized to build, integrate, and test a system to meet the challenges listed above. Perform a trade-off analysis to determine the best approach for a system and develop a preliminary design. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype system to install on a riser of a static line and free fall personnel parachute without modifying the parachute system and demonstrate ability to record forces seen on riser during parachute deployment and flight. Demonstrate the system technology in a real-world airdrop and characterize its performance. 

PHASE III: The system developed under this topic could be developed into a standard set of instrumentation to support airdrop and aviation testing, such as fabric stress during parachute deployment. Expectation is that government and civilian parachute program office, design centers, and manufactures would procure these systems to support their test operations. Outside of the parachute industry, this could be adapted and marketed to government agencies and companies that require/manufacture seatbelts, 5-point harness or any other fabric safety device. 

REFERENCES: 

1: H. G. Heinrich and R. A. Noreen, "Stress measurements on inflated model parachutes", Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Technical Report No. AD 907 4471, Dec 1972, Defense Logistic Agency, Alexandria Virginia 22314.

2: P. M. Wagner, "Experimental measurement of parachute canopy stress during inflation", Wright -Patterson Air Force Base Technical Report No. AFFDL-TR-78-53, May 1978, Ohio 45433

3: M. El-Sherif and C. Lee, "A novel fiber optic system for measuring the dynamic structural behavior of parachutes", Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 325-414, May 2000.

4: Mattman, C., Clemens, F., and Tröster, Sensor for Measuring Strain in Textile, Sensors, 2008, ISSN 1424-8220, www.mdpi.org/sensors.

5: Damplo, M.; Agnihotra, S.; Niemi, E.; Niezrecki, C.; Willis, D.; Chen, J.; Desabrais, K.; Charette, C.; Manohar, S. (2013) Proceeding article AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems (ADS) Conference. Investigation of Sensing Textiles for Intelligent Parachute Systems. March 25, 2013; doi: 10.2514/6.2013-1349

6: Favini, E.; Agnihotra, S.; Niemi, E.; Niezrecki, C.; Willis, D.; Chen, J.; Surwade, S.; Desabrais, K.; Charette, C.; Manohar, S. (2012) Sensing Performance of Electrically Conductive Fabrics and Suspension Lines for Parachute Systems. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. August 21, 2012 doi:10.1177/1045389X12453959

7: Favini, E.; Niezrecki, C.; Manohar, S.; Willis, D.; Chen, J.; Niemi, E.; Desabrais, K.; Charette, C. (2011). Proceeding article SPIE 7981, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2011. Sensing Performance of Electronically Conductive Fabrics and Dielectric Electro-active Polymers for Parachutes. April 14, 2011; doi:10.1117/12.8804502013

KEYWORDS: Airdrop, Parachute, Measurement, Paratrooper, Aerodynamic Decelerator, Instrumentation, Textile Strain, Fabric Strain, Personnel Parachute 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a new sensor to aid in the collection of small arms projectile motion characteristics. Ideally the sensor will be used for iteration counting (projectile leaves weapon) and strike location detection. 

DESCRIPTION: Small arms communities need a specialized sensor to detect the presence of a projectile in motion. The two primary uses for this sensor would be round counting and strike detection. Ideally the sensor would detect a signature of the projectile that is consistent between projectile categories and the projectiles velocity spectrum (subsonic to supersonic). However, detection of the corresponding weapons signature or a similar phenomenon would also be considered. Current methodologies include the use of optical, and thermal cameras, lasers, radar, accelerometers, and piezoelectric microphones each with their own advantages and disadvantages. The sensor should be inexpensive so that it can be manufactured in large quantities. Accuracy is also important. In iteration counting, the sensor must not miss any events and in strike location detection the error after calculation must not be more than one half caliber. Due to strike detection arrays of 16 or more sensors per location and wireless data transfer, the sensor must not be data intensive so that it can be used to process multiangulation algorithms quickly. 

PHASE I: Research and develop methods utilize current physics and materials knowledge to create a prototype sensor for use in iteration counting and strike location detection. Provide information on the capabilities and limitations of the sensor and specifications of its design. Provide information on how it can be manufactured and any potential limitations. Demonstrate its capabilities through the use of a prototype if possible. 

PHASE II: Further develop the sensor for use in validation testing. A working prototype must be delivered at the completion of this phase. An interfacing protocol is also required for use in integrating with instrumentation suites. A final plan for manufacturing and complete design specifications are also required. 

PHASE III: At completion, the sensor will be used for small arms testing to detect a firing event and strike locations of down range targets. This application would then be integrated into Army systems that use similar sensor arrays to provide the soldier battlespace awareness of small arms fire and direction. 

REFERENCES: 

1: The sensor will be used to improve testing techniques described in Test Operations Procedure (TOP) 03-2-504A Safety Evaluation of Small Arms and Medium Caliber Weapons, specifically dispersion and accuracy tests. The document can be found here: http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD= ADA587409

KEYWORDS: Sensor, Ballistic, Detection, Small Arms, Projectile, Motion, Accuracy, Dispersion, Automation, Round Counting, Weapon, Cartridge, Rate Of Fire 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Design, Fabricate and qualify a compact sensor that can be used to acquire either ballistic pressure or ballistic temperature profiles with the same form factor, that can be used in already ported gun tubes being tested. 

DESCRIPTION: In an attempt to support increasing customer requests of larger pressure bands and temperature measurements within a gun tube, the research, development and ultimately the fabrication of a wide range sensor, 0-120,000 psi that can deliver real time dynamic pressure and temperature measurements in a ballistic environment would satisfy such requirements. Concurrently, increasingly, real time temperature measurements are required for correlation of simulation data needed for propellant designs. Currently, measurements are acquired with a pyrometer after firing or with a thermocouple embedded within the gun tube. Both methods are not ideal for measuring real time burn characteristics. Likewise, we currently have a multitude of transducer configurations for measurements of low pressure ranges and others to measure high pressure ranges. A wide range transducer will reduce inventory and equipment required to maintain these various dynamic pressure transducers. Therefore, a transducer with specified specifications would allow for acquisition of critical live firing data by allowing for the correlation of temperature and pressure over time while also reducing maintenance and calibration costs by allowing simple interchangeability between temperature data and pressure data. 

PHASE I: Perform initial research and feasibility investigation into development of new ballistic sensor. Generate possible solutions and produce a design matrix of such possible solutions that satisfy initial stated requirements and to what degree. Narrow down focus to the most feasible solution. 

PHASE II: Fabricate initial prototype sensors and begin investigation of calibration procedures and hardware. Demonstrate sensor performance in lab and during live fire tests. Improve and develop strategies to reduce deficiencies. Correlate performance to existing sensor and gages. 

PHASE III: Provide sensor in sufficient quantities to determine life and reliability during usage. Characterize final performance and inspect acquired data. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Ali Sayir Alp Sehirlioglu, Piezoelectric Ceramics for High Temperature Actuators, p.2-4, March 2009.

2: Stephen L. Howard, Lang-Mann Chang, Douglas E. Kooker, Thermocouples for interior Ballistic Temperature measurements, ARL Report (ARL-MR-146) dated August 1994, DTIC #ADA283699.

3: Liu, H T; Mauer, G; Zieve, P, Development of a Pressure Transducer for Usage in High-Temperature and Vibration Environments. Phase I. Feasibility Investigation, Air Force Report (AEDC-TR-84-30), dated November 1984, DTIC #ADA148695.

4: Sathish, Shamachary; Schehl, Norman; Boehnlein, Thomas; Welter, John T; Jata, Kumar V, Development of Nondestructive Non-Contact Acousto-Thermal Evaluation Technique for Damage Detection in Materials (Postprint), September 2012

5: Basis of sensor body hole profile E30MAZ (Uploaded in SITIS on 4/28/17)

KEYWORDS: Ballistic Dynamic Pressure, Dynamic Temperature 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Development of models for improving the state-of-the-art understanding of soil state characteristics in regions with varying observational input datasets. Input datasets may contain but are not limited to remote sensing data, climate data, and surface measurements. The objective is to develop methods of resolving soil state characteristics that can be integrated into existing Engineer Research and Development Center applied research efforts related to land surface modeling, terrain reasoning, vehicular mobility (on and off road), and dismounted mobility. Elements of interest include but are not limited to: scale handling, variable resolution and spatial coverage, etc. The product developed will rapidly map multi-source input data which may include Cosmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COSMOS) data, Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) sensor output, earth observation systems, predefined soil state characteristic maps, high resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and surface biological activity maps among others. The product developed will improve upon existing soil moisture maps and soil moisture products in order to enhance the representation and characterization of surface competence for use in mobility modeling and decision support tools. 

DESCRIPTION: Local mesoscale conditions are crucial to building environmental intelligence in a region to assist in mission planning and response preparation. This requires the most robust representation of soil state characteristics possible given available data in a specific region at multiple scales. This need focuses on developing scalable capabilities based on documented research incorporating geospatial principles to understand the land surface. Downscaled soil moisture products exist and additional research efforts in the academic and private sector are underway in this realm. This solicitation seeks products that incorporate additional information into soil state maps and the previously developed (or research studies into) downscaled products in order to generate a better prediction of surface soil competence. The product should contain a confidence assessment and metadata. Inputs of interest in the generation of such maps include climate data, remote sensing observations, aerial observations, vehicular observations, and surface measurements. The product must provide real time visualization of observations integrated with datasets in an Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA) compliant format. Data products in this category provide information to determine the effective capacity of the surface for transit operations and the likelihood of surface failure hindering local operations. The product developed will be used to inform and improve mobility modeling efforts and used to help with the development of decision making tools. Commercially, this product can be used to enhance the ability to meet a broad range of soil moisture monitoring needs. Improved soil moisture monitoring in the agricultural sector can enable farmers to perform precision irrigation across large field of crops optimizing the use of precious water resources. Additional commercialization potential for this product range from management of water budgets to golf course maintenance to control of water costs. 

PHASE I: Construct a functional concept design capable of integrating and visualization of soil state characteristic maps based upon remote sensing, climate information, in-situ measurements, and additional intelligence information sources. These inputs will be used to produce a real-time soil competence output to be visualized in a government directed GUI (Graphical User Interface) as well as a software agnostic output layer for interoperability and archival purposes. Include documentation of algorithms developed, data generated, and computing resources required. Feasibility will be established by cost analysis, analytical modeling, and testing, as appropriate. Phase I deliverables include (1) a final report, (2) the formatted dataset used to test the developed algorithms, and (3) the source code. The report should supply the information requested above, describe model development including parameterization, and provide preliminary results on model fidelity. The report should also include plans for development of a user interface which will address Phase II expectations and a plan for the incorporation of downscaled soil moisture products into the visualization and analysis. During the Phase I option, if exercised, design metrics for algorithm evaluation in Phase II. 

PHASE II: The Phase II will focus on improving the approach developed in Phase I. Efforts will be expanded to include additional datasets and to evaluate forecasting methods and algorithms. The Phase II deliverables are a report detailing (1) description of the approach, including optimization techniques and outcomes, (2) testing and validation data, (3) advantages and disadvantages/limitations of the method, and (4) potential for application to other problem sets; (5) the source code; and (6) a user interface and any associated executables. 

PHASE III: Identify and exploit features that would be attractive for commercial or other private sector applications. System architecture and software enabling information collection, analysis, and analysis product dissemination at the appropriate time scales required for application support. If Phase II is successful, the company will be expected to support the Army in transitioning the software for Army use. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chen, F., Dudhia, J., 2001a. Coupling an advanced land surface-hydrology model with the penn state-ncar mm5 modeling system. Part I: Model implementation and sensitivity. Monthly Weather Review 129 (4), 569-585.

2: Chen, F., Dudhia, J., 2001b. Coupling an advanced land surface-hydrology model with the penn state-ncar mm5 modeling system. Part II: Preliminary model validation. Monthly Weather Review 129 (4), 587-604.

3: Shi, Y., Baldwin, D.C., Davis, K.J., Yu, X., Duffy, C.J., and Lin, H. 2015. Simulating high-resolution soil moisture patterns in the Shale Hills watershed using a land surface hydrologic model. Hydrological Processes 29: 4624 “ 4637.

4: Small, E. E., Kurc, S., 2001. The influence of soil moisture on the surface energy balance in semiarid environments. New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, New Mexico State University.

KEYWORDS: Soil State Characteristics, Soil Moisture, Geospatially Enabled, Geospatial Analysis 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To develop specific stabilization product and its application protocol capable of concentrating and preserving target molecules in serum and urine for downstream serological diagnosis. 

DESCRIPTION: Accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases is needed to inform timely treatment and often requires temperature-controlled transportation of clinical specimens from the primary clinic to a diagnostic laboratory, conditions that may be unavailable in resource-limited environments. Failure to stabilize the specimen during transport could lead to false-negative diagnostic results, particularly for assays requiring viral RNA detection, in part due to the ubiquity of ribonucleases.1,2 Recent studies have demonstrated variability in current shipping conditions both in terms of expediency and temperature exposure of the sample.3,4 From these studies, one may conclude that sample stabilization prior to transport may be crucial to ensure accuracy of downstream diagnostic testing. To facilitate sample collection and storage in austere environments, such as those experienced during outbreaks of tropical diseases, a stabilization product ideally needs to be inexpensive as well as easy to use, requiring minimal ancillary equipment. In addition, the disease biomarkers in the specimen can be low in concentration or short in half-life, consequently, it is imperative to preserve and concentrate through the time and conditions to which they will be exposed during transport. Finally, the stabilization product needs to be compatible with various molecular and serological assays necessary for accurate diagnosis of infection. For this topic, the focus is to develop stabilization product(s) suitable to concentrate and preserve biomolecules in serum and urine for downstream serological assays. The biomarkers to which the developed stabilization products are to concentrate and preserve should include antibodies and antigens. The stabilization product should preserve the biomarkers at room temperature for at least 2 weeks without losing the integrity so that the biomarkers can still be detected using standard detection methods. It is expected that the stabilization product and its application protocol is to be incorporated as part of sample processing workflow in order to be used for diagnosis. Consequently, it is likely that final FDA clearance is one of the end deliverables. It is envisioned that the stabilization product to be used in all 4 roles of care in conjunction with various types of serological assays available. 

PHASE I: The ideal stabilization product will need to be applicable in serum and urine without affecting the integrity of biofluids. The developed stabilization product should retain the activity and intactness of the biomolecules in downstream diagnostic techniques, namely traditional and modern serological assays (e.g., IFA, ELISA, and rapid test). Selected awardee will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concept by developing prototype single (preferred) or multiple stabilization product(s) in various formats that can be applied directly to serum and urine with minimum additional and easy steps before the samples can be used for downstream diagnostic assays. This process is to lead to concentrating and preservation of biomarkers so that the sensitivity of downstream assays can be improved. To evaluate this, the awardee must demonstrate that the application of the stabilization products/protocols is easy to perform. Additionally, the sensitivity and specificity of a given assay will be analyzed using appropriate biofluids before and after process with the stabilization products /protocols to determine the effect of concentrating and preservation. The awardee needs to use serum and urine as the target biofluids to demonstrate the concentrating and preservation of antibodies and antigens for downstream serological assays. If applicable and available, the awardee should evaluate the performance of several serological assays, including IFA, ELISA and rapid test, to demonstrate the effect of concentrating and preservation of biomolecules. While the awardee can select the antigens, antibodies and downstream specific serological assays for this topic, it is encouraged that the awardee coordinates with COR of the topic to utilize antigens, antibodies and serological assays of military relevant diseases. At the end of Phase I effort, the selected awardee should provide prototype stabilization product, protocol and reagents (i.e. antibodies/antigens) for downstream serological assays that are sufficient to evaluate 60 samples (30 for serum samples and 30 for urine samples) to COR. The COR will perform the experiment based on provided detail for independent evaluation of the stabilization product. The COR will provide evaluation feedback regarding the ease of operation, effect of concentrating and preservation, compatibility with various downstream applications with or without applying the stabilization product/protocol to the awardee to further improve the stabilization product/protocol. 

PHASE II: The selected awardee will improve the performance of the stabilization products/protocols established from Phase I based on feedback provided by the COR. The awardee should repeat the experiments conducted in Phase I to ensure improved performance is achieved. The awardee should use archived human samples when available to evaluate the clinical utility of the stabilization product/protocol. Archived human samples (20 each of serum and urine samples) confirmed with the presence of Phase I tested antigens and antibodies will be used for this evaluation. Archived healthy human samples (10 each of serum and urine samples) will be included as negative controls. The evaluation will be considered complete only when a tested serological assay shows an improved sensitivity for the effect of concentrating (i.e. lower limit of detection or detection of samples collected at earlier time point) and stable sensitivity for the effect of preservation by comparison of samples processed with or without the stabilization products/protocols. Once sensitivity/specificity requirements have been met, the selected awardee will provide a final prototype stabilization product(s)/protocol(s) sufficient for evaluating of 100 samples (50 each of serum and urine samples) to the COR for laboratory confirmation of performance characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, accuracy, reliability and limit of detection) in the laboratory. The selected awardee will also conduct stability testing of the stabilization product in Phase II. This is to demonstrate that the stabilization product itself has a long shelf-life without the need for a specific storage condition (i.e. cold-chain). Stability testing will follow both real-time and accelerated (attempt to force the product to fail under a broad range of temperature and humidity conditions and extremes) testing in accordance with FDA requirements. 

PHASE III: During this phase the performance of the developed stabilization product(s) and associated protocol(s) should be evaluated in a variety of field study sites that will conclusively demonstrate that the stabilization product and associated protocol meet the requirements of this topic. The selected awardee shall make this product for sale to military and non-military users throughout the world. The selected awardee is recommended to carry out studies required to obtain FDA clearance for the stabilization product and protocol in conjunction with the related serological assays. Military applications: The topic is aimed to resolve the need for cold-chain to preserve sample integrity and concentrate the target biomolecules through shipment and storage. A successful development of the versatile stabilization product that can be incorporated into a routine sample collection scheme with ease will greatly improve the efficiency of all downstream applications. The stabilization product and protocol can also shorten needed time to pack and get ready to ship samples to other medical facilities. Consequently, this will effectively decrease the cost as cold-chain is no longer needed. We expect that a National Stock Number (NSN) could be assigned, so that they can be used by deployed medical forces. It is possible that USAMMDA may be the potential sponsor for obtaining the NSN. Civilian applications: The stabilization product(s)/protocol(s) will be extremely helpful and beneficial to those resources-limited areas, during humanitarian missions or disaster relief efforts. As the need for sample processing, storage and diagnosis is great during these times, the ability to concentrate, preserve and store of various biofluids will relief the overwhelming requests to process the collected samples, decrease the shipping cost and increase sensitivity of downstream assays. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Thorp HH. The importance of being r: greater oxidative stability of RNA compared with DNA. Chem Biol. 2000; 7:R33“R36. [PubMed]

2: CLSI. Quantitative Molecular Methods for Infectious Diseases; Approved Guideline”Second Edition. Wayne, PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute; 2010. MM06-A2.

3: Olson WC, Smolkin ME, Farris EM, Fink RJ, Czarkowski AR, Fink JH, Chianese-Bullock KA, Slingluff CL., Jr Shipping blood to a central laboratory in multicenter clinical trials: effect of ambient temperature on specimen temperature, and effects of temperature on mononuclear cell yield, viability and immunologic function. J Transl Med. 2011:9:26 [PMC free article] [PubMed].

4: Catton M., Druce J., Papadakis G., Tran T., Birch C. Reality check of laboratory service effectiveness during pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Victoria, Australia. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011; 17:963“968. [PMC free article] [PubMed]

KEYWORDS: Stability, Concentrating, Preservation, Storage, Sample Matrices, Sample Collection Volume 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Provide DOD approved working dog functional hearing protection and handler communication system. Ideally, this would be a TCAPS/Tactical Communication and Protective System type device. Such an application to the military working dog is not presently commercially available. 

DESCRIPTION: Hearing loss is the number one service connected VA/Department of Veterans Affairs disability. This injury remains one of the primary problems in active duty service members during the present military conflicts requiring U.S. Forces participation beginning in 2003. Military working dogs have been an integral part of this sustained combat. Military working dogs are subjected to the same combat exposures as their military handlers. Military working dogs are estimated to experience similar levels of noise exposed hearing loss. They are an expensive and time intensively trained combat asset. A Military Working Dogs mission capability and working capabilities can be shortened significantly from unprotected health exposures. As with their human counterparts, dogs can sustain degraded function and required evacuation from theatre with respect to noise and blast exposure. A functional active Military Working Dog hearing protective/handler communication device will greatly extend canine health and long term mission performance. In an effort to protect this valuable trained asset and prevent hearing loss acquisition, USAMRMC seeks to develop a functional canine hearing protection system with an active communication component for use in the military environment. Currently a system of this capability is not available for DOD use. The purpose of this SBIR is to develop such a system, with dual-use applications. 

PHASE I: Design/develop an innovative active hearing protection and communication system to protect hearing dog and handler communication. This effort should clearly provide a proof of concept with respect to the scientific, technical, and commercial merit, as well as feasibility of using a low-cost hearing protection/active communication system for deployment in all levels of Army combat operations. The offer should identify new technologies that do not include an existing product integration. This project should investigate the technical risks of the approach selected; costs, benefits, and schedule associated with the development and demonstration of the prototype. A proof of concept in Phase I would include design and expected performance goals. References can be made to previously demonstrated desired performance features that would be individually included, but not represented in an existing system. This would include the hearing protection aspects considering unique canine ear anatomy as well as the communication system between the dog and handler. A simulation demonstration would be desirable with respect to the new technology to be developed in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Based on Phase I design and development feasibility report, the SBIR award shall produce a prototype demonstrating appropriate hearing protection in accordance with success criteria developed in Phase I. Current OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) hearing protection standards with respect to humans will be extrapolated with respect to circumaural devices. Known or available canine standards will also be utilized. This would reflect developed NRR/Noise Reduction Ratings for user fitted hearing protection. Similar standards for communication portion of the system would reflect acceptable standards for active devices. The SBIR awardee will then deliver the prototype for DoD evaluation. The intent of this phase is to deliver a well-defined prototype meeting the requirements of the original solicitation topic and which can be made commercially viable. The prototype shall effectively provide functional hearing protection to the working dog in a combat environment. Additionally, it will provide effective auditory communication between the working dog and the handler. Previous human studies have demonstrated efficacy and the functional benefit of a combined hearing protection and communication system. Phase II will demonstrate a similar benefit when utilized with military working dogs. 

PHASE III: Follow on activities shall include a demonstration of the application of this system in deployed and non-deployed environments. The SBIR awardee shall demonstrate effectiveness and generate a safety profile for the hearing protection system/active communication system for the military working dog. Safety and hearing protection function of the system will be assessed in periodic combat deployment hearing evaluations and post deployment assessment. Fit, REATT/Real Ear Attenuation and canine hearing testing will be utilized to quantify possible threshold shifts and overall system hearing protection function. The SBIR awardee shall focus on transitioning the technology from a research to an operational capability. The end product active protective and communication system will provide health safety to all Military Working Dogs. Through TTA or direct licensing with the SBIR Developer, research development funds will be repaid and acquisition costs recouped over system life. They shall further demonstrate that the hearing protection/communication prototype can be use in a broad range of military and civilian law enforcement applications. The acquisition life cycle process will provide a technology and manufacturing readiness level of a minimum of 5 which should allow initial low rate production. As referenced above, the SBIR developer and U.S. government would likely be involved in a TTA/licensing and production cycle. An approved system may be procured through a NSN utilizing a developer TTA and licensing arrangement for procurement. Sales to non-government and allied military and law enforcement sources offer unique additional use opportunities. 

REFERENCES: 

1: American Journal of Veterinary Research April 2012, Vol. 73, No. 4, Pages 482-489 doi: 10.2460/ajvr.73.4.482 Retrieved from http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/pdf/10.2460/ajvr.73.4.482

2: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 127“136, ISSN (Online) 1896-494X, ISSN (Print) 1232-1087, DOI: 10.2478/v10001-007-0016-2, July 2007. Retrieved from https://4hearingtest.com/Resources/NoiseInducedHearingLoss.pdf

3: Spectrum of Care Provided at an Echelon II Medical Unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom Murray, Clinton K.; Reynolds, Joel C.; Schroeder, Jodelle M.; Harrison, Matthew B.; et al. Military Medicine 170.6 (Jun 2005): 516-20. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/7741957

4: Venn, Rebecca Elisabeth (2013) Effects of acute and chronic noise exposure on cochlear function and hearing in dogs. MSc(R) thesis. Retrieved from http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4722/1/2013VennMSc.pdf

KEYWORDS: Military Hearing Dog, Noise Induced Hearing Loss, Hearing Protection Device, Active Communication System 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop new algorithms to enhance detection and classification of stationary ground targets for rotary wing aircraft based radar. 

DESCRIPTION: The Apache Attack Helicopter mission requires detection and classification of stationary ground targets both in hover and moving conditions. While this capability currently exists, it is limited due to inherently large clutter backgrounds, low probability of intercept (LPI) requirements, operating frequencies, and limitations to aperture size. The primary objective of this topic is the development of advanced algorithms to improve stationary target detection and classification with the existing Apache fire control radar (FCR). Successful responses will represent a novel algorithm approach rather than data collection concepts to improve detection (such as Doppler beam sharpening or synthetic aperture radar) using current or similar algorithms. While modifications to FCR operations may be considered they must fall within current Apache FCR CONOPS (i.e. cannot fly an orbit around a target to enable SAR). 

PHASE I: Demonstrate, through modeling, the fundamental properties of the algorithm(s) using simulated data and unclassified properties of the Apache FCR (frequency, aperture size, etc.). The LPI requirement (and corresponding short dwell times) for the FCR tends to result in lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than what is typically required for adequate detection and classification performance. This requirement is classified and its corresponding effect on typical SNR cannot be provided to offerors for proposal preparation or during execution of the Phase I effort. Consequently, the anticipated performance of the algorithm should be given as a function of SNR. 

PHASE II: Mature the candidate algorithm(s) and develop a simulation framework that can accept recorded raw FCR data. Demonstrate and characterize the algorithm performance against FCR data. Refine the performance characterization via a series of simulations using simulated data. The scenarios should extend the mission space beyond that in the provided FCR data. Identify computing power required to process the data in real-time. Deliver a working prototype of the algorithm, and electronics test bed, to facilitate independent testing by USG. 

PHASE III: Work with PM Apache and prime contractors to integrate the algorithm into the FCR, or future Apache radar, and perform a flight demonstration. The technology developed within this SBIR may also be applicable to other rotary wing aircraft such as the Armys Future Vertical Lift (FVL), Navy OSPREY, and the Fire Scout UAS. In addition, this technology could be applicable to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically the Coast Guard and Border Patrol. 

REFERENCES: 

Charles Hsu, Howard Mendelson, Albert Burgstahler, Dan Hibbard, Jim Faist, Polarimetric Detection for Slowly Moving/Stationary Targets in Inhomogeneous Environments, Proc. SPIE vol. 8058, Orlando, FL, April 2011.

Martin Hurtado and Arye Nehorai, Polarization Diversity for Detecting Targets in Inhomogeneous Clutter.

William A. Holm and David C. Lai, "Fully Adaptive Radar Detection of Stationary Targets in Ground Clutter", Proc. SPIE 3068, Signal Processing, Sensor Fusion, and Target Recognition VI, 532 (July 28, 1997).

Martin Hurtado and Arye Nehorai, Polarimetric Detection of Targets in Heavy Inhomogeneous Clutter, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SIGNAL PROCESSING, VOL. 56, NO. 4, APRIL 2008.

KEYWORDS: Radar, Fire Control, Ku Band, Ka Band, Stationary Target Indicator, Doppler Beam Sharpening, Radar Cross Section (RCS) Pattern Matching 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a system to allow an unmanned ground vehicle to: 1) intercept radio transmissions and classify them as Friendly, Coalition or Adversary; 2) provide direction of transmissions; 3) disrupt adversary transmissions. 

DESCRIPTION: Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) purpose is to provide standoff capabilities to provide the Warfighter intelligence of unsecured areas and would be the first to encounter radio transmissions being in front of the company. A Software Defined Radio (SDR), or similar device, placed on a UGV would scan the RF environment and provide the operator with information of other RF transmissions. The SDR is able to scan a wide frequency spectrum such as 2 MHz to 6 GHz and then categorize the waveform type, i.e. Electronic Warfare (EW) or communications and identify the signals as friendly, coalition or adversarial. The target UGV system is a small battery-powered ground robot weighing 15 - 20 lbs. Since the robot is expected to support missions up to 4 hours, the power draw for the developed system must be kept to a minimum. Most development is expected to be in the packaging of the Radio Frequency Direction Finder (RFDF) and integration with a COTS SDR. It is envisioned that the SDR would essentially act as a sensor to scan the RF band and engage the RFDF to report the direction of the signal to the operator. It is further envisioned that the SDR would also be modified to emit RF noise signals (effectively acting as an EW device) to disrupt targeted/ unfriendly communications as directed by the operator. The UGV with an SDR and RF direction finder would be a significant game changer for a unit to alert them of adversary transmissions and disrupt those transmissions. A possible scenario would be to configure the SDR, coupled with radio direction finding system, to hone in on the direction of transmissions and move either autonomously or by teleoperation toward the source to disrupt communications or EW operation. Another scenario would be to employ multiple UGVs, feeding information back to a controller or command center, to triangulate the location of the transmission. This information would allow the mapping of RF transmissions with the classifications as friendly, coalition or adversary and the type of transmission. 

PHASE I: The first phase consists of investigating an SDRs capability to scan the 2 MHz to 6 GHz spectrum and classify RF transmissions as either communications, EW, radar, or beacons, etc. and whether they are friendly, coalition or adversary. In addition, Phase I will study RF directional finding capabilities of various waveforms for use by the UGV to maneuver towards and disrupt. Documentation of design tradeoffs and projected system performance shall be required in the final report. 

PHASE II: The second phase consists of a final design and full implementation of the system, including SDRs, antennas and UGV software. At the end of the contract, extraction of actionable information and autonomous local maneuvering shall be demonstrated in an operational environment. Deliverables shall include the prototype system and a final report, which shall contain documentation of all activities in the project and a user's guide and technical specifications for the prototype system. 

PHASE III: The end-state of this research is to further develop the prototype system and potentially transition the system to the field. Potential military applications include radio reconnaissance and exploitation/ disruptions of RF transmissions. Potential commercial applications include remote surveillance, classification and tracking of radio transmissions and interference sources. 

REFERENCES: 

1: https://wireless.vt.edu/symposiumarchives/2015_slides/document.pdf; (Introduction to Radio Direction Finding Methodologies)

2: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a212747.pdf; (Tactical Radio Direction Finding Systems)

3: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/signal-direction-finding-with-an-rtl-sdr-raspberry-pi-and-redhawk/; (Signal Direction Finding with an RTL-SDR, Raspberry Pi and REDHAWK)

4: https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/comments/2i5qrp/hardware_and_softwaredefined_pseudodoppler_radio/; (Hardware and software-defined pseudo-doppler radio direction finding)

5: http://www.spectrumsignal.com/publications/SDR_in_Direction_Finding_RFDesign_0105.pdf; (SDR platform enables reconfigurable direction finding system)

6: https://www.army.mil/article/149817/Scientists_Develop_Novel__Spintronic__Sensors_for_the_Army; Spintronic Radar Detection System (TARDEC- Drs. Thomas Meitzler and Elena Bankowski)

7: http://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Signal_Identification_Guide; Signal Identification Guide

8: https://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/; SDR Hack RF One

9: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/roundup-software-defined-radios/; Roundup of Software Defined Radios

KEYWORDS: Robotics, Surveillance, Autonomy, Direction Finding, Ground Vehicle, Software Defined Radio; Radio Signal Analysis 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop special methods, data, or applications for the modeling and crack growth analysis of thermally induced cracks located in grinding burns of high strength steel landing gear parts. 

DESCRIPTION: Landing gear are specialized structures designed to sustain the high stresses and loads of landing aircraft. They are often made of high strength steels (300M, 4340, steels with Ftu>180ksi) which are sensitive to elevated temperatures due to material microstructure and low tempering temperatures. On occasion, during manufacture, rework, or chrome grinding, landing gear are overheated resulting in an under/over tempered martensitic condition (burn). Generally, these conditions are associated with the formation of microstructurally and physically small cracks in the 0.001 - 0.010 in. range. It is desirable to better understand the fracture mechanics of small cracks in burned high strength steel parts and methods/models that can be used to manage such cracks in landing gear, and more generally, aerospace specific high strength steel parts. 

PHASE I: Investigate the types of machining conditions that encourage the formation of microstructurally and physical small cracks in under/over tempered steels. Define a test plan that will result in valuable data that can be used within the assumptions and limitations of LEFM methodologies to predict crack growth in burned high strength steel materials. 

PHASE II: Initiate and complete the test plan developed in Phase I. Phase II testing results will be documented in a technical report and submitted to the government. All lessons learned and additional testing needed for a Phase III effort will be included in this report. The test plan shall include at a minimum test data development, stress intensity validation for specific specimen types selected, and fracture surface analysis to determine stress intensity solutions for failed parts/specimens. 

PHASE III: Finalize the results of all testing in a technical report, and create methodology and models that allow for the management of burn induced cracks. Develop specialized tools and techniques that will enable the quick evaluation of grinding burn cracks in support of landing gear sustainment. 

REFERENCES: 

1. JSSG-2009, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE JOINT SERVICES SPECIFICATION GUIDE: AIR VEHICLE SUBSYSTEMS.

2. JSSG-2006, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE JOINT SERVICE SPECIFICATION GUIDE: AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES.

ANODIC ETCHING - A METHOD OF DETECTING GRINDING BURNS ON CHROMIUM PLATED STEEL PARTShttp://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a017689.pdf.

3. Crack Extension in Several High-Strength Steels Loaded in 3.5% Sodium Chloride Solutionhttp://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/685377.pdf.

KEYWORDS: Grinding, Martensitic, High Strength Steel, Fatigue, Fracture, Damage Tolerance Analysis, Manufacturing, Modeling, Material, Transition, Stress Intensity Factor, Mode, Airworthiness, Integrity 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to demonstrate and validate LHE alkaline Zn-Ni brush plating as a replacement for selective (brush) Cd plating on Cd plated, aluminum coated (such as IVD), or LHE alkaline Zn-Ni plated components. 

DESCRIPTION: Selective Cd plating (also referred to as brush plating) is used (along with post-chromate treatments) to repair damaged Cd plating on aircraft parts that have exposed substrate (such as low alloy steel) areas to provide a corrosion resistant sacrificial coating. These bare areas are typically from in-service damage, or production areas exposed from rack plating points of contact. Frequently, Cd brush plating is applied to aircraft components, fasteners and electrical connectors; however, Cd is a known carcinogen and brush plating produces fuming which poses an environmental and safety concern. Cadmium dust is also a major concern in a depot environment where sanding and grinding may be occurring, exposing workers to inhalation risk and oral ingestion. In January 2007, the U.S. President signed Executive Order (EO) 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, requiring government agencies to reduce the quantity of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials that are acquired, used, or disposed. Cadmium is among the chemicals to be reduced by the DoD. Additionally, wastewater discharge from cadmium electroplating baths must meet effluent limitations dictated by regulations under the Clean Water Act, and any sludge from wastewater treatment must be managed as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). As a result of these regulations, the use of cadmium significantly raises the maintenance costs throughout the life of the plated parts. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted to analyze the cost impact of using an alternative coating in place of cadmium electroplating versus the costs of implementing a full medical surveillance program. Based on data from NADEP Cherry Point, elimination of cadmium electroplating would save the facility more than $20,000 per employee per year. The costs-per-square-inch for plating varies from facility to facility, but similar cost savings is anticipated at other DoD depots. Due to these increasing costs, regulatory pressure, and risk to personnel performing these processes, the sustainability of the DoDs surface treatment capability is somewhat threatened. Therefore, this effort seeks to gain approval for the use of a Low Hydrogen Embrittlement (LHE) Alkaline Zn-Ni on Cd, IVD aluminum and LHE Zn-Ni plated aircraft components, fasteners and electrical connectors. It is anticipated that the successful implementation of this alternative coating will not only comply with the requirements of EO 13423, but will also reduce total life-cycle costs of the weapon system. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of replacing brush Cd plating with brush LHE alkaline Zn-Ni brush plating for touch up and/or plating repair on steel and aluminum aircraft components that were previously Cd or LHE alkaline Zn-Ni plated, or IVD aluminum coated. 

PHASE II: Further develop, optimize and implement the approach from Phase I and demonstrate the process improvements with brush LHE alkaline Zn-Ni plating. Mechanical and environmental properties, as well as process techniques, will be optimized and validated. Component alloy qualification testing and actual part service evaluation testing will be conducted. 

PHASE III: The elimination of cadmium is beneficial for both military and commercial aircraft applications. Any aircraft currently utilizing brush Cd plating on components used for aircraft system will have application for this approach. 

REFERENCES: 

1. MIL-STD-870 Cadmium Plating, Type II, Class 2.

2. MIL-STD-1500 Cadmium Plating, Type II, Class 1.

3. AMS-QQ-P-416 Cadmium Plating, Type II, Class 2.

KEYWORDS: Brush Cd, IVD Aluminum Coatings, Zn-Ni, Cd, Plating, Aircraft Components 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a robotic application system for Dymax UV cured maskants that ALSO masks the areas that are to be plasma sprayed. Without the need to trim the maskant overspray after the application or have to mask prior to the application of the mask. 

DESCRIPTION: UV cured maskants have recently been introduced to the Plasma Spray process in PMXG. A mask acts as a self-sacrificing barrier for surface protection and is an essential element of most surface finishing and enhancement processes. The maskant may be applied by spray or syringe method to complex geometries where tape could not suffice. The application process must allow for control of the applied maskant thickness and edge angle. Although the plasma process currently applies one type of UV cured maskant the equipment must be able to handle thixotropic UV cured maskants of varying viscosities. UV cured maskants are restricted by line of sight. A turn table with a robotic arm would be beneficial because many engine parts that receive plasma spray are circular. Plasma spray areas vary greatly from part to part. The system must be extremely flexible to accommodate the current and future workload. Previously PMXG did not have a method to mask some of the new engine workload and this process allowed for successful plasma spray of new workload. The R&D department has employed this material on many projects with success. Hand application is possible but leaves much to be desired, robotic application would be the preferred method. Ease of programming new parts is critical and we must have safety measures in place to prevent damaging the part due to operator error (Ex: running a robotic arm into the part). The system must allow placement of the part in the machine, the machine applies the mask to the required masked areas, cures the maskant material with a UV light, the part is then removed from the machine, prep blasted, and plasma sprayed. If successfully implemented the process will drastically reduce prep time, increase precision, reduce operator error, and create a safer environment for the mechanics. The system shall be fully enclosed with a viewport that blocks UV light but allows the operator to monitor the process. The system shall provide ventilation with HEPA filtration because the system will be vented indoors. System maintenance and troubleshooting shall be supported by contract for a minimum of 3 years after install. 

PHASE I: Research and develop a concept that meets the above requirements. A Phase 1 report will provide results of how the concept meets the requirement. The report will also contain a plan for developing a CBA on a part by part basis to compare tape masking to UV cured maskant. 

PHASE II: Continue development of the Phase I effort. Employ CBA tool and begin part by part analysis. Outline maximum dimensions for parts. Validate the system is capable of applying the maskant properly and without sacrificing the plasma spray operation. 

PHASE III: Final development and analysis ending the Phase III with implementation of a prototype system. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Golebiewski, Richard. "Environmentally safe, UV curable masking resins reduce aircraft component processing costs." The Aerospace/Airline Plating Forum & Exposition. Orlando, USA: The American Electroplaters & Surface Finishers Society. 2002.

2. Arastehfar, Soheil, Ying Liu, and Wen Feng Lu. "A new discrete event system model for supervising and controlling robotic arm path tacking tasks based on adaptive masking." ASME 2012 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2012.

KEYWORDS: UV Masking, Robotics, Maskants, 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: An effective method is needed to determine revolutions of Constant Speed Drives in support of Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) 

DESCRIPTION: Aircraft systems utilize Constant Speed Drives (CSDs) to convey power to on-board generators at a constant output rotational speed regardless of the input rotational speed of the engine. The input engine rotational speed, through the accessory gearbox, ranges from 18000 RPM at full power to 4275 RPM at idle. Wear, and usable life, of the CSD is a function of the number of revolutions seen at the power input to the CSD. However, CSDs are not returned to the depot for overhaul based on number of hours of use or revolutions. The CSD is managed under a fly to fail item replacement strategy and information for hours on engine or wing is not collected for the CSD. Consequently, the CSDs are returned to the depot in a wide range of failed conditions, most of which accelerate unnecessary parts replacement and overhaul work. A method, or device, of counting the number of input revolutions to the CSD is needed to correlate use of the CSD to wear and then to establish maximum useful life before overhaul. Eight of the CSDs in USAF service provide a once per revolution trigger signal (peak to peak volt) that can be counted through a wire or at the connector pin. This topic seeks to investigate the possibility of developing a small device that will record and deliver objective measures of the Constant Speed Drives operation and condition. A primary measure (1.) will be a count of the number of input revolutions of CSDs and differentiate by drive type the counts at under-speed, straight through, and over-speed range. The counting device will not have access to external power. Other measures will be considered that offer value for the CSD operation and condition. Among those would be : (2.) the ability to measure the hydraulic oil condition (gravimetric data, water and acid content) when it changes beyond and back into allowable limits, (3.) the ability to measure charge pressure and output pressure flow rate in the hydraulic circuits when they fall out of operating range, (4.) the ability to detect when and where damaging vibrations occur inside the drive, (5.) the ability to detect when and where excessive heat occurs inside the drive, (6.) and the ability to detect when and where shock occurred throughout the drive. These additional measures would occur ideally within the digital counting device and/or as part of an onboard diagnostic package that operates inside the CSD with minimum number of connections, contacts and transducers. The device must have an 8-year useful life. CSDs rotate at a minimum 5.4 X 109 counts between service. It is desirable to keep the size of the device to a square inch. The device will be required to mount inside the CSD, be accessible to input (drive type, reset, date) and output (counts per speed range, date) without drive disassembly, and operate at temperatures ranging from -65F to +355F. Input and output for the other measures should also occur without drive disassembly and coincide by date with the digital counter data. 

PHASE I: Research and develop a concept demonstration that addresses the above requirements. This phase will determine if flight worthy components for permanent installation are technically feasible. A Phase I final report will provide results of how the demonstration met the requirements and address the boarder scope capability for a Phase II effort. 

PHASE II: Based on a successful demonstrated concept, develop a pilot prototype that meets the requirements of this topic. A Phase II final report will document the results and provide transition plans needed to implement into production capability. 

PHASE III: The resulting capability could require enhancements for the production implementation across military installations and the many potential commercial applications in numerous industries to enhance manufacturing and in-service quality control programs for current and past production components. 

REFERENCES: 

1. C. Huang, et al., Calibration and Characterization of Self “Powered Floating-gate Usage Monitor with Single Electron per Second Operational Limit, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol 57, Issue 3, March 2010.

2. W.H. Ko, H.Xie, Self-Powered Tire Revolution Counter, US Patent 6438193 B1

CSD and Generator Example (Uploaded in SITIS on 5/8/17)

KEYWORDS: Constant Speed Drive, Self-Powered, Counter 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: The D300 hardware modeler supports development and maintenance of test programs to test and indicate repair actions for avionic circuit card assemblies. The replacement is required to maintain this capability for current and future avionic repairs. 

DESCRIPTION: The current hardware modeler (D300 system) supports development and maintenance of test programs used to test and indicate repair actions for avionic Shop Replaceable Unit (SRU) circuit card assemblies (CCA) at the Tinker, Hill and Robins Air Force depots. Many custom and hybrid integrated circuits (ICs) and custom electronic components cannot be modeled in simulation software because of their complexity and/or lack of technical data. Location of the components within the CCA topology can also prevent reverse engineering to determine unknown functionality. The current hardware modeler in conjunction with the Teradyne LASAR digital simulator has the ability to perform this modeling. The hardware modeling system has the ability to model multiple devices (both dynamic and static devices) simultaneously. It is also able to retain input (stimulus) and output patterns for entire clock cycles, and therefore, reestablish the state of the device under simulation in a repeatable manner. The simulation results are available for use in further simulations of the SRU or CCA. The simulation results also reduce the need for reverse engineering. The current hardware modeler is obsolete and no longer supported. Current units are being used for spare parts to maintain viability of the system. The majority of the digital test programs in use and in development at the depots use the Teradyne LASAR digital simulator. Also, the current Air Force family of testers, the VDATS, is equipped with Teradyne digital test instruments that work in conjunction with the LASAR simulator output. The hardware modeler replacement must be compatible with LASAR and the VDATS Di-Series digital subsystem or a compatible high speed digital test subsystem. It must use this digital subsystem in conjunction with the Teradyne LASAR simulation software to model digital, hybrid and custom ICs and the circuit boards in which they are installed to produce fault dictionary and guided probe diagnostics for the VDATS test station. These diagnostics indicate repair actions to be taken by Air Force avionic technicians to return defective SRUs and CCAs to serviceable condition. This SBIR shall investigate the use of the VDATS Di-Series digital subsystem (or equivalent) as a replacement for the D300 hardware modeler. 

PHASE I: Develop a solution that can replace the D300 with the VDATS Di digital subsystem. The concept solution should address software interfaces, hardware interfaces and estimates of LASAR simulation run times using the VDATS Di digital subsystem. A Phase I final report will provide results of how the concept meets the requirements and address the broader scope capability for a Phase II. 

PHASE II: Based on a successful concept review, develop a pilot prototype that demonstrates a LASAR simulation using a hardware model controlled by a VDATS Di digital subsystem. A Phase II final report will document the results and provide transition plans needed to implement into production capability. 

PHASE III: Based on a successful concept review, implement the prototype design into the production environment. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Coggins, Kevin. "VDATS and the DoD ATS Framework." 2008 IEEE AUTOTESTCON. 2008.

2. Rowson, James A. "Hardware/software co-simulation." Design Automation, 1994. 31st Conference on. IEEE, 1994.

KEYWORDS: Hardware Modeler, VDATS, Circuit Card Diagnostics, Shop Replaceable Unit 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Determine feasibility and develop concepts for a high power, modular amplifier design to support wideband (10 kHz“2 GHz), with minimum 10 kW Average Power, and capability to drive load impedances from short to open circuits for Direct Drive testing. 

DESCRIPTION: Current requirements for EMP survivability and hardness assessment testing as defined in MIL-STD-3023, High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) Protection For Military Aircraft (21 November 2011) include Direct Drive techniques in support of both Threat-level and Low Level Hardness Maintenance/Hardness Surveillance. The waveforms used for this testing are derived from the NORMs of threat-relatable responses and are used to drive candidate test points to levels above the margins defined for the Category I, II, & III aircraft. The Direct Drive testing approaches in MIL-STD-3023 require that these waveforms be driven with an amplifier with supporting -3 dB bandwidth of 10 kHz “ 2 GHz, the amplifier must be able to source at least 10 kW average power, and must be able to drive load impedances which are not always known, but can vary from a short (0 ohms) to an open (> 10 M ohms) circuit, without damage to the amplifier or perturbation of the driven waveform. The minimum -3 dB bandwidth specified in the MIL-STD-3023 is 100 kHz to 1 GHz; but engineering design requirements must include the specification of a decade lower -3 dB point on the low end and an octave higher -3 dB point on the upper end to insure that the minimum specification is met by the amplifier. In the case of perturbation of the driven waveform, an external, real-time feedback and control system is required to adjust the waveform to compensate for the changes due to impedance variations (the additional component needed in the Phase II), but the amplifier must be able to drive the test point with the same energy regardless of impedance changes. These changes can occur as the drive levels are stepped up per the guidelines in the MIL-Std-3023, due to non-linear protection devices becoming active, causing the driven impedance to vary instantly from a nominal impedance of 50-100 ohms to a near zero ohms (short) condition. This condition causes an extremely high VSWR for the length of the waveform. Normally, an amplifier will either shut down or sustain damage under these conditions. There are no existing Commercial-off-the-shelf products that will support these requirements without exhibiting this shutdown or damage, thereby leaving a shortfall in the ability to satisfy the requirements of the referenced MIL-Standard and determine hardness/survivability of military tactical and strategic air vehicle systems. For Phase I, define and develop the amplifier technology concepts necessary to meet these requirements for MIL-STD-3023 Direct Drive testing and provide the initial layout and capabilities to build the amplifier unit and supporting Direct Drive feedback and control subsystems in Phase II. 

PHASE I: Research and develop a concept demonstration that addresses the above requirements. A Phase I final report will provide results of how the demonstration met the requirements and address the boarder scope capability for a Phase II effort. 

PHASE II: Based on a successful demonstrated concept, develop a pilot prototype that meets the requirements of this topic. A Phase II final report will document the results and provide transition plans needed to implement into production capability. 

PHASE III: Implementation of a prototype system that meets the needs of the topic above. Provide documentation and a plan for any further development required and maintenance of the final product. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Beilfuss, J., and R. Gray. "Source selection techniques for EMP direct drive simulation." Electromagnetic Compatibility, 1989., IEEE 1989 National Symposium on. IEEE, 1989.

2. Hoeft, Lothar O., et al. "Comparison of R 2 SPG waveforms with simulated EMP." Electromagnetic Compatibility, 1991. Symposium Record., IEEE 1991 International Symposium on. IEEE, 1991.

3. MIL-STD-3023, High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) Protection For Military Aircraft (21 November 2011)

KEYWORDS: EMP Direct Drive Testing, EMP Survivability, Hardness Assessment Testing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a conversational personal assistant application for operators in an Air Operations Center environment. 

DESCRIPTION: The convergence of natural language processing and machine intelligence, along with web-enabled access to services and information have spawned a new appliance “ the conversational personal assistant. Exemplars include Apples Siri, Google Home and Amazon Alexa. These systems provide a convenient human-machine interface through text and speech recognition, and intelligent interpretation of human language requests, queries and directives. Through network interfaces to databases, world wide websites, and internet connected hardware, they can act on these requests or answer these questions within the constraints of their connectivity. More importantly, they have adaptive learning capabilities, which improves their ability to satisfy our requests, and possibly to anticipate our needs, through passive and active feedback. Such an intelligent virtual assistant offers to reduce our work load, simplify routine tasks, and even to learn and assist with more complex tasks over time. This type of capability could provide great advantage to personnel in complex, task saturated, and time critical situations. One such environment is the Air Operations Center (AOC) or Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in which personnel are engaged in the process of coordinating military air operations with other ground, air, space and sea forces. The COAC staff plans, monitors and directs sortie execution, for a range of missions including close air support/precision air strike, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation, air drop, and countless other mission critical operations. These troops utilize phone, text and video communications/collaborations, a variety of software tools in an integrated environment, and a range of data feeds to provide real time shared situational awareness with the purpose of enabling the production of decision-quality, actionable information for the commander and his staff to command aerospace power. These functions are performed by multiple personnel in the CAOC with defined tasks, such as strategy development and air task order planning, surveillance and reconnaissance tasking, intelligence collection and analysis, battlefield coordination, airspace control and air traffic management. A personal assistant to operators in this environment can be envisioned to support a number of functions. The conversational interface would allow simplified data input and output for queries, commands, and information access. The assistant could prompt and guide the user along a series of steps in task checklists, and provide timers and alarms for various time critical activities. The assistant could advise and assist the user in evaluating data and information to interpret results and make assessments and recommendations on courses of action. Many of these functions can be automated, but the ability of a personal assistant to adapt to a user or situation, and better understand the desired outcomes or intentions is expected to greatly enhance the effectiveness of the operator. 

PHASE I: Identify the role of a conversational personal assistant in the functions of Air Operations Center, in terms of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of operator task performance. Define the architecture for implementation of such a system, including data interfaces, learning methodologies, and human-machine interfaces. Identify challenges to implementation, and required technology development to overcome them. 

PHASE II: Based on the Phase I effort, develop and deliver a functional prototype of the envisioned personal assistant and demonstrate its application in a simulated air operations center context. The system will likely be trained in representative scenarios, and the contractor shall show the capability of the system to adapt and improve its effectiveness over time. Metrics shall be gathered to demonstrate how the system improves the efficiency of operators in an air operations center. 

PHASE III: The contractor will pursue commercialization of the various technologies developed in Phase II for transitioning expanded mission capability to a broad range of potential government and civilian users and alternate mission applications in complex environments. 

REFERENCES: 

1.Pratzner Jr, Phillip R. The Combined Air Operations Center: Getting the Organization Right for Future Coalition Air Operations. MARINE CORPS UNIV QUANTICO VA SCHOOL OF ADVANCED WARFIGHTING, 2002.

2.Phister, Paul, Igor Plonisch, and Todd Humiston. The Combined Aerospace Operations Center (CAOC) of the Future. AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB ROME NY INFORMATION DIRECTORATE, 2001.

3.Serban, Floarea, et al. "A survey of intelligent assistants for data analysis." ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 45.3 (2013): 31.

4.Ali, Awrad Mohammed, and Avelino J. Gonzalez. "Toward Designing a Realistic Conversational System: A Survey." FLAIRS Conference. 2016.

5.Borras, Joan, Antonio Moreno, and Aida Valls. "Intelligent tourism recommender systems: A survey." Expert Systems with Applications 41.16 (2014): 7370-7389.

KEYWORDS: Conversational Personal Assistant, Voice Recognition, Machine Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Voice Control, Chatbot, Human Factors 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: To develop methodologies, tools and associate procedures to enable the assessment of the life cycle costs and enhanced capabilities associated with the incorporation of emerging technologies. 

DESCRIPTION: "Rapidly evolving technologies combined with the dynamic world environment present unique challenges to the Air Force. The ability to correctly cost technology transitions in support of evolving warfighter needs must be conducted in a timely manner. An emerging technologies Cost Capability Analysis (CCA) would assist in the evaluation of the cost imposing impact of various aircraft systems and CONOPS, in the development of revolutionary, low cost aircraft to augment existing warfighting capability. For example, there are new acquisition strategies for low cost aircraft to take advantage of, such as a product line approach, as opposed to current means to develop exquisite aircraft like F-35 and F-22. This product line approach can bring emerging technology transition to the fight in a timelier manner. The understanding of the developmental cost impacts of this acquisition approach need to be understood and modeled for analysis. There are various tools and methods used to assess mission effectiveness and/or campaign outcomes, without consideration of the cost of operations and support, RDT&E, production, and other life cycle cost (LCC) elements. Existing cost estimating relationships (CER) rely heavily on Commercial of the Shelf (COTS) data, and this approach is inadequate for proper assessment of emerging technologies. Additionally, determining costs associated with an innovation, throughout the entire perceived life cycle, is vital to establishing a relevant business case for investing in emerging technology development. The ability to rapidly assess the cost effectiveness of emerging S&T with expected LCC may be realized from an integrated combination of new and/or existing LCC models and the rate of return for the improved capability. It is envisioned a cost validation can be realized using mission effectiveness and campaign analysis (i.e. Brawler, Suppressor, or STORM) in conjunction with new costing models employing new CERs that more adequately estimate costs throughout the life cycle with correlations between safety, reliability, maintainability, operations and support as cost drivers for the emerging technology. Providing integrated CCA for emerging technology cost estimation relationships for new weapon systems will enable future Air Force acquisition community to determine the most cost effective technologies to meet the future evolving warfare environment. 

PHASE I: Conduct feasibility analysis of an integrated toolset to assess cost estimating relations from capability improvement by employing emerging technologies. This shall include, but not be limited to, identifying new or incremental change to existing CER tools and methodologies to be developed for product line acquisition of a new capability and proven against the baseline of an existing weapon system and/or subsystem. 

PHASE II: Develop, prototype, validate, and demonstrate proposed integrated analysis. The ability to show measured cost relationships for emerging S&T against a government provided baseline capability and/or mission enhancement from technology performance will be required. The throughput must show linkages between emerging technology, and establish LCC sensitivity analyses for key cost factors, such as: safety, security, reliability, maintainability, survivability, and/or other key variables. 

PHASE III: Product-driven commercial sectors may benefit from emerging technology CERs methodology and tools by incorporating into business case analyses for ROI and IRR. Phase III activities could expand this work to commercial sector to enable companies to assess cost of implementing developing technologies. 

REFERENCES: 

1. AFI 65-502, "Financial Management - INFLATION", dated 13 MAY 2015 Corrective Actions applied on 27 January 2017

2. "Air Force Cost Risk and Uncertainty Analysis Handbook", dated April 2007

KEYWORDS: Life Cycle Costs, Emerging Technologies, Cost Estimating, Cost Estimating Relationships, Cost Capability Analysis, Cost Impacts, Modeling 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate applications or services that take advantage of new and emerging non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite communications constellations. Help condense the time between deployment of NGSO constellations and their operational use by the Air Force. 

DESCRIPTION: The Air Force uses satellite-based communications including services provided by commercial satellite operators, and its total satcom capacity demand is likely to increase over the next decade. Recent commercial ventures have introduced and are planning networks of non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) satellites even as geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite capacities increase. The Air Force would like to be positioned to exploit new NGSO capacity as it comes on line in the next few years. Practical progress towards higher-capability NGSO networks has been made with the deployment of O3b satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO) and the start of Iridium NEXT in low Earth orbit (LEO). As these networks expand, multiple other networks are in various phases of development. One or more could be providing services by the end of the decade featuring worldwide coverage, high data rates, low latency, inter-satellite links and robust interfaces to 5G or other terrestrial networks. Commercial operators expect to deploy capability and offer services. Each future network has different plans for ground infrastructure, including fixed and mobile capability, antennas, gateways, terminals and handsets. Whatever, the particular implementation features of the new networks, the Air Force seeks enhanced satcom capacity for manned and unmanned air vehicles and their payloads. While lower data rate networks will also be deployed to support Internet of Things applications, the interest here is in substantial data rates measured in at least megabits/second, and possibly much higher. This research will not duplicate new commercial services. Rather, it will exploit these services to deliver applications that they unlock or enable. Proposers can collaborate with NGSO constellation service providers, maintaining a focus on development and delivery of applications soon after constellation operational capability. Services that can be demonstrated and deployed near term, rather than being reliant on more speculative future constellation services, are strongly preferred. Services that access NGSO capacity as a core element, and combine in a complementary way GEO, low data rate LEO or other communications networks are also of interest. Services that propose to use multiple NGSO networks will be considered, but an effective application deployed sooner using only one network is considered more useful than a grand solution never deployed. 

PHASE I: Identify an application or service offering that directly leverages new NGSO satellite communications networks. The service should support Air Force missions and deliver a new or substantial increment from current capability to communicate and move information to and from air vehicles without an extensive development program. The service may also leverage GEO/GSO satcom and terrestrial or airborne networks and data, but it must explicitly make direct use of high data-rate NGSO network capabilities. Create a software architecture and determine what hardware, if any, will be required to implement the application. Plan a demonstration that can feasibly be carried out during Phase II, using a realistic candidate NGSO service. For example, the Iridium NEXT network has some satellites in place with dozens of other vehicles in the constellation manifested for launch. In Phase I, determine the data interfaces to new commercial networks and understand data security and information assurance. 

PHASE II: Based on the Phase I effort, design and build the application or service. Create or adapt software to interface with and access the NGSO network and its associated services. Assemble necessary elements to access other complementary communications networks as needed. Develop a prototype application suitable for demonstration and directly useable or extendable to wider deployment for Air Force use. Implement the application using a high data rate NGSO satellite communications network and evaluate effectiveness, clearly demonstrated new capability or capability significantly better than current, at lower operating and total cost. If the NGSO network is not completed at the time of the demonstration, describe how the new service will support the full network and how capabilities will expand and improve. 

PHASE III: Create other related applications and services involving communications, data handling, video transmission or other areas for commercial or dual use. Partner with multiple NGSO constellation operators and terrestrial communications providers to integrate satellite connectivity and services into their offerings. 

REFERENCES: 

1."Space: A Sudden Light," The Economist, August 25, 2016.

2.Foust, Jeff, The Return of the Satellite Constellations, March 23, 2015,http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2716/1

3.Petersen, Gregg E. What Will Commercial Satellite Communications do For the Military After Next?. ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA, 1998.

4.Brunnenmeyer, David, et al. "Ka and Ku operational considerations for military satcom applications." Military Communications Conference, 2012-MILCOM 2012. IEEE, 2012.

5.Start, Andy, and Gordon McMillan. "The critical role of tactical satcom in deployed operations." Military Satellite Communications 2013 (Milsatcoms 2013), IET Seminar on. IET, 2013.

KEYWORDS: Satellite Communications, Satcom, Satellite Constellations, Iridium, Non-geostationary, LEO, Mobility Air Fleet, Global Coverage, Airborne Communications Terminal 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Adapt and apply multi-int sensing and machine learning to identify, understand and help mitigate threats to Air Force installations. 

DESCRIPTION: Machine learning techniques have evolved and developed rapidly in the last few years because of the availability of low cost massive computing and large scale labeled data sets. Pattern recognition and other forms of information extraction from video, imagery, text/data streams, or large collections of meta-data from diverse sources are increasingly practical and effective. Processors and algorithms operate at a speed that is increasingly compatible with real-time activities including control and operation of autonomous vehicles, instantaneous facial recognition, and natural language processing. The Air Force deploys and manages forward operating bases, aircraft assets at expeditionary airfields, and other various fixed or temporary supporting ground installations and facilities. Each of these faces threats to its operation, ranging from personnel, manned or unmanned vehicle intrusion, kinetic, electromagnetic and cyber disruption and corruption. These threats evolve on multiple timescales - sometimes quite rapidly “ and can increasingly incorporate elements in multiple domains. Machine learning has the potential to map and understand the installation or operation and then to characterize, monitor and highlight dynamic threats, intrusions and interference within the environment that indicate anomalous behavior and that might pose a threat. Such systems could make use of any available/existing data and ingest new sources of data, including sensors, from within the installation, its physical exterior, local electromagnetic sources or exchanges over public networks. Signals collection and mapping, video analytics such as facial recognition and gait analysis, airspace awareness or physical change detection of the surrounding environment based on vehicle-mounted sensors could be used. A key challenge is the availability of representative data and associated labels or truth identifiers, so that for such systems can be adequately trained. These data could be gathered and the systems trained in-situ, or by using synthetic generation or simulation. For the purposes of this solicitation, the focus will be on forward operating bases in areas with adjacent or nearby urban and semi-urban environments, with sparse road and other infrastructure, and complex mixes of allied and adversarial groups, as well as threat detection during transitional periods of base operation. The detection, characterization and early identification of threats to base personnel and property, including high value assets such as aircraft, is the primary objective of the system to be developed. The government will make available a dataset which will include multiple bands of electro-optical data, RF GMTI, and acoustic data. Training data does not have to include the government provided data set, regardless of data source it should be clearly identified in the proposal. 

PHASE I: Determine appropriate machine learning techniques for implementation of threat detection at forward operating bases embedded in civilian areas. Establish the relevance of these machine learning approaches based on their previous or ongoing application to other similar challenges or clear potential to support threat detection, indications and warning, and predictive avoidance options. Identify existing data sources that could be used to support threat detection, and possible new datasets that could augment existing sources to uncover connectivity or indications of patterns and information. Examine the feasibility of learning methods to characterize and identify threatening behavior or precursors, including the availability of training data or truth sets. Provide a plan for development and demonstration of these concepts, including the development of sensors, data collections, and necessary training data sources. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate the concept and application identified in the Phase I project, including deploying and/or connecting the network of sensors, sources, or databases, training the system to detect threat patterns and generate actionable indications and warnings for operators. Evaluate the effectiveness in terms of probability of detection and false alarm rate for the threats, and reporting on probability of correct classification and probability of detection with a standard confusion matrix. For the phase II additional government assessment could be accomplished so a proof-of-concept software deliverable should be made that can be tested by the government in order to validate future investment. In order to make a product that the government can use, DISA and DoD guidance should be followed in terms of cybersecurity and thus operating systems should have the STIG (open-scap.org) applied with all ports and protocols documented in the final report. 

PHASE III: The contractor can pursue markets and applications in which detection of anomalies or dangers is required, and where multiple data sources are present in dynamic and uncertain environments. Applications include autonomous vehicles, infrastructure protection, security and management of large public events. 

REFERENCES: 

1.Mitchell, Robert, and Ing-Ray Chen. "A survey of intrusion detection techniques for cyber-physical systems." ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 46.4 (2014): 55.

2.Pathan, Shafiqua T., et al. "A survey paper on a novel approach for image classification based on low level image processing algorithm from real time video." International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research 3.2 (2014).

3.Hogenboom, Frederik, et al. "A Survey of event extraction methods from text for decision support systems." Decision Support Systems 85 (2016): 12-22.

KEYWORDS: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Autonomy, Autonomous Systems, Neural Networks, Facial Recognition, Anomaly Detection, Intelligent Surveillance, Threat Indications And Warning 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Design, develop, demonstrate, and produce a prototype III/V avalanche photodiode receiver array in 3.0-4.6 micron range with better than 250 noise equivalent photon sensitivity and greater than 100 MHz bandwidth. 

DESCRIPTION: Low flux photon detectors are a major focus of military electro-optical systems for passive and active sensing, while commercial electro-optical systems focus extensively on telecommunications and production monitoring. Systems designed for all of these applications typically require extremely low dark current density (dark current < 10 nA), high quantum efficiency (EQE > 50%), and single carrier multiplication (k < 0.05) to achieve the necessary photon resolution. Several material systems are capable of meeting these requirements, including silicon, InP/InGaAs, and HgCdTe. These material systems cover the near infrared, short-wave infrared, and thermal infrared spectral bands, respectively. However, the spectral band between 3.0-4.6 microns is not particularly well served by either InP/InGaAs or HgCdTe. An opportunity exists to introduce a new material capable of low dark current, high quantum efficiency, and single carrier multiplication for use in this 3.0-4.6 micron range. III/V materials are capable of meeting bandgap requirements for detection in this spectral range, and recent literature indicates that they should be capable of performing in low flux conditions. The goal of this program is (a) to explore III/V materials for low flux photon detection in Phase I, (b) to bond a photodiode array to a commercially available readout integrated circuit (ROIC) in Phase II, and (c) to demonstrate a large array with single photon resolution in Phase III. The basic requirements for meeting these goals are: that the temporal resolution of the detector assembly is less than or equal to 100 MHz; that the quantum efficiency of the detector assembly is greater than 50% in the spectral window; and that the system is capable of operating at or above 77 K. Preference will be given to avalanche photodiode designs that operate in linear as opposed to Geiger mode, devices that extend the cut-off beyond 4 µm, devices that operate at higher operating temperatures, as well as devices that can be readily fabricated on commercially available substrates and with minimal epitaxial calibration. 

PHASE I: Develop an avalanche photodiode using III/V materials on the single element scale. Demonstrate low excess noise (k < 0.1) and high multiplication (>10) on multiple devices. Demonstrate spectral cut-off wavelengths greater than or equal to 3 microns. 

PHASE II: Develop bonding techniques for full arrays to a commercially available ROIC. Demonstrate either substrate thinning or epitaxial lift-off techniques to retain quantum efficiency in back-illuminated designs. In single element devices, demonstrate 3 dB modulation response above 100 MHz and noise equivalent photon performance below 250 photons. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate a fully packaged camera with over 80% pixel operability and a minimum 32 x 32 array form factor. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Marshall, A.R.J., et al., Electron dominated impact ionization and avalanche gain characteristics in InAs photodiodes. Applied Physics Letters, 2008. 93(11): p. 111107.

2. Svensson, S.P., et al., Band gap of InAs[1-x]Sb[x] with native lattice constant. Physical Review B, 2012. 86(24): p. 245205.

3. Sun, W., et al., High-Gain InAs Avalanche Photodiodes. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 2013. 49(2).

4. Ren, M., et al., AlInAsSb/GaSb staircase avalanche photodiode. Applied Physics Letters, 2016. 108(8): p. 081101.

5. Woodson, M.E., et al., Low-noise AlInAsSb avalanche photodiode. Applied Physics Letters, 2016. 108(8): p. 081102.

KEYWORDS: APD, Avalanche Photodiode, MWIR, Midwave Infrared, III/V, Compound Semiconductor, Detector, Single Photon Avalanche Detector, SPAD, LADAR, LIDAR 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To create low-cost, sensor-laden soft materials with mechanical properties similar to specific human tissues which can be dissolved and re-fabricated into different shapes with little or no additional materials required, with the exception of replacement sensors. These low-cost, sensor-laden soft materials would provide add-on compatibility with at least one generic manikin or part-task trainer in at least one common anatomic site for intrusive medical interventions. 

DESCRIPTION: Human patient simulators (HPS) are designed to support a variety of highly invasive, life-saving medical procedures that care providers may perform in austere environments, such as cricothyrotomy, needle chest decompression, and chest tube insertion. The areas on HPS units involved in these invasive procedures consist of removable, replaceable skin modules which are discarded after a few uses (sometimes even a single use) which can increase material costs for training programs. These consumable modules are made from combinations of rubber, silicone, plastic, and other inexpensive materials, but they can cost hundreds of dollars to replace [1,2]. They are also not cross-compatible with other HPS systems with modules at the same anatomic sites. Materials such as rubber, silicone, and plastic, among others, are known to behave very differently from organic tissues, often requiring far greater amounts of force to tear than human tissues, which introduces the potential for negative training [3]. In addition, these pieces of material cannot sense mechanical changes as a result of cuts, tears, or punctures as a result of medical interventions, such as force or pressure. New skin modules which more accurately simulate the human body are needed, using new designs which take into account emerging medical training standards, such as the Advanced Modular Manikin. One type of life-saving procedure which uses these modules is a chest tube insertion, which is performed to prevent a collapsed lung. A key part of this procedure involves piercing the pleura, a type of tissue that lines the lungs. In 2016, the Army Research Laboratory performed mechanical tests on several varieties of simulated pleura from manikins used to train Soldiers and compared it to samples of human pleura. A comparison of measurements, including the stretch ratio, ultimate tensile strength, and strain energy, revealed that significant mechanical differences exist between human and simulant tissues [3]. The analyses from these mechanical tests also led to the development of a statistical model for tissue behaviors. This model is intended to inform future efforts aiming to reduce or eliminate differences in mechanical performance between human and synthetic tissues. Using advanced manufacturing processes and novel materials, reconfigurable/recyclable skin modules would enable medical care providers to practice invasive medical interventions on HPS systems while reducing material costs. New bioplastics and biopolymers made from starches and collagens are now available which can be 3D printed, and they are fully recyclable [4]. Mechanical models derived from data collected from relevant human tissues can be used to describe an acceptable range of simulated tissue properties, so that the skin modules can be designed to more accurately simulate the behavior of human skin. Finally, embedded sensors can provide instructors with valuable performance information to support after-action review. New sensors are available which can be 3D printed at low cost [5]. In addition, multi-touch sensors now exist which are cuttable, and can continue working after being cut [6]. These capabilities introduce new opportunities to integrate sensors into invasive procedures without interfering with the medical procedure being trained. As a minimum when developing these reconfigurable modules for patient simulators, the following should be considered: The reconfigurable modules must be easy to insert/remove, they must be self-contained and wireless, and they must be able to be cut, torn, or punctured depending on specific type(s) of medical interventions. Interference with medical procedures performed at the module site as a result of sensors must be reduced or eliminated where feasible. The module must have material properties derived from data obtained from relevant human tissues. The re-fabrication process must use little or no additional materials, with exception of sensors, and it must be usable in different environments such as heat, cold, humidity, direct sun, rain, etc. If sensor technology or other technology that transmits energy (amperage/voltage) is used, then system must be designed to not cause injury. Any sensing capabilities must also include the ability to collect and wirelessly transmit performance data into usable data format(s). Other key factors to consider include reusability, maintainability, modularity, and cost effectiveness. 

PHASE I: The Phase I will develop a proof of concept of the reconfigurable/recyclable skin modules. The proof of concept will need to demonstrate the skin modules ability to integrate with at least one commercially available human patient simulator system. This main focus of this first phase is to describe the soft material(s), as well as any associated fabrication/re-fabrication processes, that satisfies the properties described in this topic. The intent of this phase is to produce an initial design for the reconfigurable/recyclable soft tissues, provide considerations for interoperability with existing manikins or part-task trainers, detailed evaluation of sensor technologies, and plans for the integration of mechanical properties similar to human tissue. This proof of concept must demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts described in this topic. The performer will submit a final report including these analyses and provide an initial demonstration describing the state of the development, along with details of what will be further developed in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Using lessons learned from Phase I, the second phase will involve integrating sensor technologies and mechanical properties into the soft tissues to develop the reconfigurable/recyclable skin module. Phase II will involve initial studies to demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of the sensor technologies, and to verify that the mechanical behavior of the relevant simulated tissues is sufficiently similar to the mechanical behavior of real human tissue. In addition to prototypes that clearly demonstrate successful development per capabilities listed above, the performer will submit a final report that will include the current state of the development of the technology. The performer will provide analysis of the materials suggested vs. those compared or developed during research; provide analysis comparing the mechanical behavior of the reconfigurable/recyclable module against the behavior of relevant human tissue; and provide a detailed report and analysis of outcomes of use of these technologies. The developer will provide a demonstration of the product, to include a demonstration of interoperability with existing generic manikins or part-task trainers. 

PHASE III: Contingent upon availability of additional funding, concluding in Phase III the developer will have built a viable, commercially available reconfigurable/recyclable skin module product that can be used in a variety of simulation experiences that is easy to use and affordable when compared to current skin modules. Optimization of material properties to address cost, effectiveness, and improved trainee performance should be pursued during Phase III. The product should be available in a variety of wounds relevant to the medical intervention sites on commercially available human patient simulators, such as cricothyrotomy, needle chest decompression, IV insertion, among others. Phase III should also include paths to transition and commercialization. Such paths should explore various military medical training sites and acquisition programs, as well as the commercial marketplace. While point-of-injury care is a more likely candidate for both Department of Defense transition success and commercialization, higher echelons of care should be considered as well. The performer will demonstrate the product(s) at one or more potential customer sites, preferably military medical training sites. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Laerdal Medical. (2017). Chest Tube Insertion Modules. Retrieved from Laerdal: http://www.laerdal.com/us/item/383110

2: Simulab Corporation. (2017). Tissues Product Category. Retrieved from Simulab: https://www.simulab.com/products?f[0]=field_category%3A181

3: Norfleet, J., Morales Tenorio, L., Mazzeo, M., Barocas, V., Palata, K., & Sweet, R. (2016). Thoracostomy Simulations: A comparison of the mechanical properties of. MODSIM World 2016. Virginia Beach, VA. Retrieved from: http://www.modsimworld.org/papers/2016/A_comparison_of_the_mechanical_properties_of_human_pleura_vs_synthetic_training_pleura.pdf

4: Li, X. et al (2014). 3D-Printed Biopolymers for Tissue Engineering Application. International Journal of Polymer Science. doi:10.1155/2014/829145. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270722480_3D-Printed_Biopolymers_for_Tissue_Engineering_Application

5: Muth, J., Vogt, D., Truby, R., Menguc, Y., Kolesky, D., Wood, R., & Lewis, J. (2014). Embedded 3D Printing of Strain Sensors within Highly. Advanced Materials. doi:10.1002/adma.201400334. Retrieved from: http://lewisgroup.seas.harvard.edu/files/lewisgroup/files/embedded_3d_printing_of_strain_sensors_within_highlystretchable_elastomers.pdf

6: Olberding, S., Gong, N.-W., Tiab, J., Paradiso, J. A., & Steimle, J. (2013). A Cuttable Multi-touch Sensor. Association for Computing Machinery User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (ACM UIST). St. Andrews, United Kingdom. doi:10.1145/2501988.2502048. Retrieved from: https://hci.cs.uni-saarland.de/files/2012/11/ACuttableMultiTouchSensor.pdf

KEYWORDS: Reusable/recyclable Materials, Modular, Simulation, Sensors, Tissue Properties 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: This research should provide technical non-repudiation of combat-related records generated at the time of injury. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Processing Standards (NIST FIPS) 140-2 level 3/4 approved hardware-based cryptographic modules with a weight, size, and power budget no greater than the integrated circuit on a Personal Identity Verification/Common Access Card (PIV/CAC); this will generate a digital signature across the injury record. A prototype will be constructed and the resulting record will be loaded into the warfighters medical record. Workflows will be developed for reducing duplicate medical records, ensuring medical information is associated with the correct injured party, ensuring the integrity of the medical sensor information recorded at the time of injury, and back end systems (Purple Heart Medals and VA disability eligibility). 

DESCRIPTION: Integrity of information captured at the time of injury is critical for ensuring the warfighter receives the correct care. Incorrect information and duplicate medical records are a continuous challenge, especially during times of combat. The e-Textile point of injury integrated circuit is expected to provide a verifiable integrity seal that can be used by relying systems to detect duplicate patient records and loss of record integrity. The integrated circuit should include a capability to verify the warfighters biometric identity based on a separate biometric sensor. That is, illustrate how future biometric sensors could be used to enable the integrated circuit. The eTextile Point of Injury Record will allow for an injury to be recorded and that recorded data can be read by combat medics or team members to help assess the severity of the injuries and action to take to help get that service member care faster. If a severe injury occurs, this information can be passed to the Forward Operating Hospital to give them the information they need to prepare for their arrival, thus being able to provide care faster. Since the battlefield medical sensors will operate autonomously, there needs to be a mechanism that ties the recorded information to the respective warfighter and ensure the information integrity is preserved. While much work has gone into designs such as PIV/CAC card circuitry, these form factors are nor practicable for combat environments. We would like to leverage the current ongoing DoD research into e-textiles. The sensors should be capable of monitoring a warfighter at the time of injury. Given the small size of certain health sensors, determining how best to interface to e-textiles (anchoring and connection) requires analysis. The sensor power, weight, volume, and data budget must be documented. At a minimum, the sensor should interface with conductive fiber for power and data. Separately, the research could address other technologies, such as fiber optics. The device must withstand one atmosphere of water pressure with operation in water and air. Finally, given the increased risk of electronic warfare, no use of wireless radio approaches for sensor communications should be considered. 

PHASE I: Design a concept for using NIST-validated hardware cryptographic digital signature modules with weight and power not exceeding the integrated circuit used on PIV/CAC cards. The concept describes a device that should be enabled by an independent third party prior to entering combat environments (areas where combat pay has been authorized) and disabled otherwise. The device must interface with conductive fiber data busses for capturing combat-related injuries as they occur. The device should include a second enabler to ensure dual authorization of activation. The signed record of injury should include the date and time of injury, obtained from the e-textile data bus. The design will include a capability to activate a signature based by request or future biometric authenticated request. The design should describe how new biometric signatures will be stored. Finally, the resulting signed record should be in a format that can be loaded into the warfighters medical record. The concept should document how the device can be rooted using a machine digital certificate. That is, the device trust is established with a rooted machine certificate. Enabling the capability requires two digital signatures identifying 1) the user (could be self-signed) and 2) the authorized party attesting to entering a potential combat zone. 

PHASE II: Construct and demonstrate the operation of a prototype device. This will include generating records for testing with medical record entry. At least one Government lab, with virtual connection into the MHS Genesis/DES test facility will be available for supporting this research. The lab will be accessible virtually and provide test versions of Theater medical systems. Of particular interest will be recommendations for identifying non-repudiation records. The Phase II demo will use just the commercial chip used on the PIV/CAC card to demonstrate implementing a dual authorization digital signature capability for e-textile uniforms. For this test, existing connectors used by uniforms could be used. The demo should show enabling by loading information regarding who the warfighter is (could be from the warfighters CAC card), and a secondary party indicating the warfighter is entering into a potential combat zone. Note: only the CAC/PIV chips is important for this research. The other functions such as picture, wireless (ISO 14443), and the identity proofing are not part of this effort. This work seeks to build on the technology thats needed and not try to include technology not needed. Once enabled, sample data from the e-textiles should be signed to show the approach works. The research must address how phase III can operate in at least one atmosphere of water pressure. 

PHASE III: This phase will focus on prototyping an optimal form factor for e-textiles. This will necessitate getting the PIV/CAC integrated into a different package format. Analysis of the best form factor will be part of this effort. It is expected the resulting packaging will be reduced from the current contacts seen on a PIV/CAC smart card. During this phase, the product will be tested in air and under water. Disability claims outside the DoD and VA are a challenge. The research that goes into this SBIR should have value in multiple areas. When an injury must be shown to be job-related, the same device could be used for personnel during work hours. Additionally, many jobs, such as commuter train operators, must be physically able to safely operate the equipment. Indications of a black out on the job are grounds to remove that person from their current job. It is therefore important to have solid records that an event did or did not take place. Liability determination must determine if the operator was at fault. This technology directly addresses this gap. 

REFERENCES: 

1: DoD Announces Award of New Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles Manufacturing Innovation Hub Lead in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Release No: NR-115-16, April 1, 2016. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/710462/dod-announces-award-of-new-revolutionary-fibers-and-textiles-manufacturing-inno

2: Winterhalter CA, Teverovsky J, Wilson P, Slade J, Horowitz W, Tierney E, and Sharma V., Development of electronic textiles to support networks, communications, and medical applications in future U.S. military protective clothing systems, IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2005 Sep; 9(3):402-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16167694

3: NIST Special Publication 800-73-4, Interfaces for Personal Identity Verification http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-73-4.pdf

4: FIPS 140 validated list. http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140val-all.htm

5: NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-53r4.pdf

KEYWORDS: FIPS, Digital Signature, E-textile 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a prototype light web-browser-based smart client application that looks and appears to operate like the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System (MHS) MHS GENESIS (1) electronic health record (EHR) system for deployed military treatment facilities (MTFs). This light capability would license or emulate (with license) the Cerner EHR Graphical User Interface (GUI) used in the MHS GENESIS product, would present only a small technical footprint, and could be employed as both a smart client store-and-forward and browser-based cloud-based implementation of the MHS GENESIS EHR in operational theater environments, where deployed forces frequently operate in low- or no-communications environments. The prototype if operationalized can work independently of a connection to the MHS Genesis EHR. 

DESCRIPTION: The Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) Program Office is addressing the replacement of the DoD enterprise EHR system, AHLTA, for fixed facilities. While the Increment II plans for replacement of the current AHLTA-T (Theater) EHR system are not final, the initial concept is to provide a fully functional Cerner EHR system on a stand-alone workstation/laptop for each provider in theater. Implementing the MHS Genesis EHR on a stand-alone workstation basis is likely to require both an extremely high end and expensive laptop and extensive on-site system administrator support even with remotely provisioned software maintenance. When provider-users encounter set-up or operational problems in the field that cannot be resolved via a remote help desk, a technical support person will be needed. Initial research at the Army Product Manager (PM) Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) and U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) have shown that a light version of a cloud-based EHR is feasible in theater, provided that version can operate in both store-and-forward and on-line client server modes. Ideally the client would operate on a web browser when connected to the cloud and as a SMART-client store-and-forward application when not connected. Additionally, all health care providers working within the same theater Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) need to be able to share any patient encounters generated by any provider within that same MTF while communications are down in order to facilitate continuous documentation of all medical care provided anywhere within that same MTF. All patient encounters generated while communications are down will need to be automatically uploaded into the Cloud-based EHR system when communications are restored. This SBIR topic seeks to develop a new SMART client server operational paradigm hybrid approach that applies the best features of both thin and thick clients to development and deployment of smart client applications that, while enabling off-line operation and local horizontal data sharing when communications are unavailable, significantly minimizes or eliminates: the need to install runtime libraries, provide on-site support, and 24-hour help desks. Support for such a system should be comparable to that provided to commercial Smartphones and in most cases problems should be resolved by the user by simply restarting the application as one might do with a web browser based application. This design will then be demonstrated by designing and prototyping a Hybrid Smart Client/web browser based application for agile Theater Operations that: generates a Standard Form 600 using an MHS GENESIS look-alike GUI; works in stand-alone mode and also as a client to the Cloud-based MHS Genesis EHR; runs on Windows laptops, Windows tablets, Android tablets, Chrome notepads, and Apple iOS devices; runs as both a browser-based application when communications are up, and as a smart-client application in stand-alone store-and-forward mode when communications are unavailable; supports horizontal data sharing within the same theater MTF; automatically updates the cloud-based MHS Genesis EHR when communications are resumed; and enables download and display of any encounter record from the cloud-based MHS Genesis EHR record whenever communications are available. (NOTE: This light application should not be dependent on any particular cloud or cloud of cloud architectures.) 

PHASE I: Research and design a prototype smart client store-and-forward and browser-based hybrid application that communicates with a cloud-based EHR, and while enabling off-line operation (when communications are unavailable), and significantly minimizes or eliminates the need to install runtime libraries. This new hybrid application will be used in Phase II to research, design and build a light version of the MHS GENESIS EHR system for deployed MTFs via license or emulation of the Cerner EHR GUI such that the designed prototype capability could be employed as both a store-and-forward and a browser-based implementation of the MHS GENESIS EHR in operational theater environments where deployed forces frequently operate in low or no-communications environments as described above. Provide the system design as an attachment to the Phase I final report and incorporate within the Phase II proposal. While a demonstration is not required during Phase I, conducting a proof of concept demonstration will add more credibility to the Phase II proposal. Expand the technology transfer planned contained in the Phase I proposal and incorporate into the Phase II proposal. System functionality requirements must be coordinated and accepted with the DoD EHR community, as well as, with the Cerner Corporation before being included in the Phase II proposal. Documentation should include: Provide the system design documentation listed below for the prototype hybrid application: - Functional Description Document “ (Users perspective of system and processes) - Design Document “ (How the system technically will be built) - System Specification “ (System Engineers perspective of the system and processes, how they should build the system listing software tools and application(s) languages, utilities, database, etc. along with diagrams) - Data Dictionary “ (Defines all fields in the database along with their characteristics, including entity relationship diagrams) - Cybersecurity Document “ (Identify the technical requirements from application and database STIG in order to receive MAC II Sensitive accreditation to operate (ATO). - Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) “ (breaks down the functional tasks to be performed) - Project Schedule “ (for the development, integration, testing, and evaluation of the product) - Initial Technology Transition Plan / Commercialization Plan 

PHASE II: Use the above documentation set and the Phase I hybrid approach to develop a prototype MHS Genesis Cerner look-alike GUI application to accomplish the objects stated above. Develop a prototype light version of the DMHS GENESIS EHR system for deployed MTFs. Expect stakeholder modifications during the development process. All documentation will be updated to reflect the stakeholders modifications; thus, that at the end of the Phase II, the documentation and software product are reflective of each other. At or near the end of Phase II, the prototype is expected to be demonstrated and evaluated at one of the TATRC field evaluations normally held at the CERDEC Ground Activity (CGA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. This evaluation consists of operational prototype integration with and operational on the Army tactical network, Medic training, and a subjective detailed evaluation of the prototype capabilities. As the prototypes evaluated during this event are early research prototypes, this event does not constitute a formal Operational Test and Evaluation but is expected to provide a detailed review of the products capabilities along with a list of recommended technical and operational capability modifications. At end of Phase II, the vendor will provide source code and documentation set to the government (for government use only) sufficient to enable the government to: a) verify software for vulnerabilities, b) integrate with other systems, and c) evaluate the software at other field exercises. 

PHASE III: This phase continues to build upon Phase II, with expectation to address the new requirements and advance the operational prototype to a deployable and/or marketable product. Address all Cybersecurity STIGs through implementation or risk mitigation and document in the Cybersecurity Document. Vendor is responsible for coordinating the processing of product accreditation through the DoD Security Managers. Complete product development, and provide all source code and updated documentation to government (for government use only) so that government can: a) verify software for vulnerabilities, b) integrate with other systems, c) deploy software, d) maintain software, e) modify as necessary. Conduct an additional Field Demonstration/Evaluation of the product as port of a Joint Technology Demonstration (JTD) or Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) or other comparable service sponsored field exercise. Present the product ready software application/system for fielding to the Joint Operations Medical Information Systems (JOMIS) Office, and applicable Army, Navy/Marine Corps, Air Force and Defense Health Agency managers. Refine and execute the Commercialization Plan contained in the Phase II proposal. 

REFERENCES: 

1: MHS GENESIS Electronic Health Record (EHR), Military Health System and Defense Health Agency, http://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Technology/Military-Electronic-Health-Record/MHS-GENESIS

2: The Differences Between Thick, Thin & Smart Clients, Webopedia, http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/thin_client_applications.asp

3: Major Multi-Service Software Testing Impacts Soldiers Lifelong Health Records, Army PM Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4), http://www.mc4.army.mil/story/Major_Multi-Service_Software_Testing_Impacts_Soldier_Lifelong_Health_Records

4: Medical Records in Combat - PowerPoint PPT Presentation, AMEDD Center & School, http://www.powershow.com/view/2cc99MjZiN/Medical_Records_in_Combat_powerpoint_ppt_presentation

KEYWORDS: Cerner EHR, DoDs New EHR, Theater EHR, Deployable EHR, DoD Software Systems Development, MHS Genesis, MHS Genesis Light, Cloud Computing, Software Accreditation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop and demonstrate an innovative software maintenance capability on Windows, Linux, and Android-based platforms that enable Military Health System program management offices to establish and perform automated maintenance tasks on file systems, operating systems, webservers, databases, medical information system applications, and other system components through a software maintenance agent. The innovation of this research is prototyping of a technical concept and approach to provide an inclusive cross platform software maintenance application that allows for execution of user specified maintenance instructions with decision support to allow for maintenance of complex systems such as current and future Electronic Health Record. This innovation will incrementally advance the state of the art maintenance mechanisms to remove the training requirement and task performance required of end users to perform information system maintenance in a deployed environment. The prototype would validate the use of the software maintenance capability to perform all maintenance tasks, including software updates and patching, on multiple medical information systems not limited to Department of Defenses currently deployed medical electronic health record. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic is designed to address the common challenge of identifying, conducting initial institutionalized training, maintaining skill proficiency and certification of the personnel that will be the system maintainer. For a medical information system capability, this could potentially be Communication Specialists, Biomedical Maintainers, Medical Information Management Officers, or Clinical Personnel. However, the requirement for employing trained and proficient maintainers to sustain system capabilities in operations results in a training requirement that would have to be incorporated into the initial training and into unit-level training. The potential integration of these maintenance tasks into the curriculum for Military Occupational Specialties often introduces significant delay into the development of new capabilities for the Department of Defenses Medical Services. There is potential through utilization of technology for a Program Management Office (PMO) to maintain systems through a software maintenance capability (SMC) that can perform maintenance tasks and predictive maintenance functions on all aspects of a Medical Information Management System. The PMO would provide the schedule of maintenance tasks with corrective actions, which would allow for: performance PMO-defined maintenance actions on the system at PMO-defined intervals and times, and corrective action to be applied when feasible. The maintenance capability would need to ensure that the maintenance actions do not interfere with the end-user performance of operational tasks, and report maintenance to PMO-specified personnel. The SMC would perform maintenance on a wide-range of system components and architectures, on the different operating systems (Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012, Linux, and Android) to identify and fix problems. These system components and architectures include but are not limited to Web Servers, Services, Databases, File Systems, Operating Systems, Applications, and virtualization. Additional maintenance tasks would include, but would not be limited to back-ups, restoration actions, system updates, patching, directory monitoring, and system integrity checks. The Medical Information System Software Maintenance Capability should also be able to interrogate the Medical Information System to obtain PMO-specified configuration information that could be used at a higher level of maintenance to facilitate repair of the end-item. The PMO should also be able to automatically update the maintenance directions with newer maintenance directions remotely. The SMC should also be able to provide predictive maintenance information and take appropriate corrective action to reduce the possible of downtime. The PMO should be able to create, publish, and disseminate maintenance directions for SMC to execute. The SMC would be utilized in the austere conditions ranging from humanitarian assistance to wartime operations. In Echelons at the Brigade and Below, SMC would be utilized with systems that are connected to the classified network through the Tactical Radio Network and would need to minimize network traffic requirements. The SMC would also be able to be utilized with Medical Information Systems on the unclassified network. In these environments, the SMC would need to attain the cybersecurity authority to operate in the unclassified and classified environment through the Department of Defenses Risk Management Framework (RMF). More information can be obtained at the Information Assurance Support Environment (http://iase.disa.mil/pages/index.aspx), to include hardware and software configuration guidelines known as Security Technical Implementation Guidelines (STIGS) that provide guidance for consideration during Phase I. Finally, the SMC should provide both local and remote maintenance reports that are tailored to the different audiences, to include but not limited to clinical end-users, PMO system engineers, and maintenance personnel. When connectivity is available, SMC should be capable of sending the reports to the PMO on a pre-determined and ad-hoc basis to support PMO-level provided maintenance decisions and actions. 

PHASE I: Develop system design and Concept of Operations for an Medical Information System Software Maintenance Agent, to include software architecture for different operating systems (Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012, Linux, and Android) as well as supporting virtualization environment that allows for the SMC to perform PMO-defined maintenance at predetermined intervals and times to execute maintenance actions on the system, with the end-user concurrence; and report maintenance to PMO-determined personnel. Concepts incorporating support virtualization architecture for Type II Hypervisors will be preferred. The concept should include the basic properties of software architecture, underpinning hardware technology concepts and description of the system concept that addresses feasibility and benefit in an austere (battlefield) environment with intermittent low-bandwidth communications, to include prolonged periods of no connectivity. The concept should identify key capability parameters and provide predictions that will later be validated in Phase I and II activities. Conduct feasibility testing of system components and provide results of analytical and experimental results that validate the assertions about the key capability parameters identified in the concept. 

PHASE II: From the Phase I design, develop prototype of a SMC for a Windows 10 and Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2 with technical cybersecurity controls implemented in the design. Demonstrate the capability to perform maintenance on AHLTA-T with medical personnel without maintenance personnel support and without AHLTA-T maintenance training in a relevant environment. Demonstrate the same capability on an undefined medical information system with Windows 10 or Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2 system and some other application to validate the flexibility of the capability to be adapted to different applications. Demonstrate the maintenance reporting capability locally as well as aggregate maintenance reports for multiple SMC agents at a remote location, replicating a PMOs system engineering and maintenance office. Provide results of the demonstrations with lessons learned and recommended system improvements based upon system resource impacts, demonstration results and user feedback. 

PHASE III: Incorporate system improvements resulting from Phase II evaluation results and obtain the appropriate cybersecurity certification as determined during execution of the Risk Management Framework through a Department of Defense-sponsored Cybersecurity Team. Port SMC to Linux and Android operating systems. Execute system evaluation in a suitable operational environment (e.g. Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD), Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD), Marine Corps Limited Objective Experiment (LOE), Army Network Integration Exercise (NIE), etc.). Present the prototype project, as a candidate for fielding, to applicable Army, Navy/Marine Corps, Air Force, Cost Guard, Department of Defense, Program Managers for Combat Casualty Care systems along with the government and civilian program managers for emergency, remote, and wilderness medicine within state and civilian health care organizations, and Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, and Veterans Affairs. Execute further commercialization and manufacturing through collaborative relationships with partners identified in Phase II. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Hoffer, Jeffrey A., Joey F. George, and Joseph S. Valacich. Modern Systems Analysis and Design. 7th ed. N.p.: Pearson, 2013. Print.

2: Sjøberg, Dag I.K. "Managing Change in Information Systems: Technological Challenges." Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

3: "Automatic Maintenance." Microsoft Developer Resources. Microsoft, n.d. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh848037(v=vs.85).aspx. 20 Sept. 2016.

4: Warren, Steven. "Automate Database Upkeep with the SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard - TechRepublic." TechRepublic. N.p., 2007. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

5: Canfora, Gerardo, Aniello Cimitile, and Palazzo Bosco Lucarelli. "Software maintenance." Handbook of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering 1 (2000): 91-120.

KEYWORDS: AHLTA-T, Android, Application, Authentication, Automation, Information, Linux, Maintenance, Medical, Mobile Device, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research, prototype, and demonstrate a wireless finger pulse oximeter with an on board optical fingerprint sensor integrated with an embedded ultra-wideband wireless transmission capability. The fingerprint sensor will enable the medic treating the casualty to identity of the patient and enhance the capability to associate a variety of vital signs; i.e. Arterial Oxygen Saturation (SPO2), Photoplethysmogram (PPG) waveforms, etc. from multiple patient medical encounters. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic is designed to focus on research, prototyping, and demonstration a system that will allow a medic or corpsman the capability to track the identity and vital signs of multiple patients at the point of injury and during en route casualty evacuations. The problem occurs when the medic is treating multiple patients or has to quickly treat a patient prior to evacuation, the vital signs data is not added to the medical encounter or possibly the wrong data is associated to the patient. The medic needs a capability to instantaneously track, associate, and transmit vital signs will allow the data to the correctly be uploaded to the patients electronic health record from every medical encounter developed. Additionally, the vital signs data generated by the fingerprint pulse oximeter sensor to the medics end user device (EUD) will be leveraged by predictive algorithms/machine learning application onboard an end user device (EUD) to aid the medic in treating the patient. Ideally fingerprint identification would be integrated with a biometric database to automatically associate patients with their electronic health records but at the minimum, fingerprint identification should be used to distinguish between patients. The basic concept of operation, the medic will use the fingerprint scan to initially identify the patient manually, and then once the patient is identified, the fingerprint scanner will automatically associate any additional vital signs to the patients electronic health record even if the device was used on other patients between encounters. The medical sensor device should wirelessly transmit via embedded ultra wideband (UWB) both patient identification and physiological data to a medics EUD. The capture electronic medical data on the EUD will be uploaded into the electronic DD1380 encounter, and then the encounter is signed and transmitted from the EUD via the military tactical network to an AHLTA-T server to be uploaded in the casualtys permanent electronic health record. This solution will address the current capability gap of electronically entering patient data directly from medical devices. 

PHASE I: Research solutions and design a prototype breadboard solution that can demonstrate the technical challenges on this topic for a feasible solution for a pulse oximeter capable of fingerprint identification that can integrate with a EUD via embedded ultra-wideband. Investigate the ability to integrate with biometric databases to automatically identify patients. Data must be able to be transmitted over limited bandwidth using military tactical radio networks. Explore commercialization potential with civilian emergency medical service systems development and manufacturing companies. Seek partnerships within government and private industry for transition and commercialization of the production version of the product. RESEARCH INVOLVING ANIMAL OR HUMAN SUBJECTS: Not Applicable for Phase I. Applicable for Phase II and beyond. The SBIR Program discourages offerors from proposing to conduct Human or Animal Subject Research during Phase 1 due to the significant lead time required to prepare the documentation and obtain approval, which will delay the Phase 1 award. All research involving human subjects (to include use of human biological specimens and human data) and animals, shall comply with the applicable federal and state laws and agency policy/guidelines for human subject and animal protection. Research involving the use of human subjects may not begin until the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's Office of Research Protections, Human Research Protections Office (HRPO) approves the protocol. Written approval to begin research or subcontract for the use of human subjects under the applicable protocol proposed for an award will be issued from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, HRPO, under separate letter to the Contractor. Non-compliance with any provision may result in withholding of funds and or the termination of the award. 

PHASE II: Develop a ruggedized patient identifying pulse oximeter prototype that can be used with an android mobile EUD via embedded UWB (ultra-wideband) wireless transmission capability versus Bluetooth to reduce electronic signature when used in tactical environments. The prototype at minimum needs to be capable of demonstrating the ability to transmit wirelessly via UWB to a mobile EUD the patient identifying biometric data, heart rate, SPO2 number and PPG waveform in a field environment while distinguishing between different patients. Consider power sourcing and power management as well as miniaturization of the UWB transmitter and antenna technology sufficient to fit into an effective ruggedized pulse oximeter form factor. Begin regulatory (FDA) planning if fingerprint sensor interferes with pulse ox technology. At or near the end of Phase II, the prototype is expected to be demonstrated and evaluated at the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centers (TATRCs) field evaluation normally held at the CERDEC Ground Activity (CGA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. This event consists of operational prototype integration with and operation on the Army tactical internet, medic training, and a subjective detailed evaluation of the product. As the prototypes evaluated during this event are early research prototypes, this event does not constitute a formal Operational Test and Evaluation but is expected to provide a detailed review of the product along with a list of recommended technical and operational capability modifications. Continue development of the Initial Transition Plan / Commercialization Plan, finalizing the document for execution during Phase III. 

PHASE III: This phase continues to build upon Phase II, with expectation to address the new requirements and advance the operational prototype to a deployable and/or marketable product by refining and executing the commercialization plan included in the Phase II Proposal. Continue development and refinement of the prototype in Phase II to develop a production variant of the patient identifying pulse oximeter. The production variant may be evaluated in an operational field environment such as Marine Corps Limited Objective Experiment (LOE), Army Network Integration Exercise (NIE), etc. depending on operational commitments. Present the prototype project, as a candidate for fielding, to applicable Army, Navy/Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Department of Defense, Program Managers for Combat Casualty Care systems along with government and civilian program managers for emergency, remote, and wilderness medicine within state and civilian health care organizations, and the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, and Veterans Administration. Execute further commercialization and manufacturing through collaborative relationships with partners identified in Phase II. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Moulton, S. L., Mulligan, J., Grudic, G. Z., & Convertino, V. A. (2013). Running on empty? The compensatory reserve index. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 75(6), 1053-1059. Chicago [http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA616659]

2: Journal of Special Operations Medicine Summer 2010 Volume 10, Edition 3, pg 55. Abstract. Exploration of Prehospital Vital Sign Trends for the Prediction of Trauma Outcomes, by Liangyou Chen, PhD; Andrew T. Reisner, MD; Andrei Gribok, PhD; Jaques Reifman, PhD. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDkQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dtic.mil%2Fget-tr-doc%2Fpdf%3FAD%3DADA533789&ei=D943VeOhDcnlsASwqYGIBg&usg=AFQjCNFMSmmAhMWxdGWXXv2fVKzyZGhcOg&sig2=aTFFzvX-5SfGPTN1T8NVig&bvm=bv.91071109,d.eXY

3: US Special Operations Command, "Special Operations Medical Handbook", November 2008; ISBN 978-0-16-080896-8, cvbnmk, l. US Government Printing Office, Printed version: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/actions/GetPublication.do?stocknumber=008-070-00810-6

KEYWORDS: Pulse Oximeter, Fingerprint Scanner, Wireless UWB, Electronic Health Record, DD1380 Field Medical Card 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop and demonstrate a robust and ruggedized mobile causality display toolkit for Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3). 

DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks the development of a mobile causality display toolkit prototype for use on any mobile device with Bluetooth technology to provide medics and CLSs with a more in-depth TC3 training in live exercises. This new solution for representing causality injuries will enable self, buddy, Combat Livesafer (CLS), and medic care in live exercises and address the need to increase infantry squad capabilities to improve tactical effectiveness while managing casualties. The components of this toolkit will include an android mobile device and tools that support care of preventable deaths. All components of the toolkit should withstand the ruggedness of live exercises. During live exercises, a medic at the time of injury will obtain Combat Causality Care (CCC) information from a mobile device. The mobile device will allow the medic to see the mechanism of the injury, injury, signs and symptoms, and treatment (MIST), in addition to tactical and vital information. With the information obtained from the mobile device, the medic will be able to leverage the tools that support care of preventable deaths to provide the causality with initial treat. The mobile device will provide the medic with dynamic visual updates of MIST, tactical information, and vital signs real-time. This will provide the medic with real-time injury status information allowing the medic to course correct treatment if necessary. The intention of this topic is to utilize mobile technologies to allow self, buddy, CLS, and medic treatment in live exercises. With technologies that provide dynamic visual updates of MIST, tactical information, and vital signs in real-time the individual providing treatment will be able treat the causality throughout the duration of the exercise, resulting in a more robust training. This topic seeks a high fidelity robust and ruggedized mobile solution for TC3 training. The research and development will focus on both the hardware and the software components. The hardware components should be lightweight, rugged enough to withstand live training, and communicate via Bluetooth or similar technology so that the tools that support care of preventable deaths can transmit the type of treatment to the mobile device. In addition, to increase the fidelity of TC3 simulated training in live exercises the hardware should leverage technologies that provide sensory information to the individual providing care, such as haptics, auditory, and olfactory cues and feedback. The software should succinctly display dynamic visual updates of MIST, tactical information, and vital signs real-time. The real-time information should be based on type of treatment provided by the medic in conjunction with physiological models to represent a persons vitals over time. Physiological models could be derived from software programs such as BiogearsTM and HumModTM (see references) In addition the mobile causality display toolkit should generating real-time data to improve the Commanders Casualty Response System, individual TC3 training, and After Action Review (AAR). Research conducted under this effort should focus on Commanders Casualty Response System, individual TC3 training, and AAR. The final demonstration should show proof-of-concept feasibility for a mobile causality display toolkit that withstands the ruggedness of live training, communicates via Bluetooth to provide treatment updates to the medic via the mobile display, and provides real-time MIST, tactical, and vital information based on physiological models. 

PHASE I: Identify one or multiple methods for a robust and ruggedized mobile causality toolkit, ensuring that the toolkit components are rugged enough to withstand live training and that the treatment information can be transmitted from the tools to the mobile display. The effort should clearly analyze and define scientific and technical feasibility, as well as commercial merit, of using a mobile causality display toolkit for TC3. The effort should seek innovative and novel ideas for exploration of concepts to provide a rugged and realistic solution that would allow for hands on training. Phase I deliverables should include a proof of principle prototype demonstration or a set of technical drawings in electronic format that would provide a view of all components of the proposed system, Phase II design plans, and exploration of commercialization with potential medical development and manufacturing companies. The offeror shall identify innovative technologies being considered, technical risks of the approach, costs, benefits, plan for development, notional schedule associated with development, and a literature search to support feasibility. 

PHASE II: From the Phase I design, develop a ruggedized prototype and demonstrate the real-time presence of the mobile causality display toolkit and sensory cues and feedback. The prototype toolkit can be initially demonstrated in an area where Bluetooth signal is strong, knowing that the goal of the prototype is for Bluetooth to work in areas where signal strength is less than ideal. The offeror shall conduct usability studies during development of the system. The offeror shall provide projection of costs to manufacture, maintain and resupply, as well as the equipment lifecycle. The offeror shall conduct a training effectiveness evaluation (TEE) of the final prototype with combat medics. The evaluation shall provide quantitative measures of the effectiveness of the system. Data from the usability studies and the TEE shall be provided, analyzed, and presented in a final report. The offeror shall continue commercialization planning and relationship development with military and civilian end users and begin to execute transition to Phase III transition and commercialization in accordance with the Phase I commercialization plan. 

PHASE III: Refine and execute the commercialization plan included in the Phase II Proposal. After Phase III development, the final production model of mobile causality display toolkit for TC3 must be ruggedized for shock, dust, sand, and water resistance to enable reliable, uninterrupted operation in combat environments. Service members will wear the mobile display and medics will carry the tools, thus size and weight are important factors. The ultimate goal of the system would be to enable simulated real-time assessment, monitoring, and intervention of causalities during live training. Additionally, the toolkit should generate real time data to improve the Commanders Casualty Response System, individual TC3 training, AAR. Execute proof-of-concept evaluation in a suitable operational environment (e.g. military operations in urban terrain site). 

REFERENCES: 

1: Milham, L. M., Phillips, H. L., Ross, W. A., Townsend, L. N., Riddle, D. L., Smith, K. M., ... & Johnston, J. H. (2016). Squad-level training for Tactical Combat Casualty Care: instructional approach and technology assessment. The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation: Applications, Methodology, Technology, 1548512916649075. Link: http://dms.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/05/25/1548512916649075.abstract

2: Townsend, L., Milham, L., Riddle, D., Phillips, C. H., Johnston, J., & Ross, W. (2016, July). Training Tactical Combat Casualty Care with an Integrated Training Approach. In International Conference on Augmented Cognition (pp. 253-262). Springer International Publishing. Link: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-39952-2_25

3: Metoyer, Rodney, Bergeron, Bryan, Clipp, Rachel B., Webb, Jeffrey B., Thames, M. Cameron, Swarm, Zachary, Carter, Jenn, Gebremichael, Y., and Heneghan, Jeremiah. Multiscale Simulation of Insults and Interventions: The BioGears Showcase Scenarios. Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Conference. Los Angelos, CA Link: https://biogearsengine.com/documentation/index.html

4: Hester, R., Brown, A., Husband, L., Iliescu, R., Pruett, W. A., Summers, R. L., & Coleman, T. (2011). HumMod: a modeling environment for the simulation of integrative human physiology. Frontiers in physiology, 2, 12. Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3082131/

KEYWORDS: Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Casualty Simulation, Live Training Mobile Devices 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop improved circumaural ear seals for hearing protection and communication devices that have the ability to better fit to the features of the Service members head and eyewear providing an improved seal, reducing environmental stress while providing an improved level of noise attenuation to help reduce incidence of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) and improve communications. 

DESCRIPTION: Servicemembers are exposed to high noise environments on a daily basis. Aviation, mechanized, light and armored units are all exposed to environments well in excess of the permissible noise levels. In aviation alone, flight crews spend a majority of their day in aircraft and; even when not flying, are still subjected to the high noise levels of an active airfield. Ground crews carry headsets with them for aircraft run ups and maintenance checks. It is vital that these groups be able to protect their hearing while maintaining the ability to communicate effectively to accomplish the mission safely and effectively. Hearing loss and auditory disorders are the most prevalent service-connected disabilities for military service members [1, 2]. In addition to improving the hearing protection provided by the headset, achieving improvements in attenuation of communication headsets can provide for improved speech intelligibility. The ear seal plays a substantial role in the efficacy of circumaural hearing protectors. However, ear seal technology has changed very little in the last 40+ years. Proper fit of ear seals against the head can be compromised by eyewear, facial hair, and the anatomy of the Servicemembers head. Acoustic leaks caused by eyewear have been shown to be detrimental to the amount of noise attenuation provided by the headset [3]. Eyewear is important personal protective equipment for the Servicemember, so the design of next-generation ear seals should take into account the presence of eyewear, and conform around it for a better acoustic seal. In addition to the conformability improvements of the ear seals, it is also desirable for the actual materials composing the ear seal to provide increased attenuation properties, and to be lightweight. Since headsets are often worn for very long periods of time, it is also desirable for the ear seal to reduce pressure points and hot spots against the Servicemembers head. Ear seals are currently unable to distribute the clamping pressure across their contact surface, even when clamped to a flat plate, let alone when used on a human head [4]. Discomfort from headsets can create environmental stress, as described in the Army Aeromedical Training doctrine: which might divert their attention from performing operational duties or may cause the Servicemember to remove the headset. The proposed solution will provide a more even distribution of the clamping force than existing ear seal technology, significantly reduce acoustic leaks, and increase the overall attenuation of the headset. 

PHASE I: To show feasibility, build working prototypes of improved ear seals for three headsets routinely used in military aviation and infantry personnel and show their ability to reduce acoustic leaks, compared to the stock ear seals) by conforming around the temples of eyeglasses listed on the U.S. Army Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL) using an acoustic test fixture. Demonstrate, in accordance with ANSI/ASA S12.42-2010 [5], that the materials in the ear seal provide an improved attenuation of the headset versus the same headset with the stock ear seals, especially in the frequencies below 500 Hz where the pumping effect of the hearing protector acting as a mass/spring system is observed [6]. Identify further improvements to be implemented in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Based on Phase I results develop a series of improved ear seals for all three headsets and demonstrate, in accordance with ANSI/ASA S12.6-2016 [7], an increase in attenuation versus the stock ear seal for each headset of 2 dB or more. Demonstrate a significant acoustic advantage of reduced leakage around glasses for all three headsets. Perform quantitative measurements to show an improvement in distributing clamp force more evenly across the contact surface of the ear seals. The ear seal designs should make them easy to attach as a replacement component for fielded helmets and headsets. 

PHASE III: The comfort of hearing protectors is one of the chief factors affecting the willingness of individuals in industry, military, and society in general. If a hearing protector is not comfortable, it will not be worn or the user will compromise the protector to make it less uncomfortable and less effective. Hearing protection and communication are essential for the safety and communication of Servicemembers, particularly those in ground and air vehicles. The deployment of a next-generation design of circumaural ear seals should improve the hearing protection of the wearer, improve communication, and reduce the environmental stress associated with wearing headsets for extended periods of time. Furthermore, improved ear seals will improve the use of hearing protection in all areas of society where hearing protection is mandated or advised. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Veterans Benefit Administration, Annual Benefits Report. Fiscal Year 2014. 2014, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

2: McGeary, M., et al., A 21st century system for evaluating veterans for disability benefits. 2007: National Academies Press.

3: Reeves, E.R., E. Gordon, and S. Nomura, Noise Attenuation Loss Due to Wearing APEL Eye Protection with Ear-Muff Style Headset Systems, Sensory Research Division, Editor. 2012, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory: Fort Rucker, AL.

4: Gerges, S.N.Y., D. Sanches, and R.N.C. Gerges. Earmuff Comfort. in Proceedings of 20th International Congress on Acoustics, ICA 2010. 2010. Sydney, Australia.

5: ANSI/ASA., S12.42-2010 American National Standard Methods for the Measurement of Insertion Loss of Hearing Protection Devices in Continuous or Impulsive Noise Using Microphone-in-Real-Ear or Acoustic Test Fixture Procedures. 2010, Acoustical Society of America: Melville, NY.

6: Berger, E.H., EARLog #5 - Hearing Protector Performance: How They Work - And - What Goes Wrong in the Real World. Sound and Vibration, 1980. 14(10): p. 14-17.

7: ANSI/ASA, S12-6-2016 American National Standard Methods for Measuring the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protectors. 2016, Acoustical Society of America: Melville, NY.

KEYWORDS: Hearing Protection; Ear Seals, Comfort, Attenuation, Noise, And Headset 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an easy to use diagnostic tool for risk stratification and disease severity at point of care utilizing the complete blood count test. 

DESCRIPTION: Early recognition of disease severity and early treatment interventions are critical to reducing the rates of morbidity and mortality. Risk stratification of patients with acute or severe conditions is an important step to guide the initial triage, therapeutic management, and suitability for discharge. Early identification of these at-risk patients may provide an opportunity to intervene and thereby improve outcomes and optimize resource allocation. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the stratification of patients using inexpensive, common and standardized blood tests. The complete blood count (CBC) is a routine laboratory test to evaluate white blood cell, neutrophil, and lymphocyte, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell distribution width, mean corpuscular volume, platelet count, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width. Several of these parameters, such as red cell distribution width (RDW) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, have been suggested as biomarkers for systemic inflammation and severity of disease. Such a simple biomarker could provide a tool to facilitate focused interventions and triage decisions for patients at high risk for poor clinical outcomes. These biomarkers are quickly and cheaply obtained with routine CBC analysis. For example, RDW elevation can occur in any condition such as inflammatory disease and sepsis. In addition to diagnosing anemia, recent studies have demonstrated that RDW also gives information regarding the prognosis of sepsis and infectious disease (primary concerns) along with heart disease, hepatitis, and cancer (secondary concerns). It also has shown promise for predicting severity for triage in the emergency department and intensive care units. 

PHASE I: Develop a CBC analyzer. The analyzer and any necessary components should be (less than 35lbs) 50% less weight than the average desk-top analyzer and 1.5 cubic feet with no cold chain requirements for the system reagents. The analyzer should be easy to use at the point of care (Role I or higher) for disease severity analysis and risk stratification. It is expected that the design will employ innovative technology to affect improved/reduced size/weight/cube and the design should be vectored towards a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Program (CLIP) waived test. The contractor will deliver an integrated package of design results in a mutually agreed digital format with concept drawings (including isometric), concept schematics, conceptual blood analysis process flow diagrams and other engineering data necessary for government design evaluation. The package must also include an explanation of why the employed technology is considered innovative. 

PHASE II: Build the prototype equipment based on the results of Phase I and any forthcoming subsequent technological improvements based on government evaluation of Phase I. The unit will be intended for point of care use by HRT medical personnel (non-lab tech) in Level I or higher echelons of care. The prototype should produce a white blood cell (WBC); neutrophil (NEU) count and percentage; lymphocyte (LYM) count and percentage, monocyte (MONO) count and percentage; eosinophil (EOS) count and percentage; neutrophil to lymphocyte ration, hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Htc), red cell distribution width (RDW), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW). The contractor will update and deliver the integrated package of design results provided in Phase I based on the prototype build. This will be in a mutually agreed digital format. Develop and submit for approval, a test plan and associated procedures to demonstrate system operation and accuracy, linearity and precision, side-by-side against a quantitative, high complexity analyzer with samples of known value. Testing should be conducted by the contractor or their fully qualified independent laboratory and may be witnessed by the government. Testing should be vectored toward a CLIP waived test so it can be performed by a trained individual, e.g. nurse, EMT, or MD, other than a lab technician. Results will be provided to the government. The above testing should be rigorous enough to be used in the FDA approval process. The contractor should conduct initial planning for FDA approval. Also, the contractor will provide to the government a list of any notable manufacturing considerations should the item proceed into Phase III. 

PHASE III: Provided that the prototype performs successfully, the vendor, topic author and AFMSA Advanced Development Cell (ADC) will work together to transition the item to meet MIL-STD 810, is FDA approved, and is affordable and producible for both HRT and small civilian clinic settings. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lorente L, Martín MM, Abreu-González P, Solé-Violán J, Ferreres J, et al. Red blood cell distribution width during the first week is associated with severity and mortality in septic patients. PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e105436. PubMed PMID: 25153089; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4143268. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105436

2: Hunziker S, Celi LA, Lee J, Howell MD. Red cell distribution width improves the simplified acute physiology score for risk prediction in unselected critically ill patients. Crit Care. 2012 May 18;16(3):R89. PubMed PMID: 22607685; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC358063 https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/cc11351

KEYWORDS: In-vitro Diagnostics, Severity, Sepsis, Cardiac Disease, Infectious Disease, Complete Blood Count, Red Blood Cell Indices 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a novel crystalloid resuscitative fluid which improves outcome following severe hemorrhage when compared to the current standard of care crystalloid. 

DESCRIPTION: The current prehospital standard of care for hemorrhage is to use a crystalloid solution such as Normal Saline or a colloid solution such as albumin, gelatin, or starch. These standard of care therapies have been shown to be less than optimal with some negative outcomes following severe hemorrhage to include hyperchloremic acidosis and tissue edema for the crystalloids. [1,2]. The colloids have been associated with renal injuries and increased bleeding risks and have been shown to no survival improvements over the crystalloids [3]. The requested technology is for a novel resuscitative fluid that decreases the risks associated with the current standard of care. The requested technology may function by various mechanisms to include but are not limited to enhanced cellular resuscitation, enhanced tissue recovery and replacement of lost cellular factors. The all components of the fluid must have a clearance mechanism from the body. 

PHASE I: The expectations for this phase are the design and development of a prototype fluid and the completion of a proof of concept in vitro cell based study. This study should examine the ability of the resuscitative fluid to improve cell function and viability vs a standard of care crystalloid solution in a cell culture model of endothelial cell activation. Additionally, the expectation for this phase is the development and conduct of a proof of concept study to test the prototype fluid in a rodent model of acute hemorrhagic shock. The study endpoints should be improvements in outcome compared to a standard of care crystalloid solution. 

PHASE II: In this phase, the Offeror will develop and conduct a small animal evaluation of the technology compared to normal saline (current standard of care) and whole blood in a model of severe hemorrhage/hemorrhagic shock. The size of the study should be appropriately powered to ensure that the results are statistically significant. The study should be designed to include the evaluation of the solution for the acute phase of hemorrhage/hemorrhagic shock and long-term outcomes. These outcome measures should include survival, evaluation of inflammatory markers, evaluation of coagulation parameters, and evaluation of metabolic parameters. The study should be conducted under Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) or GLP-like conditions. Design and conduct a proof of concept evaluation of the technology in a large animal model of hemorrhage/hemorrhagic shock. The study should examine the translation of the technology from the rodent model to a large animal (swine, sheep, etc). The study should include the evaluation of the solution for the acute phase of hemorrhage/hemorrhagic shock and mid to long term outcomes. These outcome measures should include survival, evaluation of inflammatory markers, evaluation of coagulation parameters, and evaluation of metabolic parameters. Develop a business strategy for the development and commercialize the technology. Initiate discussions with the FDA on the regulatory pathway for the technology. 

PHASE III: The technology developed will address the Defense Health Program gaps for improved resuscitation and prolonged prehospital care. The likely path for transition of the technology will be through either the Army or Navy Advanced Medical Development Program or the Defense Health Program Medical Development Program as all three are currently involved in the development of related products, dried plasma and a multifunction resuscitation fluid (blood substitute). It is envisaged that the product developed will be procured for use by all of the Services for primary use in the field/prehospital environment. In this phase the Offeror in consultation with the FDA will conduct a GLP or GLP-like large animal validation study. The study should be appropriated powered for determination of statistical significance of the results. The study should involve a large animal model of hemorrhage/hemorrhagic shock (swine, sheep, non-human primates, etc). The Offeror will conduct Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies to establish safety/toxicity in an appropriate Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) animal model and an appropriate product stability studies. The Offeror should also conduct other IND enabling studies such as pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics as deemed necessary following discussions with the FDA. The end state of this research is to conduct all appropriate studies required to receive IND approval for the conduct of human clinical trials. The Offeror will be encouraged to identify and apply for other government sources of funding or private funding to conduct the clinical trials. 

REFERENCES: 

Santry, H.P. and Alam, H.B. (2010) Fluid Resuscitation: Past, Present, and the Future. Shock. 33; 3, 229-241. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988844/

Cotton, B.A., Guy, J.S., Morris, J.A., and Abumrad, N.N. (2006) The cellular, metabolic, and systemic consequences of aggressive fluid resuscitation strategies. Shock. 26;2, 115-121. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6908643_The_cellular_metabolic_and_systemic_consequences_of_aggressive_fluid_resuscitation_strategy

Perel, P. and Roberts, I. (2011) Colloid versus crystalloid for fluid resuscitation in critically ill patients. Cochrane Database of Systematic Review. 3; CD000567. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000567.pub6/full

KEYWORDS: Resuscitation Fluid, Trauma, Hemorrhage, Crystalloid, Tissue, Cell, Recovery 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and deliver a low power biometric wearable device capable of collection, storage, and transmission of electrocardiogram (EKG) rhythm, temperature, pulse, and other vital human physiological function data. System must provide near real-time remote patient monitoring in combat, transport, and surgical environments. 

DESCRIPTION: Injured warfighters operating in remote environments require both assessment and monitoring, often while the maneuver element is still engaged with enemy forces. Combat casualties are evaluated and treated under a phased continuum of care that begins with Combat Casualty Care administered by embedded combat medical personnel in the battle field. Subsequent phases of care include casualty evacuation, field hospital, etc. Throughout this care continuum, medical care providers require accurate and timely patient biometric data to ensure appropriate triage and deliver of life saving measures. No system is currently available continuous monitoring in an operationally suitable form factor. Additionally, records of care provided at each echelon must be passed to the subsequent medical echelon to ensure safe continuity of care. Current procedures for passing patient condition and care history require a written record or verbal communication. Both of these communication modes are problematic in combat environments. This topic seeks development of a small wearable device that can be quickly placed on injured personnel capable of collecting essential biometric data and providing the capacity to remotely deliver collected data in real-time to a range of medical care providers, including on-scene combat medics and surgeons at remote field hospitals. This new capability will provide a force multiplier through remote assessment, increased survivability, and free engaged warfighters from direct monitoring thus improving combat effectiveness and increasing situational awareness. The device should be designed to provide key biometric data and transmit the collected data along existing throughput constrained military communication channels. In light of the limited throughput capacity at the tactical edge, the system should leverage data management schemes that provide a high probability of successful transmission. Additionally, the device should incorporate an intuitive user interface that can be interpreted by minimally trained care providers. 

PHASE I: The Phase I effort will focus on developing a proof-of-concept for a remote medical monitoring wearable in a compact ruggedized form factor and determine the technical feasibility of the proposed topic. 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will develop a prototype biometric wearable based on the PHASE I proof-of-concept. The Phase II effort will increase the pertinent physiological medical data set collection to include, temperature, heart rate variability, pulse, and blood oxidation. This data needs to be collected continually and in a suitable digital form for dedicated communication channel for analysis and monitoring. The Phase II effort will also provide data collection to ensure accurate medical assessment, and to diagnose operational effectiveness, in an effort to provide appropriate remote treatment and improve triage efficiency under appropriate environmental conditions and weather. Because treatment will be based upon data collected appropriate FDA assessment and evaluation will be required in PHASE II. This assessment could include the regulatory pathway necessary for FDA approval. 

PHASE III: Phase III efforts will be directed toward refining a final deployable design; incorporating design modifications based on results from tests conducted during Phase II; and improving engineering/form factors, equipment hardening, and manufacturability designs to meet U.S. Army CONOPS and USASOC Medical requirements. It is expected that commercialization of this wearable with real-time remote connectivity will greatly enhance first responders ability to prevent loss of life and maintain situational awareness. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Thayer, J. F., Ã…hs, F., Fredrikson, M., Sollers, J. J., & Wager, T. D. (2012). A meta-analysis of heart rate variability and neuroimaging studies: Implications for heart rate variability as a marker of stress and health. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(2), 747“756

2: Billman, G. E. (2011). Heart Rate Variability? A Historical Perspective. Frontiers in Physiology, 2.

3: Ursino, M., & Magosso, E. (2003). Role of short-term cardiovascular regulation in heart period variability: a modeling study. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 284(4), H1479“H1493.

KEYWORDS: EKG, Wearable, Heart Rate Variability, Medical Monitoring, Biometric Data, Triage 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an FDA-approved concentrated Lactated Ringer's injection solution at reduced weight, cube and/or cost of current product(s) that requires no power source. 

DESCRIPTION: Effective application of critical care concepts in a timely fashion is vital to the survival of the wounded Soldier on the battlefield. Intravenous (IV) fluids, such as Lactated Ringers (LR) solution, are given to patients to either replete a deficit in intravascular volume or prevent the development of such a deficit (1). Ringers Injection Lactated USP, 1000ml Bag is a DHA MEDLOG recognized item identifiable via National Stock Number (NSN: 6505-013306267). 1000ml LR weighs approximately 2.2 pounds per bag. Reconstituting LR using a local water supply introduces an opportunity to reduce weight, cube and potentially cost associated with transporting LR to forward locations. NASA has conducted developmental efforts and testing associated with customized IV bags and fluid therapy systems (2). It appears these efforts have not led to the development of a commercially viable product or system. PMO-MD/USAMMA seeks Lactated Ringers injection solution at decreased weight, cube, and/or cost of current product(s). 

PHASE I: Identify, assess, and select potential water filtration technologies to develop a concept and functional prototype associated with reconstitution of concentrated Lactated Ringers injection solution using varied sources of water supply. Conduct related feasibility studies determining / demonstrating the innovative technology; associated testing that verifies key parameters can be achieved including FDA high purity water systems standards as applicable; technical risks; costs, benefits, and schedule associated with development of the prototype. Phase I deliverables include a prototype and associated laboratory test results as applicable. 

PHASE II: Provide a detailed plan outlining development, demonstration and validation of a concentrated Lactated Ringers Injection solution manufacturable at reduced weight, cube and cost of currently product(s). Refine and validate the technical concepts and prototype developed in the phase I effort into a ruggedized prototype. Conduct quality testing to statistically verify and validate that the system will consistently deliver Lactated Ringers Injection solution meeting associated USP / FDA quality standards. Design must minimize the size and weight of current Lactated Ringers injectable solutions, ensuring ease-of-use for rapid deployment and use. Deliverables include at least ten (10) developed pre-production prototypes for joint military utility assessment and independent lab verification of quality metrics meeting or exceeding applicable FDA standards. 

PHASE III: Development of a commercial capability to manufacture a next generation technology producing concentrated Lactated Ringers injectable solution to be used in conjunction with varied source water supply, and a quality assurance and control plan that ensures consistency for device production. Final production model and packaging must be ruggedized to withstand environmental testing to enable reliable ease of use. Work may result in technology transition to an Acquisition Program of Record and/or commercialization of this technology capability. Developer shall seek additional funding from other government sources and/or the private sector investors to develop or transition the prototype into a viable product for sale to the military and private sector markets. The culmination of the Phase III will result in a system which enables DoD medical support staff to reconstitute concentrated Lactrated Ringers Injection solution from varied source water supply as needed and at any location to save the lives of US Service Members and coalition forces. In addition, the commercial applications of this system will enable Lactated Ringers Injection solution to be reconstituted upon demand by emergency medical technicians in forward locations using varied sources of water supply. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Emergency War Surgery (4th Edition 2013) Borden Institute, pp 131-133 http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/borden/FileDownloadpublic.aspx?docid=0a17a2a8-ae58-4c90-bcec-ce432cb1096d

2: Medical Grade Water Generation for Intravenous Fluid Production on Exploration Missions, NASA/TM”2008-214999, Niederhaus, Barlow, Griffin and Miller http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20080022376.pdf

KEYWORDS: Ringers, Lactated, Injection, Intravenous, Parenteral, IV, Solution, High Purity Water System 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To develop, design, and demonstrate new technology or therapies that will replace or restore damaged, missing or non-functional urinary system and allow patient control over urination. 

DESCRIPTION: The Department of Defense has an urgent need for clinical genitourinary technologies that will give surgeons the ability to replace missing, damaged, or non-functional urinary tracts following traumatic injury or disease. Urinary dysfunction may be the result of traumatic injury to the lower body or may be neurogenic in nature, resulting from damage or disease of the central nervous system [1]. Traumatic injuries may involve damage or complete loss of tissues necessary for urinary function. Neurogenic damage may not affect specific genitourinary tissues, but can still prevent control over urinary function. Approximately 70-84% of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients will have neurogenic bladder dysfunction (NBD), translating to ~32,000 SCI veterans with NBD [2]. The current clinical standard for treatment of bladder and urinary tract defects is catheterization, which can range from intermittent catheterization, requiring no surgery or permanent implants, to creation of a stoma, bypassing the urethra to empty the bladder directly. Intermittent catheterization is the use, several times a day, of a straight catheter that can be done independently by some patients, or a Foley catheter that allows continuous drainage into a drainage bag worn by the patient. The alternative is creation of a stoma that allows insertion of a catheter. The drawbacks for these procedures are the need for repeated catheter insertion and the need for external collection bags. The injuries stained by Service Members, mean that the use of a catheter may be required for decades. There is an inherent risk of infection and catheters may become blocked. Some evidence indicates certain bacteria encourage the development of encrustations that may block the catheter within 24 hours [3]. Catheter related urinary tract infections contribute to more than 40% of nosocomial hospital infections [4]. In addition to these risks, the ongoing costs for lifelong catheterization can be high. The average life span post SCI is over 40 years [5]. With catheters, pads and other supplies costing ~$600/month, this translates to almost $350,000 in a lifetime. For the VA alone, this adds up to over $23 million per year. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop new technologies or therapies that can be used to restore urinary function and control. The ability to restore urinary function to injured Service Members would improve quality of life and reduce the need for hospital visits for catheter care. 

PHASE I: In the Phase I effort, innovative efforts for restoring urinary function will be conceptualized and designed. Such solutions may include devices, and/or cellular, tissue or biological components. Phase I efforts can support early concept work (i.e., in vitro studies), or efforts necessary to support a regulatory submission, which do not include animal or human studies, such as stability studies, shipping studies, etc. Proposed technologies or therapies should be formulated, and the fabrication or production procedures should be developed for a representative device or therapy. The Phase I effort should also include fabrication experiments and benchmarking that demonstrate an adequate capability for meeting the expected challenges in fabricating the proposed technology. It is expected that physical attributes of devices such as patency, user control, and infection control will be predicted as a function of the material and device structure. Specific milestones for devices include the ability for the user to control urination, to control potential bacterial colonization or infection, and to maintain patency. Specific milestones for non-device therapies should include reasonable expectation of improved urinary function and control following treatment. 

PHASE II: In the Phase II effort, a prototype technology or therapy should be fabricated and demonstrated. The performance of the technology should be fully evaluated in terms of patency, user control and ability to resist bacterial colonization or infection. The last requirement is especially critical for implanted devices as unresolved bacterial contamination could be life threatening and require removal of the implant. Other regenerative or restorative therapies should demonstrate safety and efficacy in pre-preclinical testing. Phase II results should demonstrate understanding of requirements to successfully enter Phase III, including how Phase II testing and validation will support a regulatory submission. Phase II studies may include animal or human studies, portions of effort associated with the same, or work necessary to support a regulatory submission which does not involve animal or human use, to include, but not limited to: manufacturing development, qualification, packaging, stability, or sterility studies, etc. The researcher shall also describe in detail the transition plan for the Phase III effort. The Food and Drug Administration regulatory requirements vary depending on the device classification. As part of the phase II effort, the performer is expected to develop a regulatory strategy to achieve FDA clearance for the new technology. Interactions with the FDA regarding the device classification and an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), as appropriate, should be initiated. Essential design and development documentation to support FDA clearance, as described in the Quality System Regulation (21 CFR 820.30), should be capture including but not limited to design planning, input, output, review, verification, validation, transfer, changes, and a design history file. The project needs to deliver theoretical/experimental results that provide evidence of efficacy in animal models. The studies should be designed to support an application for FDA clearance. 

PHASE III: During phase III, it is envisioned that requirements to support an application for device clearance from the FDA should be completed. As part of that, scalability, repeatability and reliability of the proposed technology should be demonstrated. Devices should be fabricated using standard fabrication technologies and reliability. The proposal should include a commercialization or technology transition plan for the product that demonstrates how these requirements will be addressed. They include: 1) identifying a relevant patient population for clinical testing to evaluate safety and efficacy and 2) GMP manufacturing sufficient materials for evaluation. The small business should also provide a strategy to secure additional funding from non-SBIR government sources and /or the private sector to support these efforts. This technology therapy is envisioned for use in surgical intervention to repair urinary dysfunction in fixed medical treatment facilities. As such, the technology should have both military and civilian applications. Procurement of such technology would be at the discretion of the medical treatment facility. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Panicker JN, et al. Lower urinary tract dysfunction in the neurological patient: clinical assessment and management. Lancet Neurol. 2015 Jul;14(7):720-32. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022510X15301118

2: Dorsher PT, McIntosh PM. Neurogenic Bladder. Adv Urol. 2012; 2012:816274. doi: 10.1155/2012/816274. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3287034/

3: Wilde, MH, et al. Long-term urinary catheter users self-care practices and problems. J Clin Nurs. 2013 Feb;22(3-4):356-67. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocn.12042/full

4: Ksycki MF, Namias N. Nosocomial urinary tract infection. Surg Clin North Am. 2009 Apr. 89(2):475-81, ix-x. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039610908001503

5: Middleton JW, Dayton A, Walsh J, Rutkowski SB, Leong G, Duong S. Life expectancy after spinal cord injury: a 50-year study. Spinal Cord. 2012 Nov;50(11):803-11. doi: 10.1038/sc.2012.55. http://www.nature.com/sc/journal/v50/n11/full/sc201255a.html

KEYWORDS: Catheter, Urinary Dysfunction, Neurogenic Dysfunction, Genitourinary, Intermittent Catheterization 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To develop an easily-administered medical device that will safely deliver intratympanic medical treatments to the inner ear, where the hearing and vestibular systems are housed. 

DESCRIPTION: Noise is a major occupational and environmental hazard that negatively impacts quality of life and causes hearing loss, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and hypertension. Military personnel are routinely exposed to high levels of harmful noise and as a result U.S. Advancements in technology and the increasing demand for specific drugs has made direct inner ear drug delivery a high priority. Pre-clinical studies have shown efficacy in studies to treat hearing loss and other auditory and vestibular conditions via intratympanic injection or medicated round window application.[1] However, innovative drug delivery systems for human use are lacking, limiting the ability to treat hearing loss, tinnitus, and other conditions such as ototoxicity, Menieres disease, and vestibular loss in Service Members. There are numerous drugs under current development for direct delivery to the inner ear with several undergoing clinical trials (Epselen, AM-101 and AM-111, among others).[2] To date, clinical research to treat these conditions via oral delivery have not shown the high levels of efficacy shown in corresponding animal experiments, suggesting a gap in translation possibly attributable to delivery route.[3] Direct drug delivery through the middle ear requires clinical expertise and specialized equipment. Military members have limited access to care while deployed in remote settings, where many of these noise-related injuries are sustained. Systemic drugs may have unwanted effects on other systems of the body which can also impede readiness. An innovative medical device system to treat various inner ear diseases such as noise exposure, ototoxicity, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, autoimmune inner ear disease, and for preserving neurons and protecting sensory cells is needed. The middle and inner ear are the best structures for local drug delivery, which can be done using either intratympanic or intracochlear methods, to access the afflicted areas in the ear.[4] 

PHASE I: Define a conceptual approach for an inner ear delivery system that meets the intent of the SBIR topic for trans-tympanic or cochlear delivery of therapeutics. 

PHASE II: By the end of the Phase II, deliver a viable prototype, preferably with demonstrated success in large-animal trials with preparation for entry into human trials and/or FDA approval of a medical device to enable human clinical testing. Phase II deliverables include a developed prototype system, technical reports documenting the appropriate performance measurements for the medical device, and a proposed roadmap addressing additional activities, cost, and time required to make the technology commercially available. 

PHASE III: Develop a plan and cost/time estimate for additional development and clinical study activities required to achieve the FDA and other regulatory approvals needed to make the technology commercially available for clinical use, including military field testing as necessary. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Wang and Puel (2008) From Cochlear Cell Death Pathways to New Pharmacological Therapies. Mini-reviews in Medicinical Chemistry; 8:1006-1019.

2: Yankaskas (Jan 2013) Prelude: noise-induced tinnitus and hearing loss in the military. Hearing research; 295:3-8.

3: Kopke et al. (May 2015) Efficacy and safety of N-acetylcysteine in prevention of noise induced hearing loss: A randomized clinical trial. Hearing Research; 323:40-50.

4: Perez, Libman and Van DeWater (2012) Local Drug Delivery for Inner Ear Therapy. Audiological Medicine; 10:1-20.

KEYWORDS: Hearing Loss, Drug Delivery, Intratympanic, Cochlea, Vestibular System, Medical Device 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a customizable platform to deliver vestibular rehabilitation using technology to improve compliance to home program, adapt rehab strategies to individual needs, and return individuals to duty more efficiently. 

DESCRIPTION: Dizziness is a common complaint in individuals after mTBI/concussion. Over 22% of soldiers in a single Brigade Combat Team returning from Iraq sustained at least one TBI (Terrio et al, 2009). Dizziness was reported by 58.3% of the soldiers post-injury, with an additional 5.1% complaining of dizziness post-deployment (Terrio et al, 2009). Dizziness can also occur in individuals without mTBI/concussion with injury or pathology to the vestibular system (the system in the inner ear responsible for equilibrium). Dizziness and disorientation can negatively affect an individuals readiness for duty with impact on activities of daily living as well as ability to perform job related tasks. Vestibular rehabilitation has been shown in many studies to improve symptoms of dizziness related to inner ear pathology and mTBI/concussion. Vestibular rehabilitation consists of a series of specific exercises that coordinate head and eye movements. These exercises are to be performed several times per day and often result in a temporary increase in symptoms for the patient as the body adapts to the movement. Compliance with a prescribed exercise program is a barrier to success for patients. There are many reasons for a lack of compliance including a lack of understanding of the given instructions, lack of motivation to perform the exercises, and simply forgetting to perform the exercises throughout the day. In vestibular rehabilitation, one of the most commonly prescribed exercises address the vestibular ocular reflex (the reflex between the inner ear, the detects head movement, and the muscles that control the eye, that counter rotate the eye to allow the eye to stay fixed on a visual target). Traditionally this exercises is performed by hold a single target (a typed letter written on a notecard or Popsicle stick) at an arm's length, or taped to a wall. The patient then turns his/her head left/right or up/down while attempting to maintain visual fixation on the target. If the image appears to blur or shift, it indicates a breakdown in this reflex. This exercises is performed for several repetitions, multiple time throughout the day. Compliance with this exercise becomes a challenge to success with the rehab process, and in the military setting translates to continued subjective complaints of dizziness and a longer recovery period with missed days from work role. Compliance is also often challenge by a lack of patient understanding of the instructions for the exercise itself. The goal of this project will be to develop a more interactive format that will allow for improved compliance with the exercise as it takes on the appeal of a video game more so than a homework exercise, will address compliance and the patient will record sessions and will share them with the referring provider (accountability beyond self-report of compliance) and will allow for the patient to share videos with the provider between sessions for feedback on performance. If the provider believes changes should be made in the way the patient performs the activity, that feedback can be given. If the patient has met success and is ready to progress with the exercise, the advice can be given between clinic visits. 

PHASE I: Phase I of this project will be to develop a concept design of the technology itself. Key components of the design will include portability potentially utilizing components of smart phone technology already in existence such as audio cues to guide speed of exercises (metronome), a visual display that can be manipulated from a simple background to become more dynamic and complex as the patient progresses through rehabilitation (including optokinetics), and the ability to record video of the individual who performs the exercises (utilizing the self-facing camera) and transmit those videos to the prescribing rehab provider either through email or digital messaging. This phase will focus on the development of a tool that is portable and simple to use and will bring value to the clinical interaction between patient and provider. 

PHASE II: During Phase II, the focus will be use of this tool in the clinical setting and feedback on its value and attributes that could be altered to enhance the patient interaction. The attribute that will likely be manipulated most often will be the video backdrop/display. Early in in rehab that patient will require the most simple visual background. A control will be appropriate to adjust the brightness of the visual display. A simple display will likely be a black letter (optotype) presented about a white background. As the patient progresses, the complexity of the visual display will need to be adjustable to be more visually dynamic such as a checkerboard or chevron pattern, or potentially job or task related such as wooded scene with trees or a helicopter dashboard. The image or optotype itself can also be manipulated to become more complex such as a changing display of letters or words, also potentially moving on the screen. Eventually optokinetics of the visual display can be added in as well to further challenge the patient. All of these controls should be able to be manipulated remotely by the provider while the program itself should provide a log of how many times, and how often the exercise is performed. In addition the device should allow for the patient to record video sessions of each time he/she performs the exercise. These videos can be played back by the provider to determine if they are being performed correctly and for the provider to offer feedback throughout the session. During Phase II of this program, ideally this clinical treatment portion for the device can begin to be utilized with both the patient and the provider offering feedback on its ease of use. 

PHASE III: Phase III will focus on integrating this technology into vestibular rehabilitation for patients throughout the DoD and VA populations. With the ease of portability this technology could be used in a deployed setting by a novice clinician less familiar with vestibular rehabilitation who could share the data and recordings with a more experienced subject matter expert located elsewhere within the DoD system for guidance and treatment of a patient downrange vice moving that patient to a higher level of care. A consistent barrier with technology within the military system is communication with the current medical record. To combat this challenge, it might be appropriate to allow the device to develop a printable data sheet (a progress report in a pdf format) that can be scanned into the current, or any future, medical record to allow providers throughout the continuum of care to reference the progress that the patient has made, or the challenges that were met along the way. This device would also be appropriate to use at any Military Treatment Center that currently evaluates and treats individuals with dizziness and well as all VA settings as dizziness is more often insidious and commonly seen across the lifespan than seen as a result of trauma. The printable pdf report could also be used within the VA healthcare electronic record. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Alsalaheen BA, Mucha A, Morris LO, Whitney SL, Furman JM, Camiolo-Reddy CE, Collins MW, Lovell MR, Sparto PJ. Vestibular rehabilitation for dizziness and balance disorders after concussion. J Neurol Phys Ther. 2010 Jun;34(2):87-93 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20588094

2: Terrio H, Brenner LA, Ivins BJ, Cho JM, Helmick K, Schwab K, Scally K, Bretthauer R, Warden D. Traumatic brain injury screening: preliminary findings in a US Army Brigade Combat Team. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2009 Jan-Feb;24(1):14-23 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158592

3: Whitney SL1,2, Alghadir AH3, Anwer S. Recent Evidence About the Effectiveness of Vestibular Rehabilitation. Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2016 Mar;18(3):13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26920418

KEYWORDS: Dizziness, MTBI, Adaptation, Concussion, Vestibular Rehabilitation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Improve product availability and increase competition through the development of Small Business eligible manufacturing sources for Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Critical Safety/Critical Application Items (CSI/CAI). 

DESCRIPTION: The list of Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Critical Safety/Critical Application Items (CSI/CAI) identifies items the Agency seeks to develop competition through the submission of Source Approval Requests (SARs). The List of ALRE NSNs contains NSNs with an Annual Demand Value (ADV) >$10K currently sourced with fewer than two (2) manufacturers. The data fields provided in the list include FSC, NIIN, Item Nomenclature, Standard Unit Price, Part Characteristics (AMC, AMSC, FAT, CSI and CAI) and Estimated Monthly Demand. NSN____________Nomenclature___________AMC_AMSC_FAT_CSI_CAI__PLT____Price_____ Demand 6210-00-218-0913_LENS INDICATOR________3____C____Yes______X___336___$1,387.19____6.28 3020-01-560-8493_PULLEY, GROOVE________3____C____Yes__X_______540__$11,095.40____8.87 1710-00-716-2994_ADAPTER, RAM PACKING__1____C____Yes______X___261___$1,282.59_____1.8 1710-01-483-0637_CONNECTOR ASSY, AIRC__1____C____Yes__X_______451__$28,341.77_____1.6 5310-01-332-8047_NUT, SELF-LOCKING, BA__1____C____Yes______X___310____$91.52___1070.03 3020-01-461-2732_PULLEY, FLAT___________3____C____Yes__X_______365__$25,227.36_____4.5 3020-01-461-2737_PULLEY, FLAT___________3____C____Yes__X_______531__$26,515.77_____5.75 4730-07-370-2088_MANIFOLD ASSEMBLY, H__3____C____Yes______X___330___$4,655.33_____1.42 5998-01-530-9195_GUARD ASSEMBLY, AIRC__3____C____Yes______X___225_____$497.17____15.66 1720-01-010-0362_ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY____1____C____Yes______X___566___$5,958.49______.4 Manufacturers that are interested in pursuing qualification as an Approved Source in future DLA procurements for Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Critical Safety/Critical Application Items (CSI/CAI) are required to demonstrate that they can competently manufacture the Critical/Weapon System Item/NSN. To qualify as an Approved Source, the onus is on the manufacturer to document and demonstrate their product meets all the government's minimum requirements. A SAR is a technical data package that submitted by a contractor for review that meets the current technical requirements in getting their part approved so their company can become a source of supply. Note: The DLA Source Approval Request (SAR) Guide and templates as well as SAR Charts that explains the process are located via the internet at the referenced link 1. Participating firms must have a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and be Joint Certification Program (JCP) certified in order to have access to technical data. Refer to link 2 below for further information on JCP certification. All available documents and drawings are located in the C Folder location SBIR172NSNS. Participating Small Businesses will need to create a DIBBS account to view all data and requirements in C Folders. (SAR) Guide and templates as well as SAR Charts that explains the process are located via the internet at the referenced link 1. In order to access C Folders, participating firms must have a valid account in DIBBS in order to receive a password to C Folders. Refer to links 3 and 4 below for further information on DIBBS and C Folders. 

PHASE I: The research and development goals of Phase I are to provide Small Business eligible manufacturing sources an opportunity to qualify as an Approved Source for Critical/Weapon System Items/NSNs specifically identified in their proposal. In this phase, manufacturers complete a technical data package in accordance with the Checklist included in the SAR guidance and submit the SAR for evaluation and acceptance. In some cases, the manufacturer may assess where their existing manufacturing capability can be adapted to successfully produce specific Critical/Weapon System Items/NSNs and provide that data and business case for upgrading their processes in their final report. 

PHASE II: Based on the results achieved in Phase I, DLA Logistics Operations will decide whether to continue the effort based on the technical progress, potential for authorization to participate as an Approved Source, and feasibility of manufacturing capability enhancements. The research and development goals of Phase II are to achieve authorization to participate as an Approved Source for the specific NSN in future procurements. 

PHASE III: At this point, no specific funding is associated with Phase III. Progress made in PHASE I and PHASE II should result in the manufacturers qualification as an approved source of supply enabling participation in DLA procurements. COMMERCIALIZATION: The manufacturer will pursue dual commercialization of the various technologies and processes developed in prior phases as well as potential commercial sales of manufactured mechanical parts or other items. 

REFERENCES: 

1: DLA Land & Maritime SAR Package and Reverse Engineering Guidance: http://www.dla.mil/LandandMaritime/Offers/Services/TechnicalSupport/ValueMgtDiv.aspx

2: JCP Certification: https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.aspx

3: Access the web address for DIBBS at https://www.dibbs.bsm.dla.mil/default.aspx

4: Log into cFolders. https://pcf1.bsm.dla.mil/cFolders use solicitation SBIR172NSNS to query

KEYWORDS: Lens, Indicator; Pulley, Groove; Adapter, Ram Packing; Connector Assembly; Nut, Self-Locking, Pulley, Flat; Manifold Assembly; Guard Assembly; Actuator Assembly 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Improve product availability and increase competition through the development of Small Business eligible manufacturing sources for DLA Land and Maritime FMD Hard to Source Items. 

DESCRIPTION: The list of FMD Hard to Source Items identifies items the Agency seeks to develop sources of supply. The list of hard to source NSNs are NSNs with an Annual Demand Value (ADV) >$10K currently sourced with fewer than two (2) manufacturers. The data provided for each NSN include FSC, NIIN, Item Nomenclature, Part Characteristics (AMC, AMSC, & FAT) and a brief description of the part. DLA has all the technical data required to procure the NSNs competitively but the items are still hard to source. List of FMD Hard to Source Items 1. NSN: 4730-01-224-2516/PN: 11784023 The locking valve is part of the elevation pointing system for the M109A6 155mm howitzer. In particular, this valve locks the elevation cylinder hydraulics when the cannon movement is complete and serves to keep the howitzer pointed on target. As such, this valve is required to operate across the total operating environment of the weapon system and to survive the environments induced because of gun fire/shock. Material is 1/G Full and Open. CFAT and on equipment testing required to include actual live fire of weapon system. All drawings are up to date IAW ESA. All documents and drawings are available in the C Folder location DLA SBIR 172 Tech Data. A Government CAGE and JCP certification is required. Participating Small Businesses will need to create a DIBBS account to view all data and requirements in C Folders. 2. NSN: 4710-01-012-4655/PN: 11682757 Item is a metal tube assembly used on the M-60 Series tank engine. It is comprised of pre-bent corrosion resistant steel (AISI 304) with flared compression fittings on both ends. Material is and has a TDP (tech data package) linked for Full and Open competition. All documents and drawings are available in the C Folder location DLA SBIR 172 Tech Data. A Government CAGE and JCP certification is required. Participating Small Businesses will need to create a DIBBS account to view all data and requirements in C Folders. 3. NSN: 4710-01-625-3435/PN: 39395D0610020-1 Item is a Tubing Assembly, Nonmetallic; Plastic polytetrafluoroethylene; ASTMD4895 unpigmented; end item Aircraft C/KC-135. Material is and has a TDP (tech data package) linked for Full and Open competition. All documents and drawings are available in the C Folder location DLA SBIR 172 Tech Data. A Government CAGE and JCP certification is required. Participating Small Businesses will need to create a DIBBS account to view all data and requirements in C Folders. Manufacturers that are interested in becoming a source of supply for DLA Land and Maritime FMD Hard to Source Items are required to demonstrate that they can competently manufacture the Critical/Weapon System Item/NSN. To become a source of supply, the onus is on the manufacturer to document and demonstrate their product meets all the government's minimum requirements. In addition, participating firms must have a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and be Joint Certification Program (JCP) certified in order to have access to technical data. Refer to link 1 below for further information on JCP certification. In order to access C Folders, participating firms must have a valid account in DIBBS in order to receive a password to C Folders. Refer to links 2 and 3 below for further information on DIBBS and C Folders. 

PHASE I: The research and development goals of Phase I are to provide Small Business eligible manufacturing sources an opportunity to purse becoming a source of supply for Critical/Weapon System Items/NSNs specifically identified in their proposal. In this phase, manufacturers assess where their existing manufacturing capability can be adapted to successfully produce specific Critical/Weapon System Items/NSNs and provide that data and business case for upgrading their processes in their final report. 

PHASE II: Based on the results achieved in Phase I, DLA Logistics Operations will decide whether to continue the effort based on the technical progress, potential for authorization to participate as a Source of Supply, and feasibility of manufacturing capability enhancements. The research and development goals of Phase II are to achieve authorization to participate as a Source of Supply for the specific NSN in future procurements. 

PHASE III: At this point, no specific funding is associated with Phase III. Progress made in PHASE I and PHASE II should result in the manufacturers qualification as an approved source of supply enabling participation in DLA procurements. COMMERCIALIZATION: The manufacturer will pursue dual commercialization of the various technologies and processes developed in prior phases as well as potential commercial sales of manufactured mechanical parts or other items. 

REFERENCES: 

1: JCP Certification: https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.aspx

2: Access the web address for DIBBS at: https://www.dibbs.bsm.dla.mil/default.aspx

3: Log into cFolders: https://pcf1.bsm.dla.mil/cFolders use solicitation SBIR172NSNS to query

KEYWORDS: Locking Valve; Elevation Pointing System; Elevation Cylinder Hydraulics; Metal Tubing Assembly; Non-Metallic, Tubing Assembly 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a tool for automated, procedural delayering and polishing of semiconductor microelectronic devices 

DESCRIPTION: Sample preparation, in the world of semiconductor microelectronic devices, has proved to be one of the most critical aspects of Failure Analysis (FA), Fault Isolation (FI), and Reverse Engineering (RE). In addition to its criticality, it gets increasingly more difficult as technology node sizes continue to shrink. There are numerous sample-preparation applications; three of the most common are front-side delayering, backside thinning, and cross sectioning. Currently there are two types of tools that are widely used for the sample-preparation of semiconductor microelectronic devices. The most common tool would typically consist of a simple polishing wheel that is used with different abrasives, including lapping films, slurries, suspensions, and polishing pads. While these tools can be effective for all three applications, they rely heavily on the skill and expertise of the user in order to produce good results. Due to the lack of controls and automation, there is not much repeatability from sample to sample. The second tool would be a micrometer-scale milling tool. These tools often have more automation and controls, but they are better suited for backside thinning than for front-side delayering and cross sectioning. Currently there is no existing tool that can perform all three applications very well, while being automated. One capability that both of these systems are lacking is the ability to perform cross-sections to a specific target area with sub-micrometer-level precision. An innovative tool that is capable of performing precision front-side delayering, precision backside thinning, and precision cross-sectioning, with an automated, procedural and repeatable approach is desired. One critical capability that would be required would be sample inspection while the sample is still mounted on the tool. 

PHASE I: Identify possible components that would be required to build a sample-preparation tool that is capable of performing front-side delayering, backside thinning, and cross-sectioning with sub-micrometer-level precision, while being able to perform inspection. Perform a study on material removal rates for semiconductor materials (e.g., Cu, Al, Si, SixOx, SixNx, W, Ti, and GaAs) with different material removal methods so that an automatic process can be developed for precision sample preparation. Perform a study on algorithms for adjusting the sample for alignment purposes. The goal of the innovation is to create a tool that has the following features and capabilities: 1. Sub-micrometer-precision front-side delayering a. Maintain planarity (‰¤100nm Z-axis deviation) across a 10mm x 10mm sample through each layer 2. Sub-micrometer-precision backside thinning a. Maintain planarity (‰¤100nm Z-axis deviation) on remaining silicon thickness (RST) across a 10mm x 10mm sample 3. Sub-micrometer-precision cross-sectioning 4. Five (5)-Axis controlled material removal a. ‰¤50nm Z-Axis precision b. ‰¤100 nm X- and Y-Axis precision c. ‰¤.0006° Tip and Tilt precision 5. Repeatable automatic processing a. Stored recipes that can be repeated b. Material removal rate algorithms 6 Integrated inspection a. ‰¥ 1000X Magnification or Equivalent Deliver a report of research and innovation, including a list of possible components, a storyboard of software that will control the tool and a program plan for system development. If any of the above restraints cannot be adhered to, the report must include relevant research and rationale. If adhering to the above restraints is possible, but not financially feasible, the report must include relevant research and rationale. 

PHASE II: Based on the aforementioned study and applicable innovation, produce a fully functioning prototype that adheres to all the constraints listed in Phase I above. Test the prototype and deliver along with at least two (2) samples for each application, for a total of six (6) samples. The samples should all be the same device (to be determined during Phase I), and should show the process repeatability between both samples. Deliver a complete Bill of Materials (BOM), including all components used, manufacturers, part numbers, quantities, technical datasheets, facility requirements, CAD drawings for each component and a complete CAD assembly for the completed prototype. 

PHASE III: There may be opportunities for further development of this system for use in a specific military or commercial application. During a Phase III program, offerors may refine the performance of the design and produce pre-production quantities for evaluation by the Government. The Computerized Automatic Delayering and Polishing System would be applicable to both commercial and government semiconductor device research and FA. Government applications include FA, FI and RE of semiconductors. Commercial applications include FA and FI of semiconductors. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Robert Chivas, Scott Silverman. Adaptive Grinding and Polishing of Silicon Integrated Circuits to Ultra-thin Remaining Thickness. ISTFA 2015.

2: Bryan Tracy, Jonnie Barragan, Ilana Grimberg, Efratz. Sectioning Integrated Circuit Ceramic Packages for Improved Electromigration Failure Analysis. ISTFA 2005.

3: M.S. Wei, H.B. Chong, S.H. Lim, C. Richardson. Sample Preparation for High Numerical Aperture Solid Immersion Lens Laser Imaging. ISTFA 2014.

KEYWORDS: Delayer, Sample Preparation, Polishing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a tool for through-lens fiducial marking on the backside of semiconductor devices. 

DESCRIPTION: Infrared (IR) Microscopes are used in the Failure Analysis (FA) and Fault Isolation (FI) of semiconductor devices because of the fact that silicon is transparent to near-IR (NIR) light. Some of these microscopes use Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) Cameras that are specifically designed for the NIR wavelengths, and others use a NIR wavelength laser with a scanner. These tools are used to find specific areas of interest, and often these parts will then be milled with a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) in order to do further analysis. One of the difficulties is that without a Graphic Database System (GDS) layout for navigation in both systems, there is no way of accurately finding the exact same location in both the IR microscope and FIB. The innovative development of a tool that can be integrated into an IR microscope that is able to create a fiducial marker on the surface of the backside silicon is desired. 

PHASE I: Perform a study on different methods for creating fiducial markers on silicon. The study should be focused on tool innovation and identifying possible components that would be required to build a fiducial marking system. The goal of the innovation is to create a tool that is capable of creating a fiducial mark while looking at the sample in a backside IR microscope. The fiducial mark will be visible in both the IR microscope and FIB. Deliver a report of research and innovation, including a notional list of possible components and a storyboard of software that will control the tool, a list of all the facility requirements and a program plan for system development. If any of the above restraints cannot be adhered to, the report must include relevant research and rationale. If adhering to the above restraints is possible, but not financially feasible, the report must include relevant research and rationale. 

PHASE II: Based on the aforementioned study and applicable innovation, produce a fully functioning prototype that adheres to all the constraints listed above. Test the prototype and deliver along with at least two (2) samples. The samples should all be the same device (to be determined during Phase I), and should show the process repeatability between both samples. Deliver a complete Bill of Materials (BOM), including all components used, manufacturers, part numbers, quantities, technical datasheets, facility requirements, CAD drawings for each component and a complete CAD assembly for the completed prototype. 

PHASE III: There may be opportunities for further development of this system for use in a specific military or commercial application. During a Phase III program, offerors may refine the performance of the design and produce pre-production quantities for evaluation by the Government. The Through-Lens Fiducial Marking System would be applicable to both commercial and government semiconductor device research and FA. Government applications include FA and FI of semiconductors. Commercial applications include FA and FI of semiconductors. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Eiji Yoshida, Tomohiro Tanaka, Taro Oyamada, Tohru Koyama, Junko Komori, Shigeto Maegawa. 3-D EBIC Technique using FIB and EB Double Beam System. ISTFA 2015. ISFTA 2005.

2: Laser Marking Technologies. Sintec Optronics PTE LTD. www.sintecoptronics.com/ref/lasermarking.pdf. February 23, 2008.

3: Martin Geheran. The back-end process: Step 10 “ Laser marking. Solid State Technology. October 2001.

KEYWORDS: Infrared Laser, Laser Marking, Fiducial 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: To develop an economically feasible solution to the Large N sensor problem for acoustic measurements 

DESCRIPTION: Seismic and acoustic signals are of interest to DTRA and DoD in several areas including nuclear testing monitoring, terrorist blast forensics, battle damage assessment, and environmental monitoring. In both seismic and acoustic propagation, it is important to understand the scale lengths and uncertainties associated with very local variability in wave fields. For decades both communities have relied on sparsely distributed point measurements to develop and validate propagation models as well as interpret data with respect to the nature of sources. This reliance on single point measurements likely results in significant errors in source inversion as well as potentially overlooked physical processes important to model development. In addition, in the field of infrasound, we currently rely on mechanical filters to reduce wind noise. Implementation of Large N acoustic sensor arrays would enable this to be done digitally rather than mechanically, with associated signal processing benefits. Very low cost technology has recently enabled the practical implementation of Large (~ 1000 sensors) N seismic sensor arrays. To our knowledge this has not been done with acoustic sensors except in very limited cases. The recent appearance on the market of very low (<$25) cost mass produced ultra-low range differential pressure sensors and associated inexpensive electronic modules (e.g. Raspberry Pi modules for one example) suggest that a 50 “ 100 element acoustic sensor array might be built with a total off the shelf materials cost that is on the same order as the current cost of a single limited production acoustic sensor. Links to samples of these types of sensors, processors, and Wi-Fi communications boards are given in references 10-13. Part of the innovation challenge involves the adaption of low cost sensors originally intended for tasks such as engine management and HVAC control systems to the acoustic signal detection problem. Innovative design work involving the addition of a reference volume and controlled leak will be required in order to make these units function as acoustic sensors. In addition, innovative software development will be required to realize the full benefits of the large N arrays. These benefits would include the ability to reduce noise, detect very small localized signals that would be undetectable by a single point acoustic sensor, and develop array approaches for signal detection and characterization (e.g. location and yield). 

PHASE I: Using low cost mass produced components construct a working 100 N acoustic sensor array that is spatially distributed within a 100m square area. The individual sensor elements should have a reasonably flat response band between 0.1 and 100 Hz with a low-end resolution of 0.1 Pa. Digital resolution should be at least 12 bits with a sample rate of at least 100 samples per second. The data streams from all sensors shall be transmitted to a central processing unit where spatial signal stacking, frequency wave number and other signal processing techniques can be accomplished. 

PHASE II: Develop and test a prototype system for production employing at least 500 sensors. 

PHASE III: DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to DoD interests, Large N acoustic sensor arrays can be used to provide valuable supplemental tracking information with respect to severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, severe clear air turbulence, and hurricanes. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Reinke, R.E., J.A. Leverette, and C. Hayward, 2006, On the use of differential pressure gages for low pressure blast measurements in Proceedings of the 19th Symposium on the Military Aspects of Blast and Shock (MABS 19), Calgary, October.

2: Shields, F. D., 2005, Low frequency wind noise correlation in microphone arrays, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol 117, pages 3489-3496.

3: Hedlin, M.A., B. Alcoverro, and G. DSpain, 2003, Evaluation of rosette infrasonic noise reducing spatial filters, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol 114, pages 1807-1820

4: Chen, II-Young, Tae Sung Kim, Jeung Soo Jeon, and Hee-II Lee, 2009, Infrasound observations of the apparent North Korean nuclear test of 25 May, 2009, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 36, No. 22

5: Koper, K.D., T.C. Wallace, R. Reinke, and J. Leverette, 2002, Empirical scaling laws for truck bomb explosions based o seismic and acoustic data, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 92, pages 527-542.

6: Kim, K. and A. Rodgers, 2016, Waveform inversion of acoustic waves for explosion yield estimation, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 43, pages 6883-6890.

7: Farges, T. and E. Blanc, 2010, Characteristics of infrasound from lightning and sprites near thunderstorm areas, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115

8: Paschall, Olivia, C., 2016, Reflection Processing of the Large N seismic data from the Source Physics Experiment (SPE), LANL Tech Report LA-UR-16-25181

9: Mentink. J.H. and L.G. Evers,2011, Frequency response and design parameters for differential microbarometers, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 130, pages 33-41

10: https://www.servoflo.com/pressure-sensors/suppliers/silicon-microstructures/398-sm5852

11: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero/

12: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/

13: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/usb-wifi-dongle/

KEYWORDS: Acoustic Sensors; Large N Array; 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Modern High Performance Computers often feature a hierarchal interconnect topology that features non-uniform latency and or bandwidth between nodes. The objective of this project is to develop approaches for building a (HPC) High Performance Computing oriented performance Toolkit containing libraries, runtime, and or tools that can be used by an application developer to perform topology-aware domain placement on distributed memory parallel computers to optimize cross node communications. This will significantly increase the effective use of HPC resources for efficiently (computing time required / # of processors required¦2X-4X reduction) conducting vital high fidelity calculations needed for developing state-of-art CWMD Modeling & Simulation (M&S) decision support tools. 

DESCRIPTION: DTRA uses High Fidelity computer codes to investigate weapon effects phenomenology and techniques for countering WMD. End to end High Fidelity simulations in support of DTRA programs that use significant HPC include Agent Defeat Modeling Baseline, Large Caliber Penetrator, Enhanced Consequence Analysis and Nuclear Survivability. Modern distributed memory High Performance Computers use either commodity or proprietary interconnects. Regardless of the technology, the interconnect topology can vary. Examples are Fat Tree, Hypercube, n-dimensional Torus and Dragonfly. As the number of compute nodes increases, certain networks, particularly Fat Trees require an interconnect switch hierarchy requiring multiple hops to traverse the interconnect, with each hop causing increased latency. For this topic, we are interested in the use case where an application code is distributed among multiple compute nodes. Each node contains multiple cores with shared memory. Communication between and among nodes is performed using a message passing library such as Message Passing Interface (MPI). Each application code has exclusive use of each node assigned to a job during execution. The nodes are assigned by a Workload Management System such as the Portable Batch System (PBS), and may not be contiguous. Although each job has exclusive use of its nodes, the interconnect is shared among all the jobs running on the HPC system. Compute node names can sometimes be used to infer node proximity but the interconnect topology must be known a. priori or retrieved from some system command. Such data would not be sufficient to take into account any dynamic routing or network contention from other work on the HPC system. Approaches might include, but are not limited to performing periodic MPI ping testing to obtain interconnect performance data to inform decisions on data decomposition, renumbering, or other load balancing techniques. Significant characteristics of tools desired are ability to profile a code on an existing architecture, and develop estimates of suitability for use on other architectures, and improved robustness of tools to deal with complex algorithms such as commonly found in codes of interest. These may include unstructured, adaptive mesh, coupled (CFD) Computational Fluid Dynamics / (CSM) Computational Structural Mechanics codes, explicit finite element codes used for short strong shocks, and chemistry codes used in conjunction with CFD codes. 

PHASE I: Develop an approach for design or modification of existing tools to assist application code developers in performing topologically aware data layout to minimize latency and maximize bandwidth among distributed compute nodes. The software should utilize existing profiling tools to identify communication patterns in the application code and then use the software developed, to recommend topologically aware load balancing. 

PHASE II: Develop a production ready suite of tools based on the approach identified in PHASE 1, including end user documentation as well as documentation useful for a system administrator. 

PHASE III: The tools developed for use on DTRAs very demanding application codes will be well suited, once refined, for use on more general HPC workloads. 

REFERENCES: 

Productive Parallel Linear Algebra Programming with Unstructured Topology Adaption. Peter Gottschling, Torsten Hoefler Proceedings - 12th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing, CCGrid 2012 05/2012; DOI: 10.1109/CCGrid.2012.51. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254038557_Productive_Parallel_Linear_Algebra_Programming_with_Unstructured_Topology_Adaption

Maximizing Throughput on a Dragonfly Network. Nikhil Jain, Abhinav Bhateley, Xiang Ni, Nicholas J. Wrightz, Laxmikant V. Kale Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA, Center for Applied Scientific Computing, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 USA. NERSC, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 USA.

Topology Aware Process Mapping. Sebastian von Alfthan, Ilja Honkonen, Minna Palmroth Chapter Applied Parallel and Scientific Computing. Volume 7782 of the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science pp 297-308. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-36803-5_21#page-1

KEYWORDS: Topologically Aware Data Placement, Latency, Bandwidth, Interconnect, Distributed Memory, MPI, Application Profiling, Communication Patterns 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to develop a performance analysis toolkit (augmenting an existing overall performance tools framework) that can be utilized by developers to guide code modernization and optimization for upcoming pre-Exascale high performance computing (HPC) platforms. Planned pre-Exascale HPC platforms will feature many-core systems with deep memory hierarchies. For example, the second generation Intel Xeon Phi processor, codenamed Knights Landing (KNL), consists of up to 72 cores per processor, with each core capable of 4-way Simultaneous Multi-threading. KNL features a more complex memory hierarchy in the form of a high-bandwidth, low-capacity on-package MCDRAM memory (referred to as near memory) and off-package traditional DRAM memory (referred to as far memory). Significant code refactoring and optimizations efforts may be required to map DTRAs critical High Fidelity computer codes (described below) to run efficiently on upcoming systems with KNL and similar architectures. Such efforts can be intelligently guided by workload performance characterization and analysis tools, which inspect the behavior of large-scale, High Fidelity codes and suggest refactoring and optimization strategies (e.g., which data structures in the code should be allocated on near memory for better performance). The approach will combine a code-centric view (i.e., inspect performance issues in terms of code structures such as loops and functions) with a data-centric view that analyzes performance in terms of key data structures in the codes; this hybrid approach is required to guide the preparation for pre-Exascale systems with deep memory hierarchies. 

DESCRIPTION: DTRA uses High Fidelity computer codes to investigate weapon effects phenomenology and techniques for countering WMD. End to end High Fidelity simulations in support of DTRA programs that use significant HPC include Agent Defeat Modeling Baseline, Large Caliber Penetrator, Enhanced Consequence Analysis and Nuclear Survivability. Such codes will not scale and the run times will be prohibitively long without optimization for pre-Exascale architectures. To address the need to improve memory placement for applications as described above, a performance analysis toolkit (augmenting an existing overall performance tools framework) is needed, that can be utilized by developers to guide code modernization and optimization on systems with deep memory hierarchies. 

PHASE I: Develop an approach for design of a data-centric analysis tool capable of handling High Fidelity codes as described above. The tool will fit into an overall performance tools framework being developed under a previous effort. Identify key concepts and methods that, when implemented, will provide non-intrusive tools that are effectively operable on complex High Fidelity codes. State-of-the-art and innovative application code profiling tools are envisioned here that work directly on the optimized executables (not source code) and produce intelligent and actionable insights on data placement (i.e., which data structures in the code are best allocated on near versus far memory) via direct simulation of the targeted memory configurations [1, 2]. Develop a technical approach for implementation of additional capabilities in the tools to address other performance enhancing features of upcoming HPC platforms (e.g., massive on-node multithreading). 

PHASE II: Develop a production ready tool component based on the Phase I approach and integrate within the overall tools framework. Implement additional capabilities in the tools to address other performance enhancing features of upcoming HPC platforms (e.g., massive on-node multithreading). Demonstrate the use of the tools on DTRA in-house and DOD HPCMP systems on a broad range of High Fidelity application codes to include both rectangular grid and unstructured, three-dimensional adaptive mesh, coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) / Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) codes, explicit finite element codes used for short strong shocks, and chemistry codes used in conjunction with CFD codes. 

PHASE III: The performance tools developed for use on very demanding application codes will be well suited, once refined, for use on more general HPC workloads on pre-Exascale architectures. Improvements in this phase are expected to involve ease of use enhancements and hardening of the profiling tools for use on a wide range of application software used in Government research and industry. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Laurenzano, M.A.; Tikir, M.M.; Carrington, L.; Snavely, A., PEBIL: Efficient static binary instrumentation for Linux, in Performance Analysis of Systems & Software (ISPASS), 2010 IEEE International Symposium on, vol., no., pp.175-183, 28-30 March 2010

2: Olschanowsky, C.M.; Tikir, M.M.; Carrington, L.; Snavely, A., PSnAP: Accurate Synthetic Address Streams Through Memory Profiles, in Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing (LCPC) 2009

3: Explicit Management of Memory Hierarchy. Jarek Nieplocha, Robert Harrison, Ian Foster. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory. Richland, WA 99352, USA Argonne, IL 60439, USA.

4: Improving the Cache Locality of Memory Allocation Dirk Grunwald Benjamin Zorn Robert Henderson Department of Computer Science Campus Box #430 University of Colorado, Boulder 80309“0430 PLDI '93 Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN 1993 conference on Programming language design and implementation

KEYWORDS: High Performance Computing (HPC), Exascale, Memory Hierarchies, High Bandwidth Memory 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Chem Bio_defense 

OBJECTIVE: Conduct proof of concept studies that will enable the automatic identification of open scientific publications that pose dual use concern. 

DESCRIPTION: Dual use research of concern (DURC) are life sciences research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, information, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied to pose a significant threat with broad potential consequences to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, materiel and therefore to national security. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in particular is concerned with life sciences research that falls under one of 15 high consequence pathogens and toxins and 7 experimental categories listed below. The a) high consequence pathogens and toxins are; 1. Avian influenza virus (highly pathogenic), 2. Bacillus anthracis, 3. Botulinum neurotoxin, 4. Burkholderia mallei, 5. Burkholderia pseudomallei, 6. Ebola virus, 7. Foot-and-mouth disease virus, 8. Francisella tularensis, 9. Marburg virus, 10. Reconstructed 1918 Influenza virus, 11. Rinderpest virus, 12. Toxin-producing strains of Clostridium botulinum, 13. Variola major virus, 14. Variola minor virus, and 15. Yersinia pestis. The b) 7 experimental categories are; 1. Enhances the harmful consequences of the agent or toxin, 2. Disrupts immunity or the effectiveness of an immunization against the agent or toxin without clinical or agricultural justification, 3. Confers to the agent or toxin resistance to clinically or agriculturally useful prophylactic or therapeutic interventions against that agent or toxin or facilitates their ability to evade detection methodologies, 4. Increases the stability, transmissibility, or the ability to disseminate the agent or toxin, 5. Alters the host range or tropism of the agent or toxin, 6. Enhances the susceptibility of a host population to the agent or toxin, 7. Generates or reconstitutes an eradicated or extinct agent or toxin from the list of 15 agents and toxins listed above. Automated approaches to analyze & identify potential dual use research publications from open scientific literature requires identifying and extracting relationships at the molecular and cellular level6,7. However, single sentences often do not incorporate biochemical entities in the same sentence where a relationship is described. Another challenge is properly assigning biochemical entities (i.e. DNA, RNA, proteins, chemicals, etc.) to a particular species (e.g. Bacillus anthracis) as opposed to the host (e.g. human, non-human primates, etc.). Additionally, experimental techniques and procedures need to be taken into account (e.g. selection for antibiotic resistant bacterial mutants, methods/procedures involved in creating recombinant systems). In order to allow for greater flexibility approaches such as weakly supervised learning should be optimized to draw as much knowledge from experts (e.g. microbiologists) as possible while at the same time minimizing the time and effort required from the expert. Proposals which include multidisciplinary teams (e.g. microbiologists and computer scientists) are preferred. 

PHASE I: Define and develop approaches needed to automatically identify open source scientific publications that pose a dual use concern. Identify a representative list of research that satisfies the 7 experimental categories in the open scientific literature to use as a training set. The phase I deliverable is a report and preliminary proof of concept demonstration detailing the (1) advantages and disadvantages/limitations of the proposed methods with respect to adaptability, precision, recall, time and effort required of subject matter experts, and ease of use (2) identification of a training set of scientific publications in the open scientific literature that satisfies the 7 experimental categories (3) preliminary proof of concept demonstration for 1 of the 7 experimental categories. 

PHASE II: Further develop and refine DURC software. Conduct proof of concept demonstration for all 7 experimental categories. The Phase II deliverable is a report, proof of concept demonstration, and code detailing a (1) Description of finalized approaches and analysis of performance with respect to adaptability, precision, recall, time and effort required of subject matter experts, and ease of use (2) software code (3) final proof of concept demonstration 

PHASE III: Finalize and commercialize software for use by customers (e.g. government, academic journal, etc.). Although additional funding may be provided through DoD sources, the awardee should look to other public or private sector funding sources for assistance with transition and commercialization. 

REFERENCES: 

1: http://osp.od.nih.gov/office-biotechnology-activities/biosecurity/nsabb

2: Casadevall, Arturo, et al. "Dual-use research of concern (dURC) review at American society for microbiology journals." mBio 6.4 (2015): e01236-15

3: Duprex, W. Paul, et al. "Gain-of-function experiments: time for a real debate." Nature Reviews Microbiology 13.1 (2015): 58-64

4: Selgelid, Michael J. "Governance of dual-use research: an ethical dilemma." Bulletin of the World Health Organization 87.9 (2009): 720-723.

5: Guide, A. Companion. "Dual Use Research of Concern." (2014)

6: DurmuÅŸ, Saliha, et al. "A review on computational systems biology of pathogen“host interactions." Frontiers in microbiology 6 (2015): 235

7: Ananiadou, Sophia, et al. "Event-based text mining for biology and functional genomics." Briefings in functional genomics (2014): elu015

8: Rosengard, Ariella M., et al. "Variola virus immune evasion design: expression of a highly efficient inhibitor of human complement." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99.13 (2002): 8808-8813

9: Sudo, Kiyoshi, Satoshi Sekine, and Ralph Grishman. "An improved extraction pattern representation model for automatic IE pattern acquisition." Proceedings of the 41st Annual Meeting on Association for Computational Linguistics-Volume 1. Association for Computational Linguistics, 2003

10: Cello, Jeronimo, Aniko V. Paul, and Eckard Wimmer. "Chemical synthesis of poliovirus cDNA: generation of infectious virus in the absence of natural template." science 297.5583 (2002): 1016-1018

KEYWORDS: Dual Use Research Of Concern, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an ultracapacitor with energy greater than 450 Wh/L, retain charge for at least 30 days, and operate from -40 degrees C to +60 degrees C. 

DESCRIPTION: Military operations, particularly surveillance and remotely operated technology-based activities, require increasingly energy dense power supplies, while remaining small, low-noise, and long lived. Additionally, it is advantageous to have long component life (many charge/discharge cycles), the ability to charge quickly, be able to operate in a wide variety of environmental conditions. Ultracapacitors may be able to answer these requirements, providing performance equal or superior to battery technology. The purpose of this technology is to provide power to low-observable sensors and surveillance equipment for periods up to thirty days, in an operating range of -40 degrees C to +60 degrees C. It is estimated that an optimal solution would provide 450 Wh/L. However, as a key object of this research is to reduce DTRAs dependence on batteries and their associated logistics train, lower energy densities will be considered. 

PHASE I: Develop, evaluate, and validate innovative materials or techniques for use in an ultra-high energy density ultracapacitor while demonstrating satisfactory charge retention. By the end of phase one, materials and techniques should have been demonstrated to have the potential for fulfilling the needs of a full-up end item. 

PHASE II: Utilize the materials and techniques developed in phase I of this research to develop a prototype ultracapacitor and demonstrate its ability to meet the requirements laid out in the description. The end item will need to be sufficiently rugged as to withstand rough or industrial handling, the temperature extremes noted above, and be simple to use. Additionally, the end item should be contained in such a way that it can be safely handled by untrained personnel without preemptive discharge. 

PHASE III: Defense Threat Reduction Agency requires power supplies for its equipment, and would find it useful; in addition, the world market for power supplies supports the commercialization of any technology that is competitive with lithium battery technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lele Peng, Xu Peng, Borui Liu, Changzheng Wu, Yi Xie, and Guihua Yu, Ultrathin Two-Dimensional MnO2/Graphene Hybrid Nanostructures for High-Performance, Flexible Planar Supercapacitors, Nano Letters 2013 13 (5), 2151-2157.

2: Hertzberg, B., Kaidos, A., Koyalenko, I., Magasinski, A., Dixon, P., Yushin, G., Novel materials for advanced supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries, International SAMPE Technical Conference, 2010, 2010 SAMPE Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition.

KEYWORDS: Ultracapacitors, Supercapacitors, High Energy Density, Distributed Energy Storage, Long-term Energy Storage 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a simulator or simulators that accurately replicate the statistics that describe the radio frequency channel parameters, for satellite communication links, in a nuclear scintillated environment. 

DESCRIPTION: The Defense Threat Reduction Agencys Nuclear Technology Program works with stakeholders to develop and ensure critical equipment can survive during a nuclear event. High altitude, exo-atmospheric nuclear detonations create atmospheric ionization that affects Radio Frequency (RF) propagation and the operation of RF communication systems. The statistics that describe the RF propagation channel are referred to as the RF Channel Parameters. The RF channel parameters provide a complete characterization of the propagation channel and are all that is required to specify the behavior of the channel in a disturbed environment. The waves propagating through this environment, depending on the specific atmospheric conditions, will either experience fast fading or slow fading. Fading can disrupt RF communication links and accurate and reliable means of testing these links is critical. While several simulators have been developed (such as the Advanced Channel Simulator, MILSATCOM Atomspheric Scintillation Simulator, Configurable Link Test Set simulator, and the Wideband Chanel Simulator) they have often been created for very specific systems, are not fully certified, are no longer working, or are lacking documentation to qualify them for Key Performance Parameter (KPP) or similar requirements testing. With increased demand for scintillation testing, this topic seeks proposals to develop a reliable hardware-in-the-loop simulator (or simulators) that can be developed to accurately replicate the statistics that describe the RF channel parameters for a wide range of Military Satellite Communication (MILSATCOM). 

PHASE I: A study should be conducted to assess the best method/approach for tackling the MILSATCOM spectrum of links. A proof of principle experiment or initial prototype should be designed/carried out to demonstrate viability. 

PHASE II: Phase II projects should expand/develop the prototype device(s). Performer will work with DTRA on initial certification planning and testing during this phase and documentation (to include user manuals, certification procedures, documentation, etc) will begin. This Phase will focus on expanding the prototype to meet the wide range of MILSATCOM links, identify bugs, issues, and potential problem areas. 

PHASE III: This technology should be expanded to production level quality in Phase III. This should include full documentation, users manual(s), certification, maintenance plans etc. All bugs, issues, and other items discovered during Phase II will be resolved and final certification will be completed during this phase. 

REFERENCES: 

1: "Propagation of RF Signals through Structured Ionization: Theory and Antenna Aperture Effect Applications (U), May 1986, DNA-TR-86-1, Unclassified

2: "ACIRF User's Guide: Theory and Examples (U)," December 1989, DNA-TR-88-175, Unclassified

3: "Propagation of RF Signals Through Structured Ionization: The General Model," March 1991, DNA-TR-90-9, Unclassified

4: Satellite System Natural and Nuclear Survivability Standard, MIL-STD-3053, 19 November 2015, SECRET//RD-N

KEYWORDS: Scintillation, Simulators, SATCOM 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: To develop a compact neutron/gamma real-time dosimeter for replacement of currently deployed systems such as the UDR-13 and PDR-75A. Proposed systems must provide highly accurate dose measurements within a few seconds of dwell time, and avoid saturation while measuring the extremely high radiation flux from the prompt neutrons and gammas following a nuclear blast. 

DESCRIPTION: The Defense community has a need for detecting and measuring radiation dose, accurately and in real-time, in operations of high dose rates [1-4] following a nuclear blast. The propagation of prompt neutrons following a nuclear blast takes less than a second out to 1000 meters. Most of the dose is delivered within 1 ms. At this distance, the dose absorbed by the human body following the explosion of a 20 kiloton fission weapon is about 37 Gy (3700 rad) [5,6]. An accurate measurement of this dose in real time is very challenging and not adequately addressed with current solutions. In addition, prompt radiation includes a strong gamma component, that reaches the same radius over 10 s, with a total dose of 38 Gy (3800 rad). Proposed solutions should include considerations for a mechanism for hardening against interference caused by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) associated with the nuclear blast. Most electronics are rendered inoperable for some period of time by this pulse. This dictates that elements be incorporated to guard against loss of data in such instances [6]. Innovative neutron and gamma detector solutions are sought that can accurately measure the dose due to prompt radiation, but also have sufficient sensitivity to measure the dose due to residual radiation following a nuclear blast, in the aftermath of a conventional explosion that disperses radioactive materials (dirty bomb), and during background conditions. Multiple distinct detector modules may be combined to capture the ranges outlined below. At the same time the device must produce rapid measurement of much lower doses encountered during post blast and post dirty bomb surveys during the cleanup phase. Proposed solutions should be capable of direct readout of data that is buffered in very robust memory, dose-rate independence up to 100 cGy/sec for gammas and 106 cGy/sec for neutrons, as delivered by an initial burst of a nuclear weapon. Residual sensitivity must be measurable in the range of 0.1 to 999 cGy/hr for neutron energies up to 14 MeV and for gamma energies up to 3 MeV. The weight of the dosimeter must not exceed 10 ounces, and the volume must not exceed 10.5 in3. Dosimeter accuracy must be the greater of either ±20% or ±15 cGy of the tissue dose. The standard deviation of statistical fluctuations in the data from the average response should not exceed 10%. The data should be available via an RS-232 port. An LCD should display the readout in a size large enough to read in day or night at 3 feet away. The dosimeter battery must support 100 hours of active operation or 1000 hours of inactive but monitoring modes. 

PHASE I: Design all neutron and gamma detector modules, and estimate performance based on computer simulations. Demonstrate that the proposed design satisfies requirements outlined above, by fabricating and testing laboratory prototypes. Design and test the electronic readout, including analog and digital components as well as wireless communications, in order to minimize both cost and power consumption. Demonstrate non-saturation in simulated nuclear blast radiation fields or against prompt gamma and neutron environment, and demonstrate pathways to meeting this performance goal in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Deliver an integrated gamma/neutron dosimeter for real-time and accumulated dose measurement at the end of Phase II. The prototype will package neutron and gamma detectors together with a digital display, batteries and electronics. The overall volume will be on the order of 200 cm3 (preferably less than 150 cm3), with a weight less than 250 g. Capability for wireless communications (Bluetooth or IP-based protocols), is required to transmit data to a host portable device (smart phone, tablet, laptop computer, etc). The system will support autonomous operation on batteries (preferably rechargeable), for at least one week of low-rate counting. The prototype will be tested in relevant environment, in order to demonstrate accurate measurements of prompt gamma and neutron doses in real-time. Additional testing will demonstrate robust operation under environmental extremes (temperature, humidity), shock, vibration, and EMI. Test results will be evaluated to determine the ability of the proposed solution to satisfy requirements for military use in the field 

PHASE III: Following a successful Phase II development, Phase III will further improve detector designs, engineering, ruggedization, and manufacturability to meet DTRA and end-user requirements. Develop a commercial dosimeter meets or exceed the requirements for homeland security and commercial applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: M. Sasaki, T. Nakamura, N. Tsujimura, O. Ueda, and T. Suzuki, Development and characterization of real-time personal neutron dosemeter with two silicon detectors, Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers, Detect. Assoc. Equip., vol. 418, no. 2“3, pp. 465“475, 1998.

2: T. Nakamura, T. Nunomiya, and M. Sasaki, Development of active environmental and personal neutron dosemeters, Radiat. Prot. Dosimetry, vol. 110, no. 1“4, pp. 169“181, 2004.

3: T. Nakamura, Neutron detector development and measurements around particle accelerators, Indian J. Pure Appl. Phys., vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 427“438, 2012.

4: V. K. Mathur, Ion storage dosimetry, Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater. Atoms, vol. 184, no. 1“2, pp. 190“206, 2001.

5: I. Rosenberg, Radiation Oncology Physics: A Handbook for Teachers and Students, Br. J. Cancer, vol. 98, p. 1020, 2008.

6: Glasstone, Samuel and Dolan, Philip J. The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (third edition). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977.

KEYWORDS: Dosimeter, Real-time, Non-saturating, Prompt Neutron/gamma, Radiation Detector 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a field-deployable mass spectrometer for nuclear forensics debris analysis. 

DESCRIPTION: The Defense Threat Reduction Agencys Basic Research Program supports research to develop capabilities for post-detonation nuclear forensics. A nuclear forensic analysis following a detonation relies on the collection and analysis of debris samples. The DTRA basic research program has shown some promising results in developing techniques to analyze these samples in the field through air-ionization and compact mass spectrometry techniques. This research has shown the ability to minimize the chemical preparation of samples, measure samples at atmospheric pressure, and reproducibly measure isotopic ratios with 1-3% precision. This topic seeks to expand upon these basic research investigations by developing a compact, field-deployable mass analysis system. The system should be able to ionize and analyze samples with minimal sample preparation and should operate with samples at atmospheric pressure in either solid or liquid state. The final design should account for power and vacuum considerations so that the final system is compact and portable. The isotopic measurements should aim to match the precision of a conventional lab-based system. 

PHASE I: A trade study should be conducted to assess the possible methods for compact mass spectrometers. Although a full prototype is not necessary, the work should undertake to demonstrate the necessary basic physical principles. Consideration should be given to the analytical accuracy and precision of the system, the ease of measuring samples in the field, and the portability of the system. 

PHASE II: Phase II projects should develop a prototype device. The prototype should demonstrate accurate isotopic measurements with near-laboratory level precision from the analysis of samples with minimal or no chemical preparation. 

PHASE III: DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: A field-deployable mass spectrometer could have wide commercial applications including for environmental sampling. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Lynn X. Zhang and R. Kenneth Marcus. "Mass spectra of diverse organic species utilizing the liquid sampling-atmospheric pressure glow discharge (LS-APGD) microplasma ionization source." J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2016, 31, 145

2: B. H. Isselhardt, S. G. Prussin, M. R. Savina, D. G. Willingham, K. B. Knight and I. Hutcheon. Rate equation model of laser induced bias in uranium isotope ratios measured by resonance ionization mass spectrometry. J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2016, 31, 666-678

3: Kenneth J. Moody, Patrick M. Grant, Ian D. Hutcheon. Nuclear Forensics Analysis." CRC Press, 2015 (2nd Edition), Chapter 5 "Principles of Nuclear Explosive Devices and Debris Analysis"

KEYWORDS: Compact Mass Spectrometry, Nuclear Forensics, Field-deployable Mass Spectrometer 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Seek innovative solutions for High Speed Missile to Missile communications; either modifying the existing radio frequency (RF) communications data downlink or implementing an alternative design for an interceptor missile. 

DESCRIPTION: An interceptor missile uses a two-way wireless RF transmission data link between the launch control point and missile for guidance and status information. Information can be sent from an interceptor missile to launch control which in turn can send guidance update information to a second missile. The time required for the missile to launch control to missile communications to occur has prompted the request for an innovative solution for direct missile to missile high speed communications. Alternative solutions should permit secure two-way high speed data link communications between missiles in flight. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof of concept design; identify designs, down select alternatives and conduct a feasibility assessment for the proposed solution. Perform analysis and limited bench level testing to demonstrate the concept and develop an understanding of the new and innovative technology. 

PHASE II: Validate the feasibility of the Phase I concept by development and demonstrations that will be tested to ensure performance objectives are met. Validation should include, but not be limited to, system simulations, operation in test-beds, or operation in a demonstration subsystem. The Phase II effort should result in a prototype. 

PHASE III: Apply the innovations demonstrated in the first two phases to one or government systems, subsystems, or components. Demonstrate the scalability of the developed technology, transition the component technology to the government system integrator or payload contractor, mature it for operational insertion, and demonstrate the technology in an operational level environment. 

REFERENCES: 

1: McDonald, R. L., and Witte, R. W., Guidance System Development, Johns Hopkins APL Tech. Dig. (4), 289ˆ’298 (1981).

2: Murota, K., and Hirade, K., GMSK Modulation for Digital Mobile Radio Telephony, IEEE Trans. Commun., 29(7), 1044ˆ’1050 (1981).

3: Proakis, J., Digital Communications, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York (2000).

4: Cole Jr., C. E., Missile Communication Links, Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Vol 28, Num 4 (2010)

KEYWORDS: Secure Data Link System Design, High Speed Two-way Data Link, RF Communication 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a capability to predict run time and network resource loading of complex federations of missile defense engineering and/or Hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulations, assess scenario features driving resource loading, and predict affected components to warn of un-executable scenario designs, assist configuring Modeling and Simulation (M&S) networks, and support automated batch scheduling. 

DESCRIPTION: During execution of large scale federated engineering simulations computer/network resources can be overtaxed resulting in slow execution and thinned representations that are not able to be accredited or are outright execution failures. Execution of the actual simulation can be chaotic as small changes in event timing result in different events chains as component systems make different decisions. This affect is multiplied during simulation as the resource loading to model events varies and components of the simulation architecture interact. The M&S architectures vary with the event participants and have new software and hardware developed in isolation and integrated for the first time. A tool to predict run times and resource loading on prospective M&S architectures is needed. Inputs should be 1) the missile defense scenario, and 2) the prospective architectures. The desired technology should support more efficient operations of large scale federated simulations and be extendable to any large scale distributed computer network architectures. Analytical, simulation-of-a-simulation, learning heuristics, or other innovative techniques may be applicable to the problem. 

PHASE I: Develop the proposed approach to a sufficient level to demonstrate its viability and identify requirements for full development. The following are anticipated at the conclusion of Phase I: a) a demonstration/proof-of-concept of the viability of the proposed approach, b) an algorithmic description of the developed approach to include a description of required inputs and expected sources of this data, and likely form of outputs, and c) a plan for the full development of the capability, to include the plan to gain Information Assurance (IA) approval to operate the software on government computers. 

PHASE II: Deliver an initial working prototype capability, usable by the government on an experimental basis. Under the working assumption that the capability will be provided in the form of software, the following are anticipated by the conclusion of Phase II: a) a demonstration of a usable initial capability to include some level of validation of results, b) delivery of the initial capability software, c) initiate Information Assurance approval of software for use on government computers, d) user documentation for the initial capability sufficient to support trial use, e) documentation of the initial capabilitys software architecture and description of its algorithms, and f) an initial validation test results against actual government M&S architectures. 

PHASE III: Focus on delivering phased incremental improvements to the prototype until a full operational capability is achieved. At each increment the following would be anticipated: a) Demonstration the incremental additions/improvements, b) a software release for use/testing by government M&S engineers, c) government IA approval of the software for use on government computers, d) updated user documentation, e) updated software and algorithmic description documentation, and f) validation test results. At the conclusion of Phase III provide the final executable software and documentation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Missile Defense Agency Fact Sheet: The Ballistic Missile Defense System https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/bmds.pdf

2: A modeling Approach for Estimating Execution Time of Long-Running Scientific Applications https://users.cs.fiu.edu/~raju/WWW/publications/hpgc2008/paper.pdf

3: Predicting Execution Time of Computer Programs Using Sparse Polynomial Regression http://www.linghuang.org/research/spore.pdf

4: Federated Simulations for Systems of Systems Integration http://www.informs-sim.org/wsc08papers/134.pdf

5: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 16 Oct 2012. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/TBE_OSF_Fact_Sheet_FINAL_16_Oct_2012.pdf

6: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 18 Aug 2015. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/OSF_Product_Sheet_Final_20150818.pdf

KEYWORDS: Execution Time, Run Time, Federated Simulations, Modeling & Simulation, Computer Networks, Prediction, Computer Resources 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative software to reduce run time inline simulation processor usage, memory usage, and network data bandwidth requirements to manage analytical data capture and storage. 

DESCRIPTION: Current data logging methods in simulations use significant processor, memory, and network data bandwidth. To meet execution speed requirements and prevent crashes, generally only a minimal set of data items are logged in as run-for-records. However, this minimal set is often insufficient in diagnosing problems with the simulation (e.g. element model crash) or in understanding complex events of interest in the simulation (e.g. a missed intercept). In addition, many of the desired data items for the events of interest are only needed for a few seconds of execution time, but their occurrence is not predictable prior to execution. This topic seeks innovative solutions to these data logging issues. Specifically, there is a desire for efficiently logging data items during an execution based on the occurrence/predicted occurrence of the simulator and the simulated events of interest (all while maintaining the execution speed and reliability). Improvements to current cloud based logging methods, such as Morpheus or hybrid cloud logging methods, are areas of interest as are solutions that embed artificial intelligence. 

PHASE I: Design and develop a concept for intelligent data logging in simulations. Demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, including simulation performance impacts, and define an incremental development plan for Phase II and Phase III that will deliver a usable capability. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype for intelligent data logging capable of being tested by simulation engineers in a run-for record in a parallel or no-harm means. Demonstrate that this capability can be incorporated into simulation architecture without major rework or significant additional cost while achieving the increased performance (faster logging that leads to quicker simulation run times.) Begin Information Assurance (IA) accreditation of the prototype software so that the software can be tested on government computer networks. 

PHASE III: Complete IA accreditation and deliver a fully usable capability for use with both a Hardware-in-the-Loop and a Tier II digital Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) based simulation architecture. Demonstrate the capability for logging OSF Public Interface (OPI) and element data logging, coordinate the objectives and conditions for logging as well as what needs to be logged by each model/components needed and incorporate the intelligent data logger into the simulations and into an event. The commercialization prospects should increase greatly if the technologies developed also are applicable to other simulation architectures. 

REFERENCES: 

1: What is Data logging (Daren Perrucci) - https://www.morpheusdata.com/blog/2016-03-23-what-is-data-logging.

2: Missile Defense Agency Fact Sheet: The Ballistic Missile Defense System https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/bmds.pdf.

3: MDA Testing - https://www.mda.mil/system/testing.html.

4: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 16 Oct 2012. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/TBE_OSF_Fact_Sheet_FINAL_16_Oct_2012.pdf

5: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 18 Aug 2015. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/OSF_Product_Sheet_Final_20150818.pdf

KEYWORDS: Plug-and-play, Objective Based Logging, Situational Logging, Eclipse, Objective Simulation Framework (OSF), Platform-As-A-Service (PAAS), Cloud-based Logging, Microsoft Azure, Metadata, Heroku 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative data compression techniques to reduce federate and/or distributed simulation data transmission times and storage capacity requirements. 

DESCRIPTION: Innovative data compression techniques are sought that can be applied at run time to reduce data logging path bandwidth requirements within the architecture and decrease memory and storage required for data logging. Transmission and storage of data within simulation architectures take significant bandwidth and memory. While there are several data compression algorithms which are available to compress files of different formats such as Shannon-Fano Coding, Huffman coding, Adaptive Huffman coding, Run Length Encoding and Arithmetic coding, an advanced solution is sought that improves upon these methods and works in highly complex missile defense simulation and test architectures. A major design goal is for the developed technologies to be used in existing simulation infrastructures with minimal modification. 

PHASE I: Develop and demonstrate the technical feasibility of the improved data compression algorithm(s). Analyze and provide expected performance in relation to increasing data transmission throughput and storage during execution of federated/distributed simulations. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype to be used in a run time data compression test by simulation engineers in a missile defense simulation. Demonstrate and evaluate that the prototype can be incorporated into the Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) or another framework without major rework or significant additional cost while improving performance. Initiate Information Assurance (IA) accreditation of the prototype software (will be required before any test on government computer networks). 

PHASE III: Complete full development of the run time data compression software. Complete information assurance of the software. Incorporate the run time data compression software into the OSF or another missile defense simulation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Introduction to data compression (Carnegie Mellon), The future of data compression in unity, Data compression transformations for dynamically allocated data. Shanmugasundaram, Senthil.

2: "A Comparative Study of Text Compression Algorithms" International Journal of Wisdom Based Computing," Vol. 1 (3), December 2011. 68-76.

3: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 16 Oct 2012. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/TBE_OSF_Fact_Sheet_FINAL_16_Oct_2012.pdf

4: Summary of Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) 18 Aug 2015. https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/OSF_Product_Sheet_Final_20150818.pdf

KEYWORDS: Inline Data Compression, Big Data Run-length Encoding (RLE) 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: This topic seeks highly innovative solutions to the challenges of robust transparent window materials and configurations for electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) seeker windows capable of surviving and performing in endo-atmospheric interceptor environments characterized by high heating rates, temperatures, pressures, and accelerations. 

DESCRIPTION: EO/IR seekers operating in endo-atmospheric flight require transparent window materials that transmit light from objects in the seeker field of view through an optical system onto a detector without loss of window or thermal protection system (TPS) integrity. Thermal gradients across the window, aggravated by vibration, acceleration, and shock, can cause failure within the bulk of the window or at material interfaces. In addition, thermal emissions from heated windows add to sensor noise. Window configurations that relocate the window from the nose tip to other positions on the interceptor body to reduce thermal and pressure loads impact optical field of regard and engagement strategy. Window coolants reduce local window temperatures; however, they introduce additional system complexity and create additional aero-optic effects at the window interface. This topic seeks highly innovative solutions to the challenges described above. Desirable attributes of proposed solutions include long operation times; survivability at high steady state temperatures; survivability in high heating rates; survivability at high three-axis accelerations; all-weather survivability; and, high transmissivity and low emissivity in infrared wavebands. The technology should also have excellent manufacturability, maintainability, reliability, simplicity of operation, low cost, and low size weight and power requirements. 

PHASE I: Conduct research and analysis to quantify the proposed solutions expected performance metrics and ability to meet all or most of the desirable attributes listed above. Complete a design for a seeker window configuration for a notional interceptor, including a description of how it will interface with the aeroshell / Thermal Protection System (TPS) and/or underlying structure and how it will be optically coupled with the detector array. Collaborate with appropriate window and aeroshell/TPS fabricators to develop a plan, schedule, and cost for fabricating material coupon samples. Identify fabrication risks and describe risk mitigation steps. Conduct material testing and analysis to predict the performance of the material. 

PHASE II: Fabricate material coupon samples integrated with advanced structure/TPS using representative interfaces. Conduct testing to confirm performance and survivability through the expected stressful environments. Compare measured to predicted results and update window configuration design and analytical modeling accordingly. Repeat fabrication, test, and analysis to improve the window configuration design as funding permits. The performer should collaborate with prime contractors as potential transition partners. Provide a final report detailing the design, analysis, and test results of these efforts and deliver set-aside material coupon samples to a government laboratory for independent test and validation. 

PHASE III: Fabricate full or subscale prototypes of the interceptor missile section containing the seeker window configuration. These full or subscale prototypes should include the window, all structural interfaces for the window configuration and hardware for coupling the window configuration to the detector. Work with partners to conduct appropriate ground testing of this prototype and prepare for transition to an interceptor program. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Jeffrey L. Tosi and Kumar M. Khajurivala, Common Infrared Optical Materials and Coatings: A Guide to Properties, Performance and Applications. http://www.photonics.com/EDU/Handbook.aspx?AID=25495

2: Cary, R.H. Avionic Radome Materials. Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. AD-A007-956. Paris, France. October 1974.

3: The Correct Material for Infrared (IR) Applications. http://www.edmundoptics.com/resources/application-notes/optics/the-correct-material-for-infrared-applications

4: Allen Spencer and William Moore, Design Trade-Offs For Homing Missiles, ADA282245, www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a282245.pdf

KEYWORDS: EO/IR, Seeker, Interceptor, Missile, Endo-atmospheric, Window, Infrared, Electro-Optical, Transmittance Materials, High Temperature Materials 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative design for a lightweight, low cost, precision, seeker gimbal assembly that can operate in endo and exo-atmospheric environments inducing high stress levels, i.e., temperature, vibration, shock, and sustained high-g. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks an innovative design of a lightweight, low cost, low power, high performance gimbal for missile seekers. Innovative materials and manufacturing processes can be from any of the major material types as long as they are lightweight and low cost and are able to withstand the relevant environments. Innovative manufacturing processes can be from any of the process types to include powder technology, forging, casting, additive manufacturing, etc. Assembly processes should consider semi-automated and fully automated assembly. The gimbal should be designed to accommodate electrical and cryogenic elements (assume sensor operation between 68 degrees K and 120 degrees K) necessary for operation of the sensor element on the gimbal platform. Assume a thermal environment ranging from -50 degrees C to + 70 degrees C and radiation hardness >300 krad. The gimbal should have the capability of maintaining less than 0.1 milliradians pointing accuracy, greater than 4 radians per second slew rate, less than 50 microradians RMS stabilization, and must accommodate up to 1 radian field of regard. 

PHASE I: Investigate alternative gimbal designs for a low cost, lightweight gimbal capable of withstanding high stress environments and provide a feasibility assessment of the proposed solution. Develop down selection criteria based on reduced cost and weight. Provide analysis to support recommendation of the most appropriate design for further evaluation in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Build a prototype with the goal of demonstrating that the proposed design represents a feasible approach. The contractor should provide a lessons learned summary about the results and a manufacturing tolerance study and provide the gimbal to government personnel as needed for performance and environmental evaluation and testing. 

PHASE III: Develop and execute a plan to manufacture component developed in Phase II, and assist the government in transitioning this technology to the appropriate prime contractor(s) for the engineering integration and testing. 

REFERENCES: 

1: N. F. Palumbo, et.al, Basic Principles of Homing Guidance, Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Vol. 29, No. 1 (2010).

2: P. Zarchan, Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance, 5th Ed., AIAA, 2007.

3: Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing: Materials, Processes, and Systems, Groover, Wiley, 2006

4: Manufacturing Engineering Handbook, Geng and Geng, Mc Graw-Hill, 2004

5: Advanced Machining Technology Handbook, Brown, Mc Graw-Hill, 1998

KEYWORDS: Gimbal, Missile, Seeker, Control System 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate innovative approaches for advanced accelerometer technology that enhances an Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) high-g operability and survivability. 

DESCRIPTION: Accelerometers employed in missile defense IMU applications for guidance, navigation and control encounter severe accelerations, shocks and vibrations during all phases of operation. In addition, IMU in-flight systems are constrained by limits on size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) while requiring high performance and radiation environment operability. This topic seeks innovations in high-G accelerometer technologies which increase accuracy and decrease SWaP while enabling continuous operation through 2 to 3 times higher acceleration environments than current state of the art capability, with no more than 5% performance degradation. The proposed solution, when integrated with appropriate gyroscope, should fit within 2 times smaller packages than the current state of the art IMU packages. In addition, the proposed hardware solutions must also increase the ruggedness and survivability of accelerometers by a factor of 2 to 3 over current shock and vibration environments. Other desirable attributes of proposed accelerometer solutions include long operation times, operability in high temperature environments, operability through large thermal gradients, design simplicity, ease of manufacturability, integration ease of integrability into IMU systems, long duration storage with negligible performance degradation and low cost. 

PHASE I: Develop and conduct feasibility/proof of concept study for the proposed technology to meet the desired performance requirements in high-g environments. Complete a design for the accelerometer technology, including how it will potentially integrate into an IMU. Perform modeling, simulation and analysis (MS&A) and/or laboratory experimentation to demonstrate the proof of concept. Proof of concept demonstration may be subscale and used in conjunction with MS&A results to verify scaling laws, feasibility and demonstrate the ability to maintain performance standards in realistic flight environments. Identify manufacturing risks and describe risk mitigation steps. At completion of this program, the preliminary design and detailed analysis should be documented for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Expand on Phase I results by producing prototype accelerometers and demonstrating the technologys performance and survivability through appropriate prototype testing. Compare measured to predicted results and update design and analytical models accordingly. Repeat fabrication, test, and analysis of the updated design as funding permits. The performer should collaborate with prime contractors and/or prime integrators as potential transition partners into an IMU. Phase II concludes with a final report detailing the final design, test results and full IMU integration plans for the accelerometer. The performer should produce prototype accelerometer suitable for government testing. 

PHASE III: Expand on Phase II results by optimizing designs as necessary for integration into an IMU system. Work with partners to conduct IMU integration and system level demonstration. Demonstration could include, but is not limited to testing in a real system or a system level test-bed. Work with partners to conduct appropriate ground testing of the IMU prototype and prepare for transition to an interceptor program. The performer will provide IMU prototypes to a government laboratory for independent test and validation. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Missile Defense Agency. Undated. Overview of missile defense systems. Retrieved from http://www.mda.mil

2: Department of Defense. Undated. Link to documents with some information on some BMD near-term and long-term capabilities. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/bmdr

3: Department of Defense. Undated. MIL-STD-810, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests. MDA - 25

4: SMC-S-016. Undated. Air Force Space Command and Space and Missile Systems Center document. Test Requirements for Launch, Upper-Stage and Space Vehicles.

5: Northrop Grumman. 2013. LN-200 FOG Family Advanced Airborne IMU/AHRS." Retrieved from http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/LN200FOG/Documents/ln200.pdf.

6: Honeywell. 2012. Inertial Measurement Units. Retrieved from http://aerospace.honeywell.com/en/products/communication-nav-and-surveillance/inertial-navigation/defense-navigation/inertial-measurement-units/hg1700, https://aerospace.honeywell.com/en/products/navigation-and-sensors/hg1930.

KEYWORDS: Accelerometers; Sensors; Micro-electronics; Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU); Guidance, Navigation And Control (GNC) 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Identify, evaluate, develop, and demonstrate innovative propulsion control system technology that advances the State-of-the-Art (SOTA). 

DESCRIPTION: Missile defense interceptors employ various propulsion control systems maintain flight stability or provide trajectory corrections during various stages of flight and under a wide range of aerodynamic loads. This topic seeks technology improvements to propulsion control systems that could provide increased mission flexibility. Desire technology that reduces size, weight and power and increases agility by enabling higher delta velocity, improved acceleration rates and/or faster response times. Technological improvements are sought that are flexible and operate over a wide range of aerodynamic and aerothermal loading conditions. Technology that may be compatible with existing propulsion systems and/or is modular across multiple propulsion platforms is desired. 

PHASE I: Develop and conduct feasibility/proof of concept study to identify candidate technology and/or components. Complete preliminary evaluation of the technology, showing the assessment of improvement across the battlespace. At completion of this program, the preliminary design will be documented for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Expand on Phase I results by producing components and demonstrating technology through prototype testing. Test demonstrations will provide the required data to support and/or validate the improvements identified in Phase I. 

PHASE III: Expand on Phase II results by optimizing designs as necessary for integration into a future system. Conduct integration and system level demonstration. Demonstration could include, but is not limited to testing in a real system or a system level test-bed with plans for insertion into an interceptor. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Sutton, George P. Rocket Propulsion Elements, 8th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2010.

2: Siouris, George M. Missile Guidance and Control Systems. Springer-Verlag New York; 2004.

KEYWORDS: Missile, Interceptor, Propulsion, Rocket Propulsion, Propulsion Control System, Interceptor Control System, Advanced Propulsion Technology, Thrust Vector Control, Thrust Control, Maneuverability, Aerodynamic Steering, Aerodynamic Control, Control Surfaces 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative methods to expedite Radar Cross Section (RCS) testing. 

DESCRIPTION: Innovative processes, procedures and/or algorithms are sought that could reduce the time spent in RCS test facilities. Radar wavebands of interest include C, X and K (Ku, K, Ka) bands. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, more efficient sampling techniques, data packaging and/or extraction methods. Innovations related to sampling could include scan speeds, bandwidths, and/or test object repositioning that will shorten the time needed for data capture. Packaging innovations could include processes to more efficiently take the captured data (and related information) for data compression. Extraction methods could involve methods to more efficiently convert the captured data (captured in Frequency Domain) and transform it over into the Time Domain for analysis. Currently there are two national facilities that can meet the stringent RCS test requirements for classification, size and criticality (data gathering and accuracy) for this data. The government requires testing in these facilities that meets requirements for number of angles, number of frequencies and level of accuracy. The goal of this effort should be to expand on the existing capabilities within these two labs and to optimize testing such that the overall time in the RCS test chamber is reduced. 

PHASE I: Provide a proof of principle of the processes and/or procedures and algorithms. The proof should also capture the key areas where future enhancements are needed, suggest appropriate methods and technologies to realize faster data capture while meeting or exceeding the current level of data fidelity. 

PHASE II: Based upon the findings from Phase I, the contractor should complete a detailed prototype design of the software/model incorporating government performance requirements. This prototype design should be used to form the development and implementation of a mature, full-scale capability that will be used in one of the test chambers for evaluation. Data fidelity and time to gather data will be principle measures of performance. 

PHASE III: The intent of the Phase III effort will utilize the finished items in the actual testing of products for the government modeling and simulation program. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Knott, E.F., Shaeffer, J.F. and Tuley, M.T., Radar Cross Section “ 2nd Edition, 2004

2: NAWCAD Quick Facts, Radar Reflectivity Laboratories (RRL), Bistatic, Large and Small Monostatic Anechoic Chambers 2014.n http://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcwd/command/ImgContent.aspx/LoadFileFromStore/235

3: Lamont V. Blake. 1980. Radar Range-Performance Analysis. Lexington, MA.

4: U.S. Missile Defense Agency. November 3, 2015. Ballistic Missile Defense System. Retrieved from http://www.mda.mil/index.html.

5: U.S. Department of Defense. Undated. Ballistic Missile Defense Review. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/bmdr

KEYWORDS: Electromagnetics, Radar Cross Section Test, Fast Fourier Transform, Radio Wave, Wave, Sensor, Radar, Model, Simulation, Radio Frequency 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate enabling technologies for a liquid upper stage engine utilizing low-toxicity, non-cryogenic liquid propellants. 

DESCRIPTION: The goal of this topic is to develop and demonstrate enabling technologies for an air launch/air transportable liquid upper stage engine. Propellants may be new or existing formulations but must be non-cryogenic, non-toxic, and hazard classification 1.3C or better. Gelled propellants (or other approaches for increased viscosity and reduced vapor pressure) may also be considered but must address rheological properties to show understanding of flow behavior compared to conventional Newtonian propellants. Propellants should be able to meet standardized Insensitive Munitions (IM) test parameters and passing criteria as defined by MIL-STD-2105D and be insensitive to adiabatic compression. Engine design and/or components may also be proposed. Key design parameters and associated components should be identified and demonstrated at a subscale level. One example would be addressing the ignition and combustion process of AF-M315E monopropellant that would allow scale-up of the combustion chamber commensurate with performance parameters stated below. For design purposes, consider an engine with a thrust of 900 pounds-force (lbf) (4000 N), burn duration of 75 seconds, and a volumetric constraint of 50-inch diameter by 110-inch length. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof-of-concept solution; identify candidate propellants, engine and/or component design concepts, test capabilities, and conduct initial design trade studies. 

PHASE II: Expand on Phase I results by finalizing the engine design, building subscale, heavyweight test hardware, and conducting a hot-fire test to validate the design. The test should show high specific performance with scalability to a high thrust, flight representative engine. 

PHASE III: The developed solution should be demonstrated via further engine hot-fire testing. Conduct engineering and manufacturing development, test, evaluation, qualification. Demonstration should include, but not be limited to, demonstration in a real system or operation in a system level testbed with insertion planning for a target program. 

REFERENCES: 

George P. Sutton, "Rocket propulsion Elements; Introduction to Engineering of Rockets" 7th edition, John Willey &Sons, 2001. MIL-STD-2105D

US Insensitive Munitions Policy Update, DTIC

Toxicity of Rocket Fuels: Comparison of Hydrogen Peroxide with Current Propellants; http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/al_jub_ii/al_jub_ii_refs/n50en153/dmattie.htm

KEYWORDS: Upper Stage, Liquid Propellant, Engine, Thrust, Low Toxicity 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Design and develop an additive manufacturing process to three-dimensionally (3D) print a package around a bare semiconductor die that will comply with MIL-PRF-38535. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks to develop a 3D printing process that additively prints a 3D package around a bare semiconductor die where the package is tailored to fit the application. When semiconductors are fabricated, they are typically sent to a foreign country for packaging. Within the foreign country, it is possible the part is counterfeited. 3D printing of a component package around a bare die should allow for the manufacturer to keep the packaging at the same location as the die manufacturing and reduce the risk of counterfeiting. Additionally, it is desired that the proposed 3D printed component package be printed in a unique way to reduce susceptibility to counterfeiting. 

PHASE I: Develop and conduct proof-of-principle studies and/or demonstrations of the process that prints a 3D semiconductor package around a bare microelectronic die. Provide evidence of adherence to MIL-PRF-38535 and summarize the proof-of-principle results in a final report. 

PHASE II: Update/develop materials and processes and printer design based on the Phase I results. Validate process repeatability and demonstrate the ability of the printer and material to print in real-time around multiple sizes of semiconductor dies. Conduct initial operational and evaluation testing using a test flow that demonstrates compliance to class Q parts defined in MIL-PRF-38535 in a relevant test environment. 

PHASE III: Conduct engineering and manufacturing development, test, and evaluation, qualification of materials, processes, and printer design. Demonstration would include, but not be limited to, demonstration in a real system or operation in a system level test-bed. Working with the government, formulate plans for insertion in a technology program. 

REFERENCES: 

1: A. Kwas, E. MacDonald, D. Muse, R. Wicker, C. Kief, J. Aarestad, M. Zemba, B. Marshall, C. Tolbert, B. Connor, Enabling Technologies for Entrepreneurial Opportunities in 3D printing of SmallSats, 28th

2: Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Aug. 2014.

3: J. Hoerber, J. Glasschroeder, M. Pfeffer, J. Schilp, M. Zaeh, J. Franke, Approaches for Additive Manufacturing of 3D Electronic Applications, Procedia CIRP, Volume 17, 2014, Pages 806-81.

KEYWORDS: Microelectronics, Anti-counterfeit, Obsolescence, Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printer 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a new and innovative 3D printing process that additively prints a three-dimensional radiation shield around the microelectronic piece-part. 

DESCRIPTION: State-of-the-art microelectronics are often found to be susceptible to radiation and systems are required to be redesigned with a new electronic piece-part or multiple kilogram metal shielding. These modifications increase weight, size, costs, and schedule to the program. This topic seeks to develop an additive manufacturing process and material that prints one-piece surface claddings of graded atomic number (Z) materials for use as a radiation shield around a packaged microelectronic piece-part. This should demonstrate a reduction in the components susceptibility to radiation induced failure (such as single-event upsets and dose-rate upsets). The process should meet the goal of being able to print a shield around a 484 ball Fine Pitch Ball Grid Array (FBGA) package that is unmounted or mounted on a circuit card assembly. The radiation blocking material should ultimately be capable of mitigating single event effects from a Linear Energy Transfer (LET) > 40 [MeV-cm2]/mg particle and reducing the radiation dose-rate by 50%. 

PHASE I: Develop and conduct proof-of-principle studies and/or demonstrations of a 3D printer that uses radiation blocking material to print a three-dimensional shape around a microelectronic piece-part. Provide evidence that the printer can print a shield around a 484 ball FBGA package that is unmounted or mounted on a circuit card assembly. Additionally, provide analysis that the material or materials used in the shield mitigates single event effects from a LET > 20 [MeV-cm2]/mg particle and reduces the radiation dose-rate by 25%. 

PHASE II: Update/develop materials and processes and printer design based on the Phase I results. Validate process repeatability and demonstrate the ability of the printer and material to print in real-time around multiple types and sizes of semiconductor packages. Conduct initial operational and evaluation testing in a realistic radiation environment that demonstrates that the material or materials used in the shield mitigates single event effects from a LET > 40 [MeV-cm2]/mg particle and reduces the radiation dose-rate by 50%. 

PHASE III: The developed printing process and packaging material should have direct insertion potential into missile defense systems. Conduct engineering and manufacturing development, test, evaluation, qualification. Demonstration would include, but not limited to, demonstration in a real system or operation in a system level test-bed with insertion planning for a missile defense interceptor. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Srour, J.R., and J.M. McGarrity. Radiation Effects on Microelectronics in Space. Proc. IEEE; (United States) 76:11 (1988).

2: A. H. Johnston, "Radiation effects in advanced microelectronics technologies," in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 1339-1354, Jun 1998.

3: A. Kwas, E. MacDonald, D. Muse, R. Wicker, C. Kief, J. Aarestad, M. Zemba, B. Marshall, C. Tolbert, B. Connor, Enabling Technologies for Entrepreneurial Opportunities in 3D printing of SmallSats, 28th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Aug. 2014.

KEYWORDS: Microelectronics, Radiation, Single-event Effects, Total Ionizing Dose, Dose-rate, Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printer 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a material that is transparent to certain radio frequencies (RF) and opaque in others, that can act as a thermal protection system (TPS). 

DESCRIPTION: The government has interest in a TPS material that is RF transparent in frequencies used for telemetry while opaque in other frequencies. The goal of this topic is to develop such a TPS material or class of materials, that can be used for antenna radomes without affecting other signature characteristics. The material should offer protection from thermal and mechanical loads as well as electrical discharge (e.g. lighting strike). The material should be able to be manufactured in production quantities using readily available feedstock. Environmentally friendly materials and fabrication techniques are desired, but will not be the only metric used to assess the viability of the final product. It is expected that the utility of the material would have broad applications across the aerospace industry. 

PHASE I: Select, design and develop candidate materials and associated fabrication processes. Conduct coupon scale testing for appropriate RF, thermal and structural material properties. Develop preliminary material response predictions for the flight environment. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I, optimize material selection. Scale process to component scale fabrication and demonstrate process repeatability. Conduct detailed thermos-structural and RF testing for components in relevant environments. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate performance of candidate material by real environment testing of component materials in association with a government flight test opportunities. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Volakis, John Lonidas, Antenna Engineering Handbook, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2007

2: U.S. Department of Defense. Undated. Ballistic Missile Defense Review. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/bmdr

KEYWORDS: Radome, Radio Transparent Material, Thermal Protection System 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an advanced closed loop control system that minimizes reaction time latencies during missile flight. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks innovative solutions for advanced autonomous flight control systems that minimize reaction time latencies and improve flight performance while minimizing cost. Proposed technologies may focus on control mechanism, flight computer, sensors, and/or feedback logic. Proposals to improve existing systems will be considered, but preference will be given to new concepts. All proposals need to show applicability to agile, high velocity flight systems. Lastly, proposals do not need to be all-in-one systems as proposals addressing one or more components will be considered. 

PHASE I: Develop one or more concepts to improve the control of high speed autonomous vehicles. Concepts should be modeled for viability and culminate in a proof of concept demonstration to assess viable options for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Transition successful Phase I proof of concept(s) to flight ready hardware. Interface control documents will be provided by the government at this time to guide the design to be interfaced in a test vehicle for Phase III. 

PHASE III: Conduct qualification testing and integrate the hardware and/or software into a test vehicle to increase the technology readiness level to 8 or 9. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Li, Z, et al, Nonlinear robust control of hypersonic aircrafts with interactions between flight dynamics and propulsion systems, ISA Transactions, Vol 64, September 2016, pp 1-11

2: U.S. Department of Defense. Undated. Ballistic Missile Defense Review. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/bmdr

KEYWORDS: Control Theory, Control Dynamics, Algorithms, Flight Computer, Actuator 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Design and develop future missile systems avionics based upon innovative Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Develop innovative approaches to leveraging modern miniaturized electronics to the fullest extent possible as replacements for existing missile system avionics. 

DESCRIPTION: Miniaturized electronics are found in many COTS applications, including micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), accelerometers, GPS receivers. The government is interested in leveraging many of these innovative COTS or custom microelectronics technologies to use as low cost and low power replacements in missile system avionics. Technologies of interest are flight computers; accelerometers; GPS receivers; and, guidance, navigation and control components. All approaches will be considered to enable a technology refresh of current avionic systems. 

PHASE I: Develop proof of concept(s) for one or more the desired missile system avionic technologies. NASA Sounding Rockets environments can be used as a baseline to determine what, if any, modifications need to be made to hardware designs to accommodate COTS components. A notional prototype design is expected at conclusion of Phase I. 

PHASE II: Develop prototype hardware for ground testing to demonstrate that the proposed solution(s) can meet flight environments. Upon completion the Phase II, a prototype should be able to be flown on a sounding rocket flight test. 

PHASE III: Integrate the hardware in a flight system for an engineering flight test to fully demonstrate that the technology meets expectations. 

REFERENCES: 

1: NASA Sounding Rockets User Handbook, Sounding Rockets Program Office, Sub-orbital and Special Orbital Projects Directorate, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA 23337, July 2015.

2: U.S. Department of Defense. Undated. Ballistic Missile Defense Review. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/bmdr

KEYWORDS: Microelectronics, COTS, Missile Systems, Avionics, Sounding Rocket 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) parachute canopy with a single surface providing lift capability that leverages high strength bonded fabrics. 

DESCRIPTION: A combination of parachute systems insert personnel and equipment into denied area of operations during the day or night from multiple air platforms. There are many complex issues including: g-forces, weight, payload capacity, human interfaces, air platform interfaces, and payload detection. Current parachute systems rely on refinement of ram air parachute canopies. Ram air canopies have an upper and lower horizontal skin with vertical ribs. The skins and ribs are sewn together to create the shape of the canopy, which resembles a conventional aircraft wing when inflated during descent. Marine Corps personnel parachute systems weigh approximately sixty pounds on average and are rated to four hundred fifty pounds. The weight of the parachute system is calculated as part of the maximum weight the system can carry. Dead load comprises fourteen percent of the system. The manufacturing technique of cutting patterns and sewing them together limits the geometry of the canopy. Various paraglider manufacturers sell designs with single skin or hybrid canopies. These designs are very light weight and fold down to a very small size while maintaining similar flight characteristics to conventional designs. Concurrently, there are advances in non-woven fabrics and the ability to bond them together to limit joint loss factors. The non-woven fabrics and bonding allow for geometries not limited by sewing methods. This would allow for decreased manufacturing and maintenance resources while achieving increased performance levels. Developing a single surface parachute canopy may result in decreased bulk and dead load by leveraging geometries not limited to current manufacturing methods. Typically, personnel parachute systems employ a tandem design for a main and reserve parachute as well as a harness container to deploy the canopies. The system must include the capacity and reliability for personnel use. Proposed approaches can utilize conventional parachute fabrics or non-woven fabrics to achieve design goals. Technologies developed for this specific application will also be explored for applicability to cargo and low level personnel parachute systems. Proposed single surface HALO parachute canopies should meet the following performance specifications: Deployment method: Threshold (T) hand deployed pilot chute, Objective (O) Drogue Deployment altitude: (T) 4,000-10,000 ft. Mean Sea Level (MSL), (O) 1,000-22,000 ft. MSL All up-weight capacity: (T) 200-375 lbs., (O) 165-425 lbs. Glide ratio: (T) 3.5:1, (O) 5:1 System weight: (T) 40 lbs., (O) 25 lbs. Airworthiness Reliability: (T) reliability 95% with 90 confidence level, (O) 99.5% / 90 confidence level 

PHASE I: Develop concepts for a single skin HALO parachute canopy that meets the requirements described above. Demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts in meeting Marine Corps needs and establish the concepts that can be developed into a useful product for the Marine Corps. Feasibility will be established by material testing and analytical modeling, as appropriate. Provide a Phase II development plan with performance goals and key technical milestones, and address technical risk reduction. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, develop a scaled prototype evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan and the Marine Corps requirements for the single surface HALO parachute canopy. System performance will be demonstrated through prototype evaluation and modeling or analytical methods over the required range of parameters including numerous deployment cycles. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into an initial design that will meet Marine Corps requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Marine Corps use. 

PHASE III: Phase III: Support the Marine Corps in transitioning the technology for Marine Corps use. Develop a single surface HALO parachute canopy for evaluation to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. Support the Marine Corps for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Marine Corps use. Private Sector Commercial Potential/Dual-Use Applications: Parachutes are widely used in in the return of objects from the atmosphere to the Earths surface in a controlled manner. New single surface parachute canopy designs combined with bonded fabrics will enable smaller and lighter safety subsystems for drones, cargo, and personnel. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Fedorova, Nataliya, Svetlana Verenich, and Behnam Pourdeyhimi. Strength Optimization of Thermally Bonded Spunbond Nonwovens. Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 2, no. 1 (2007): 38-48. Accessed December 7, 2016. http://www.jeffjournal.org/papers/Volume2/Federova.pdf.

2. Hamerton, Greg. "First Flight Review." First Flight Review - Niviuk Skin P Review - Articles - Flybubble Paragliding. Accessed December 07, 2016. http://www.flybubble.co.uk/articles/page/1351.

3. Jakubcioniene, Živile, Vitalija Masteikaite, Tadas Kleveckas, Mindaugas Jakubcionis, and Urzamal Kelesova. "Investigation of the Strength of Textile Bonded Seams." Materials Science 18, no. 2 (2012): 172-76. doi:10.5755/j01.ms.18.2.1922.

4. "Ozone XXLite: Video Round-up." Cross Country Magazine “ In the Core since 1988. November 28, 2012. Accessed December 07, 2016. http://www.xcmag.com/2012/11/ozone-xxlite-video-round-up/.

KEYWORDS: Parachute; Canopy; Bonded Fabrics; Non-woven Fabrics; HALO; Sewing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Marine Corps Ground Vehicle Acquisition PMOs and Navy Amphibious and Prepositioning Ships PMOs do not have a precise way of determining shipboard vehicle transportability constraints early enough in the design process. Develop an automated capability which allows the user to pull up the desired ship scan, select the vehicle of interest, specify desired vehicle-to-ship clearance distance, conduct 3D physical interference analysis, and generate reports on the transportability results. 

DESCRIPTION: The need for SDATs 3D virtual and augmented reality capability is rooted in the time consuming and costly process associated with the design of Marine Corps vehicles suitable for deployment aboard amphibious and Maritime Preposition Ships. Current methods addressing effectiveness, suitability, and transportability requirements involve taking internal measurements of ships in various locations to include angles at the tops and bases of ramps to ensure clearance and identify obstacles to include pipes, wire bundles, lighting and other types of fixtures, and door paths. The process is laborious and costly, and does not leverage efficiencies supporting collaboration that would be provided through 3D virtual and augmented reality. The Shipboard Dimensional Analysis Tool (SDAT) is a design tool that will provide Acquisition Program Managers (APMs) the ability to assess the physical design requirements of Marine Corps vehicles, prior to prototyping, in order to determine the impacts of transporting these vehicles aboard Navy Amphibious/Sealift vessels. This design capability will provide a mechanism to rapidly modify sealift plans, concepts, and alternatives that will reduce costs associated with current design practices by eliminating expensive and time consuming prototype fabrications. This concept was vetted through MCSC, PEO SHIPS, NAVSEA 05D, ONR, and multiple operational commands. HQMC CD&I Seabasing Integration Division has expressed interest as well. Previous efforts have obtained 3D LIDAR scans of LPD-24 as well as authoritative USMC vehicle CAD drawings. The focus of this effort is to develop algorithms and models to conduct trade space analysis on the shipboard transportability relationships between ship and vehicle. The collected ship scan data exists in point cloud format, captured by FARO LIDAR scanners. Vehicle models exist as 3D CAD models. This data must either be used as-is, or else converted into a format suitable for analysis of vehicle maneuvering throughout the shipboard environment. The tool will allow the user to select a ship from the current library of scanned ships, select a vehicle from the current library of vehicles, conduct the physical fit and maneuverability analysis, and then display results in a 2D report to the user. The report indicates each area of the ship where (a) the vehicle comes within a user-defined margin of collision with the ship, and (b) the vehicle collides with the ship. The tool must also account for the location of vehicle tie-down locations and illustrate a user-defined tie-down configuration. As part of the tool development, an optimized technical plan for the acquisition of additional ship data, automated conversion to other more usable formats if required, and subsequent import into the tool will be developed. The tool will allow for visualization of the vehicle-ship interface via demonstrated interface to appropriate Augmented and Virtual Reality devices. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof of concept for SDAT that meets the above objectives. Demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing SDAT to acquire, process and prepare 3D data for analysis. Phase I focus should be on methodology and proposed workflow of combining 3D data and prototype development. Provide a Phase II development plan with performance goals and key technical milestones, and address technical risk reduction. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, develop a prototype for evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan and the Marine Corps requirements for the SDAT system. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into an initial design that will meet Marine Corps requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Marine Corps use. 

PHASE III: Support transition of the technology for Marine Corps use. Develop the SDAT software to simulate operationally relevant environments, ships, landing craft, vehicles and equipment. Support test and evaluation to certify and qualify the system for Navy/Marine Corps use. As the SDAT technology is developed there is potential to expand its use into commercial applications, to include commercial shipping, strategic lift aircraft, railroad cars, warehousing, or other areas where 3D spatial datasets could be used. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Salmon, Jeff A. Strategic Shift to Ship Scanning: www.XyHT.com. April 21, 2015. http://www.xyht.com/professional-surveyor-archives/feature-a-strategic-shift-to-ship-scanning

2. Tothm, Charles, Topographic Laser Ranging and Scanning: Principles and Processing Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press November 18th, 2008

3. Office of Public Affairs and Congressional Affairs, NSWC Panama City Division. www.navy.mil. NAVSEA Warfare Centers Collaborate, Deliver Technical Support to Marines, ONR February 17, 2016 http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=93144

4. Jacobs, Geoff, PROFESSIONAL SURVEYOR MAGAZINE, November 2004, www.profsurv.com, Understanding the Useful Range of Laser Scanners http://hds.leica-geosystems.com/downloads123/hds/hds/general/tech_paper/ProfSurv_%20Useful%20Range_final_Nov04.pdf

5. Quality Manufacturing Today November 2015 “ Building in Cruise Ship Quality http://www.qmtmag.com/display_eds.cfm?edno=8163450"

KEYWORDS: LIDAR; Laser Scanning; Drone; 3D Visualization; Embarkation; Tradespace Analysis; Augmented Reality; Virtual Reality 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Reduce the Future Targeting System weight, size, and warfighter cognitive load by applying advanced algorithms, hardware (if necessary), and processing to assist the warfighter with the tasks of target detection, identification, recognition, and location. 

DESCRIPTION: The Marine Corps will be replacing a 28-pound laser designator and 7-pound laser spot imager with a single device which will provide laser designation, laser spot imaging, and some target location functions in a single 5.5-pound unit, currently called the Future Targeting System (FTS). The FTS will provide USMC supporting arms observers, spotters, and controllers (e.g., Forward Air Controllers (FACs), Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs), Joint Forward Observers (JFOs)) with the capability to perform rapid target acquisition, laser terminal guidance operations, and laser spot imaging in a single, compact, lightweight system. The device will also integrate advanced, cutting edge azimuth accuracy and north keeping technology while providing self-location capability in Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments. The operating environment is all types of climate and terrain where Marines deploy. Targets include human individuals, vehicles, and buildings. Targets can be moving or stationary. Technology advancements in thermal imagers and laser designators allow for the weight reduction from 28 pounds to 7 pounds, but the ability to detect, recognize, and identify targets via the human eye drives optic aperture size which is a major weight driver for total system weight. Currently, day and night images are viewed separately and users utilize their cognitive ability and training for this task. One method to reduce total optic weight is to merge the day optic image with the night image to assist the operator with determining man-made objects, particularly if the night vision system operates in the longwave infrared (LWIR) or medium wavelength infrared (MWIR) bands. However, this only provides some assistance and will not work under all conditions as the day optic does not function in low light levels. Furthermore, the current state of this technology is not mature enough to provide meaningful utility to FTS operators. New and improved technologies are needed. What follows is a description of several known technologies which have potential to meet system objectives but is not exhaustive. Other novel technologies and approaches will be considered. Technologies of interest include image processing, automatic target recognition, pattern recognition (assisted target recognition), day/night image fusion, and automatic potential target location assistance. These have the potential to improve overall system effectiveness by not relying on the human eyes optics and specialized training. These technologies have the potential to permit reduced optics sizes which will also reduce system weight. These technologies should provide meaningful feedback to the operator in less than two seconds so as to minimize exposure of the operator. Furthermore, automatic pointing and firing of the FTS laser range finder, or cuing the operator to do so, can assist with target identification by providing range information which provides the context of the object under consideration. Determining target location using the onboard suite of inertial sensors coupled with image processing, would also provide the same benefit. Automatic updates of target location, if the target is on the move, would also be very useful. Processing within the FTS device is desirable, but offloading some or all of the processing and data display to a tablet computer is acceptable. 

PHASE I: Develop concepts for enhancing the target detection, identification, and recognition, and location capabilities of the FTS. For the purpose of this phase, assume that the FTS includes indirect view day and night optics. Analysis shall clearly show improvements based upon models of detection, recognition, and identification using a display and human eye as a baseline. Analysis can use a combination of feedback from Marine user demonstrations, the Army Night Vision Laboratorys Night Vision Integrated Performance Model, or a method proposed by the offeror. A description of the processing needed on the FTS device or the tablet computer, if necessary, is required. Describe the development approach to making a prototype system. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, develop a scaled prototype evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan and the Marine Corps requirements for the enhanced processing capability. The system will be demonstrated using a Government provided Common Laser Range Finder “ Integrated Capability (CLRF-IC) or surrogate representative system, as the FTS will not have been completed. Evaluation will be via modelling and verification/demonstration with trained Marine Corps users. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Marine Corps use. 

PHASE III: Support the Marine Corps in transitioning the technology for Marine Corps use. Develop the Enhanced Technology for Man-Portable Targeting Systems and integrate it with the FTS for evaluation to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. Support the Marine Corps for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Marine Corps use. Private Sector Commercial Potential/Dual-Use Applications: The potential for adoption of these technologies into the commercial sector is vast. Automatic/assisted target recognition is directly applicable to law enforcement and security by reducing cognitive load, and increasing situational awareness. Tracking objects location is applicable to traffic control/monitoring and law enforcement. Further applications include automatic detection of hazards for automotive use, which can cue the driver and even engage automatic systems such as steering and braking to avoid collisions. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Future Targeting System Capability and Goals, M67854-16-I-14164, 9 August 2016. https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=983555bdcf3993f74fd0aad0b90595c8&_cview=0

2. Future Targeting System Industry Day Slides, 13 July 2016. https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=983555bdcf3993f74fd0aad0b90595c8&_cview=0

KEYWORDS: Automatic Target Recognition; Image Fusion; Pattern Recognition; Target Location; Targeting 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop an electro-magnetic interference (EMI) composite rigid-wall shelter (CRWS) that integrates the use of lightweight composite materials, carbon conduction paths, and corrosion resistant coatings to provide a lighter, more energy efficient, and durable capability to the Marine Corps, supporting the goals of our expeditionary operations. The EMI CRWS shall incorporate composite structural and panel components that shall be capable of meeting military and commercial EMI shielding standards, and Convention of Safe Containers (CSC) standards. 

DESCRIPTION: The Marine Corps currently utilizes aluminum/steel shelters to fulfill a multitude of missions across a range of military operations. In tactical situations, missions can include (but are not limited to): maintenance, Tactical Operations Centers (TOCs), and various Hospital activities to include operating rooms, and x-ray machines. The use of lightweight composite materials, carbon conduction paths, and corrosion resistant coatings can provide a mobile shelter capability that has higher levels of shielding effectiveness, improved overall energy efficiency, and a reduced logistical burden to the Marine Corps, supporting the goals of our expeditionary operations. Mobile shelters housing mission essential electronic systems must be able to survive electromagnetic events. The Electromagnetic Interference Composite Rigid Wall Shelter (EMI CRWS) can provide collective protection for the system components inside the shelter, eliminating the need to harden the individual components, which increases component weight. The EMI attenuation provided by the EMI CRWS will allow system developers to control the EMI susceptibility and emissions of the enclosed electronic systems. The legacy EMI shelters (mid 1970s) are constructed with aluminum, honeycomb and steel. The shelters require high levels of maintenance/corrosion protection; do not meet current International Standards Organization (ISO)/CSC standards (stack height); are not energy efficient; are heavy and difficult to transport; and do not meet EMI requirements. The intent of this project shall be to produce a mobile composite shelter that, when compared to the legacy shelter provides better shielding effectiveness for EMI; is lighter in weight; has improved structural capability (meets CSC stacking requirements); improves energy efficiency; reduces logistical burden; increases shelter lifespan; and is competitive in cost. Novel shielding technology includes technologies such as buckypaper, metallized textiles, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and conductive carbon pathways. All of these can be integrated with current composite technology. Carbon fibers, epoxies and resin materials are capable of meeting the structural requirements. The primary challenge this project poses is developing a new mobile shelter that incorporates novel materials that meet requirements, and addresses manufacturing processes that keep costs competitive with legacy technology. Through the integration of the technologies identified above, the shelter (standard 10 ISO configuration) shall provide attenuation of 60 db Threshold (T) or 80 db Objective (O), across the frequencies identified in MIL-STD 464C, IEEE 299, and ASTM E1851. The composite structure shall be capable of meeting ISO and CSC standards to provide nine-high stacking of freight containers (ISO 668 and 1496-1). The design shall adhere to standards set forth in ASTM E1925. The shelter tare weight shall be reduced by 20% (T) or 30% (O), over the legacy shelter. Heat transfer coefficient shall be 20% (T) to 40% (O) lower than the legacy shelter. The shelter shall be transportable by military and commercial ground, rail, sea and air. The shelter shall also meet requirements for helicopter lift and tie down (MIL-STD 1366E and 209K). 

PHASE I: Develop concepts for an improved EMI CRWS that meet the requirements described above. Demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts in meeting Marine Corps needs and establish that the concepts can be developed into a useful product for the Marine Corps. Feasibility will be established by material testing and analytical modeling, as appropriate. Examples of the modeling and testing would include, but not be limited to, modeling of signal attenuation, structure and weight reduction, thermal resistance, structural loading and coupon testing. Provide a Phase II development plan with performance goals, key technical milestones, manufacturing processes and capabilities, and that will address technical and manufacturing risk reduction. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, develop coupons, subsystems, and a prototype for evaluation. The prototype, and manufacturing processes, will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan and the Marine Corps requirements for the EMI CRWS. System performance, and cost effectiveness, will be demonstrated through prototype evaluation and modeling or analytical methods over the required range of parameters including numerous deployment cycles. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype, and manufacturing methodology, into an initial design that will meet Marine Corps requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Marine Corps use. 

PHASE III: Support the Marine Corps in transitioning the technology for Marine Corps use. Develop and deliver a 10 EMI CRWS (ISO and CSC compliant) shelter for evaluation to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. Support the Marine Corps for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Marine Corps use. Private Sector Commercial Potential/Dual-Use Applications: EMI CRWS technology has potential applications by the cellular communications industry; public safety communications; secure communications; public utilities (power distribution); medical; X-ray/CAT/MRI mobile structures; computer server installations; any location requiring EMI protection (interference and susceptibility). 

REFERENCES: 

1. ASTM E1925-10, Specification for Engineering and Design Criteria for Rigid Wall Relocatable Structures, 1 October 2010; https://www.astm.org/Standards/E1925.htm

2. ASTM E1851-09, Standard Test Method for Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of Durable Rigid Wall Relocatable Structures, 1 November 2009; https://www.astm.org/Standards/E1851.htm

3. MIL-STD-464C, Department of Defense Interface Standard, Electromagnetic Environmental Effects Requirements for Systems, 1 December 2010; http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-0300-0499/MIL-STD-464C_28312/

4. International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61000-4-21, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) “ Part 4-21: Reverberation Chamber Test Methods Testing and Measurement Techniques, 27 January 2011; https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/4191

5. IEEE 299, Standard Method for Measuring the Effectiveness of Electromagnetic Structures, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 28 February 2007; https://standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/299-2006.html

6. ISO 668, Series 1 freight containers “ Classification, dimensions and ratings, 25 July 2013; http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=59673

7. ISO 1496-1, Series 1 freight containers “ Specification and testing “ Part 1: General cargo containers for general purposes; http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=59672

8. MIL-STD-1366E, Department of Defense: Interface Standard for Transportability Criteria, 31 Oct 2006; http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-1300-1399/MIL-STD-1366E_2979/

9. MIL-STD-209K, Department of Defense: Interface Standard for Lifting and Tiedown Provisions, 22 Feb 2005; http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-0100-0299/MIL-STD-209K_22319/

10. Park, Jin Gyu, et al. Electromagnetic interference shielding properties of carbon nanotube buckypaper composites. Nanotechnology 20 16 September 2009: 1 “ 7.

11. Nanocomp Technologies, Inc. Nanocomp Technologies, Inc. 6 December 2016. http://www.nanocomptech.com

12. Nano Tech Labs. Nano Tech Labs. 7 December 2016. http://www.nanotechlabs.com/index.html

13. Nickel-Silver Coated Nylon Fabric Wallpaper for EMI Shielded Rooms in the Medical Industry. Swift Textile Metalizing LLC. 7 December 2016. http://www.swift-textile.com/nickel-silver-fabric-wallpaper-emi-shielding-rooms-medical-industry.html

14. International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972; http://www.techstreet.com/standards/imo-ic282e?product_id=1876470

KEYWORDS: EMI; Electromagnetic Interference; Composite; Shelter; Buckypaper; ISO; Convention Of Safe Containers; CSC; Metallic Textiles; Nanotube; Shielding; Carbon Fiber; Resins; Corrosion 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Provide a low cost, high data rate, on-the-move, removable, and man-packable, communications system for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HiMARS) and associated Artillery Battery systems while simultaneously providing the capability to not interfere with existing communications and minimize enemy counter targeting capabilities. Existing communications systems do not adequately manage transmit power to prevent detection and would be unsuitable for use in the Artillery Battery. 

DESCRIPTION: Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) utilizes multiple communications systems. In an operational environment, the tactical communications systems may encounter information operations attacks against them and artillery batteries that are subject to enemy counter targeting. These attacks will include electronic warfare information attacks and/or communications denial. Dismounted Marines need to be able to operate away from the artillery battery due to battlefield conditions. Increasing use of the electromagnetic spectrum reduces the available channels to communicate and increases interference between adjacent channels in combat. The development of technology solutions for decreasing spectrum availability (reference 1) require systems to manager power so that systems may be closer and share the same spectrum. A communications system that simultaneously provides a small form factor, on-the-move communications that is non-detectable is a technology challenge. MARCORSYSCOM is looking for a solution that will provide on-the-move communications between different vehicles in the HiMARS Artillery battery while simultaneously preventing detection of the communications from potential enemies counter targeting the artillery battery vehicles. The requirements for this communications system are: a minimum throughput of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps), using any frequency allocated for military operations (see reference 1) or open frequency allocation within 100MHz to 50GHz, be able to be disconnected from the vehicle as a man-packable system no larger than 12 by 6 by 4 (not including an antenna), and weigh no more than 5 lbs. When dismounted, the system must be able to operate on battery power for 8 hours of continuous use (longer use is desired). The system must be able to be charged or run on 110V AC and 12V DC power sources including vehicle power and/or dismounted operations and while charging. The charger or transformer is separate from the man-packable requirement of weighing no more than 5 lbs. In order to minimize cost, the system shall employ a dual encryption that would satisfy the equivalent of type 1 encryption using the National Security Agency (NSA) Commercial Solutions for Classified Program (CSfC), reference 2 based on the Mobile Access Capability Package version 1.1 requirements. Algorithms for encryption shall be chosen from the existing list of algorithms and the added encryption headers should impose less than a 10% overhead. The system will minimize exceptions in the NSA CSfC MACP (Mobile Access Capability Package). The system will be able to be certified as a CSfC solution based on the MACP v1.1 package from reference 2. One typical exception is caused by the fact that the two layers of encryption cannot share the same processor, thus a system that utilizes separate processors for each encryption layer while maintaining the size, weight and power requirements for man-packability is an example. The communications system shall allow communications on moving vehicles (platforms) from 1m (two vehicles next to each other) to as far as 2km while simultaneous being undetectable (less than 1% chance to detect) at 10km. Undetectable means that the system at range of 10km should have a RF signal at least 6dB below the ambient RF noise floor from 100MHz to 50GHz 99% of the time. The system must be able to communicate with multiple vehicles thus each system shall be capable of communicating simultaneously with 4 other vehicles (threshold) and up to 8 vehicles (objective). The system shall not have communications blocked by the artillery vehicle and therefore will need to have antennas positioned around the vehicle to prevent this and blind spots (areas with no communication possible) should be minimized. The vehicle should be assumed to be a ˜rectangle block and with mounting on the ˜top of the vehicle prohibited. Therefore, side mounting antennas is required (example: two 180 degree coverage antennas (one on each side). At least 1 of these antennas must be removable and able to be connected to a dismounted system with preference provided for a solution in which all antennas are removable and interchangeable. The system shall be usable in all tactical environments and preference is given to a system concept with no moving parts (reduced maintenance). Lastly, the system shall be able to be reconfigurable or reprogrammable via software to allow for upgrades or changes to the encryption algorithms used in the system. 

PHASE I: Develop a communications system concept that is man-packable and vehicle mounted. Analyze the ability to communicate on the move and not be detected to meet Marine Corps requirements through modeling and simulation and establish the concepts that can be developed into a useful product for the Marine Corps. Feasibility may be established by testing and/or analytical modeling, as appropriate and must describe the estimated communication performance between vehicles and the estimated detect range. Provide a Phase II development plan with performance goals and key technical milestones, and that will address technical risk reduction. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, build an operational prototype of the communications system for evaluation. The prototype will be used on multiple vehicles while moving to demonstrate the performance goals defined in Phase I requirements, therefore at least 6 prototype systems are required. Detectability of the system at 10km will be done by analysis (threshold) and via RF testing (objective). Certify the system under the NSA CSfC MACP v1.1 capability package. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into an initial design meeting Marine Corps requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology for Marine Corps use. 

PHASE III: Support the Marine Corps in transitioning the technology for Marine Corps, Navy and coalition use. Integrate the hardware and software for inclusion in vehicular platforms to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. Support the Marine Corps for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Marine Corps use. Private use of power managed communications channels can improve the ability to share spectrum and benefit private businesses such as cellular carriers and/or satellite providers. 

REFERENCES: 

1. NTIA Frequency Allocation Chart, October 2003. https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/2003-allochrt.pdf

2. National Security Agency Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) Program, June 2, 2016. https://www.nsa.gov/resources/everyone/csfc/

KEYWORDS: Artillery; Communications; Man Portable; Lightweight; Low Probability Of Detection; LPD; Low Probability Of Intercept; LPI; Electromagnetic Spectrum; Radio Frequency; EMS; RF; Commercial Solutions For Classified; CSfC; Low Cost 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop software to maintain a common trusted resilient operating system environment for hand-held devices (small), portable computers (medium), and tactical server (large) computing environments that can maintain data integrity and switch between multiple security classification levels without requiring removal of a hard disk. Data Integrity must be maintained even in the presence of zero-day vulnerabilities or other Information Operations threats. Resilience is to be maintained, defined as automatic rapid restoration of full operational capability to a known good state. 

DESCRIPTION: Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) utilizes multiple operating systems (Android, Linux, and Windows) for use in the operating system environment for Command and Control (C2) software. The Android and Linux operating systems typically run on an Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) processor using a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set) for Android whereas the Windows operating system runs on Intel x86 processors using a CISC (Complex Instruction Set) for Windows. In an operational environment, the tactical operating system environment may encounter information operations attacks against them trying to infiltrate or corrupt data in Marine Corps Enterprise Networks (MCEN) or other tactical networks. These attacks will be unpredictable in frequency and occurrence and may include electronic warfare information attacks. Dismounted Marines operate tactical hand-held devices or portable computers for Command and Control (C2) applications as well as servers in the command posts and/or vehicles. Marines rely on the use of applications with minimal downtime (high operational availability). Increasing numbers of zero-day vulnerabilities or other threats are being encountered, see the Symantec Corporation Internet Security Center Threat Report in reference 1 on zero-day vulnerabilities. An in-depth defense with active cyber defense is required to protect these C2 application environments from compromise. The development of technology solutions for an unknown threat in this environment creates several challenges and the speed at which these vulnerabilities are turned into exploits is also increasing (reference 1). Current solutions require too much processing or overhead (10% or more of the CPU) and do not provide protection against zero-day vulnerabilities. Lastly, robust protection is required to be able to achieve approval for a multi-level security system. MARCORSYSCOM is looking for a software that will be able to provide protection of the environment operating systems most currently used “ Android, Linux, and Windows. MARCORSYSCOM is looking for a software solution that would provide the ability to switch between two classification levels (threshold) without requiring removal of the hard disk. Protection of the computing environment is required by security software and requires enhanced protection for multi-level security that the typical operating system environments do not provide. Usage of the standard operating system environments (Android, Linux, and Windows) is required while still providing the increased protection. Protection includes Data Integrity with a requirement to detect, prevent and provide alerts for all attempted unauthorized changes to data to include both operating system critical data files and user data. Protection also includes resiliency that would allow for quick restoration (less than five minutes “ Threshold, less than two minutes “ Objective) of the operating system critical files to a known good state prior to corruption, virus, or other means of modifying the data. Computing environment protection requires a complete configuration management of all critical files and maintaining a known good state. Critical files are those defined as files needed to execute the operation system and ensure proper operation. The solution must protect all files within the operating system from tampering or modification for a multi-level security environment. The software should also provide self-protection defined as having resistance to modification of the own software solution by unauthorized Information Operations actions to include escalation of user privilege. Lastly, the solution should minimize the processing overhead, memory usage and disk space required for the solution. Processing overhead should be less than 5% (threshold), 2% (objective) (based on a 1000MHz speed ARM or x86 processor for each core with a minimum of 2 cores), memory usage less than 5% (threshold), 2% (objective) (based on a RAM size of 1GB) and the disk space needed to provide for rapid restoration not more than the size of the operating system (e.g. if the operating system is 1GB then restoration should not require more than 1GB of disk space). The solution must use at least one commercially available vulnerability assessment tool (reference 3) and demonstrate protection against at least one ˜zero-day exploit as well demonstrate restoration of capability after such an exploit modifies the system. 

PHASE I: Develop and analyze the software required to protect the Linux/Android operating system environments and boot between two different classifications. Demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts in meeting Marine Corps needs through modeling and simulation and establish the concepts that will be developed into a useful product for the Marine Corps. Feasibility may be established by testing and/or analytical modeling, as appropriate and must describe the performance estimated for: processing overhead, memory usage and disk space and self-protection capabilities for software. Provide a Phase II development plan with performance goals and key technical milestones that will address technical risk reduction. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II development plan, develop an operational prototype of the software concept for evaluation developed in Phase I. The software will be used on the Linux/Android operating system environment to demonstrate the performance goals defined in Phase I requirements to include demonstration of booting into two different classification levels without removing the hard drive. System performance will be demonstrated through inclusion of the software environment on a system running an application utilizing at least 50% of the system resources simulating a Program of Record system and evaluated based on change in processing overhead, memory usage and disk space from the SBIR developed software. At least one commercial vulnerability assessment tool (reference 3) must be used and demonstrated that the system will detect at least one vulnerability. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into an initial design meeting Marine Corps requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the software for Marine Corps use in the Linux/Android operating system environments. 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 be 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 contract as set forth by DSS and USMC 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 advance phases of this contract. 

PHASE III: Support the Marine Corps in transitioning the technology for Marine Corps, Navy and coalition use. Integrate the hardware and/or software for inclusion in small, medium, and large computing platforms to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. Support the Marine Corps for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Marine Corps use. Banks, Financial Industries or anyone requiring Information Assurance protection against zero-day vulnerabilities can benefit from this technology, in particular private industry items identified as critical infrastructure. Rapid restoration capability would minimize industry or commercial disruption based on virus propagation. Multi-level security can also be used in the private sector to segregate different commercial product areas within a company as the federal government separates security classification. Reference 2 is an example of the Mirai virus which created a Distributed Denial of Service Attack on the commercial sector and hence the need for improved information assurance and security. 

REFERENCES: 

1. 2016 Internet Security Threat Report. Symantec Security Center. https://www.symantec.com/security-center/threat-report

2. Eduard Kovacs. Hacker Releases Source Code of IoT Malware Mirai3 October 2016. http://www.securityweek.com/hacker-releases-source-code-iot-malware-mirai

3. Metasploit Vulnerability Scanner. https://www.metasploit.com/

KEYWORDS: Android, Linux; Windows; Multi-level Security; Data Integrity; Confidentiality; Resilient; Assurant; Operating System; ARM Processor; X86 Processor; Zero-Day; Vulnerability; Virus; Information Assurance; Computing; Multi-level Security; Power Efficiency; Server; System Snapshots; Cyber Attack 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Utilizing an Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) framework, develop an innovative multi-scale, multi-physics tool capable of optimizing Additive Manufacturing (AM) post-build processes of metal (such as Ti-6Al-4V, 17-4PH, or 15-5PH) parts for fatigue performance, reducing the amount of post-processing necessary to achieve the best possible performance without deteriorating other mechanical properties. 

DESCRIPTION: AM has the potential to drastically lower the logistics footprint of manufacturing aircraft parts. Despite ongoing efforts to optimize the AM process, post-build processing such as heat treatment (HT) and Hot Iso-static Pressing (HIP), developed for traditional manufacturing methods, remains an essential step in achieving the desired fatigue performance. Due to the vast differences between these fabrication techniques, the issues these processes target (e.g. microstructure, porosity, residual stress, etc.) are oftentimes not adequately addressed in AM parts, preventing them from reaching their optimal performance. Optimizing the AM post-build heat treatments for fatigue performance could allow AM parts to reach their full mechanical potential. An innovative software tool able to optimize AM post-build HT/HIP parameters (heating rates, cooling rates, dwell times, dwell temperatures, pressure, etc.) for metal parts to achieve increased fatigue performance is needed. Given information about an AM part (material, geometry, AM method, known defects, etc.) and proposed HT/HIP as inputs, the tool should predict qualities that affect fatigue performance and optimize the HT/HIP process to improve these qualities. These qualities include defects (voids, porosity, etc.), surface finish, residual stress, distortion, and shrinkage. If possible, the tool should optimize the HT/HIP parameters to remove all defects, create a surface finish equal to or less than 125 microinch, residual stress equal to or less than 5% of material yield strength, and keep part dimensions within plus or minus 0.01 inch (or ½ degree for angles) of nominal dimensions after any distortion or shrinkage. The tool should also predict the sensitivity of each heat treatment parameter on the fatigue qualities, show the user the trade-offs of changing each HT/HIP parameter, and optimize the HT/HIP based on user input of desired part qualities. The tool may include multi-physics models, microstructure change predictions, and metallurgical phase change predictions. The tool should be validated using fatigue tests of coupons and representative parts. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of an innovative software tool capable of predicting qualities that effect fatigue performance such as defects, surface finish, residual stress, distortion, and shrinkage based on HT/HIP parameters and also able to optimize the parameters to produce parts with better fatigue performance compared to traditional HT/HIP specifications (such as AMS-H-6875). 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype software tool using the framework developed in Phase I to improve the AM post-build HT/HIP to achieve optimal fatigue properties. Manufacture representative fatigue critical parts with the following methods: 1) AM using the optimized HT/HIP; 2) AM using traditional HT/HIP; and 3) traditional manufacturing using traditional HT/HIP. Use these parts to demonstrate and validate the prototype by comparing the mechanical and fatigue performance. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate the completed tool through design and fabrication of Navy components with optimized post-build HT/HIP process. Make any required improvements based upon testing. Transition the software tool to be used as a stand-alone design package or to be integrated with existing AM hardware and design tools. The software tool developed through this effort will reduce cost and increase performance in all commercial applications of AM parts. Such applications include commercial aviation, automotive, and biomedical industries. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Wen, Y.H., Wang, B., Simmons, J.P., & Wang, Y., (2006). A phase-field model for heat treatment applications in Ni-based alloys, Acta Materialia 54(8):2087-2099. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2006.01.001

2. Mackerle, J., (2003). Finite element analysis and simulation of quenching and other heat treatment processes A bibliography (1976“2001), Computational Materials Science 27(3):313-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0256(03)00038-7

3. Mashl, S. (2016). Combining Hot Isostatic Pressing and heat treatment: An elegant way to streamline the supply chain, Powder Metallurgy Review. http://www.pm-review.com/powder-metallurgy-review-archive/powder-metallurgy-review-vol-5-no-2-summer-2016/

4. Ferguson, B.L., Li, Z., Freborg, A.M., (2005). Modeling heat treatment of steel parts, Computational Materials Science 34(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2005.02.005

5. Andrade-Campos, A., Neto da Silva, F. and Teixeira-Dias, F. (2007), Modelling and numerical analysis of heat treatments on aluminum parts. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng., 70: 582“609. doi:10.1002/nme.1905

6. Aerospace Material Specification (2010). Heat Treatment of Steel Raw Materials. AMS-H-6875 Rev. B

KEYWORDS: Additive Manufacturing (AM); Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME); Fatigue; Heat Treatment; Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP); Residual Stress 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative active sonar technologies to increase the availability of environmental measurements. 

DESCRIPTION: The Navy has a continuous need to conduct underwater surveillance and is seeking innovation capable of conducting active sonar emission without detrimental exposure to marine mammals. Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) or Low Probability of Detection (LPD) allows an active acoustic source to be concealed or camouflaged so that the signal is essentially undetectable. LPI/LPD techniques, while relatively mature in other technology areas, have not been applied with any operational success to underwater acoustics. Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is primarily conducted using sonobuoys. The AN/SSQ-62 and AN/SSQ-125 active sonobuoys are frequently used to ensonify the environment to gain detection on underwater vehicles. Geopolitical sensitivities, at times, and the risk to marine mammals can limit the employment of active sensors. The use of an active source which is less overt or completely undetectable, without exposure to marine mammals, will allow these sensors to be used more often and with no disruption to sea life. The LPI/LPD Underwater Acoustic Source system will incorporate innovative technologies that minimize the ability to detect and observe the emission of an active source. The solution must adhere to the A size sonobuoy form factor. The prototype will be tested in a representative environment and will demonstrate full operational functionality of an undetectable or cloaked active transmission. A size refers to the standard U.S. Navy Sonobuoy form factor or a right-circular cylinder having an outside diameter (OD), length (L), and maximum weight (W) of the following: OD=4.875 inches, L=36 inches, and W=39 pounds. The solution must demonstrate a LPI/LPD of an active source within the 100Hz to 20 Khtz frequency band. Analytical Modeling and Simulation (M&S) may be used to demonstrate the feasibility of eliminating the detectability or disguising of a narrowband active source. A nominal background noise level, representing a moderate sea noise environment, of 75 decibels (dB) should be used for any M&S to environmental demonstrations. The monitoring sensor or reference hydrophone positioned not greater than 10 meters from the source must not detect the presence of an underwater narrowband active pulse exceeding 3 dB above the background noise. The transmitted pulse must be no less than 197 dB re 1 µ Pa. The techniques developed must either be resident in an A size sonobuoy or in a script file that can be transmitted from the aircraft to the sonobuoy along the SG-90 downlink. 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: Develop, using mathematical simulations, a representative active sonar concept, assessing both covertness and efficiency for ensonifying the environment. Demonstrate the feasibility of the selected concept for developing a covert active source and show that the proposed solution will have a LPI/LPD in accordance with the above requirements. The Phase I Option, if awarded, should include the initial design layout and a capabilities description to build into Phase II. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I, develop and test developmental algorithms that allow for the transmission of LPI/LPE of underwater active signals. The brassboard model should be suitable for over-the-side testing in controlled open water facilities. Demonstrate the prototypes ability to meet Navy requirements for unobtrusive covert active transmissions and as further outlined in documentation provided by the Navy upon selection of Phase II. Demonstrate sensor performance through comparison of results from the brassboard methods to current active sonobuoy systems as outlined in the Production Sonobuoy Performance Specification and current U.S. Navy active operations. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into a design that will meet Navy A size sonobuoy requirements. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy use. 

PHASE III: Support the Navy in finalizing and transitioning the technology developed in Phase II for Navy use. Develop specifications and first articles for concept unique elements and for other concept elements, and which have specific functionality to implement the LPI/LPD Underwater Acoustic Source. Operationally test the final design for the nontraditional active sonobuoy and provide 25 prototypical units for Navy test/demonstration. Support the transition of the final developed technology for special use and provide a detailed supportability plan. Pursue commercial application transitions. The development of this technology will have application to the oceanographic, oil, and mineral industries in that the ability to have a self-contained, deployable source without the risks of interfering with marine mammals will enhance the acquisition of data for oceanographic research and for oil and mineral exploration. This technology would also be applicable to underwater search and recovery. The subject technology could provide a less invasive method to conduct these operations. 

REFERENCES: 

1. R. Lynch, P. Willett, J. Reinert, (2012). Some Analysis of the LPI Concept for Active Sonar, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, Vol. 37, No. 3, July 2012

2. ERAPSCO, Sonobuoy TechSystems (STS), (2015). U.S. Specification Sonobuoys. [Online] Available http://erapsco.com/, 3 March 2015

KEYWORDS: ASW; Sonobuoy; Active Sonar; Environmental Measurement; Low Probability Of Detection; Low Probability Of Intercept 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative approach that exploits new methodology in machine learning and modern mobile computing devices to fuse information obtained from different sensor types in order to achieve dramatic improvement in target classification and identification capability for space, weight and power (SWaP) constrained platforms. 

DESCRIPTION: Radar, electronic support measures (ESM), a.k.a. anti-radiation homing (ARH), and electro-optical (EO)/imaging infrared (IIR)/laser detection and ranging (LIDAR) currently provide different sensor phenomenology that can lead to different salient feature manifestation that depends on operating conditions (e.g., acquisition geometry) and scene content type. Current technology approaches develop automatic target recognition (ATR) systems for a single sensor, each designed to exploit the salient features specific to each sensor type, which leads to suboptimal classification performance for each sensor type and not a higher confidence performance by combining independent sensor data into a single solution. The capability to combine the salient feature information from the different sensors to get improved target classification, and possibly identification, of the ships is needed. Recent advances in machine learning can be explored to discover and to fuse the different feature information inherent within the different sensor types while advances in mobile computing processors enables these machine learning approaches to work efficiently and robustly in real-time. The algorithms should be designed for execution on mobile processors, including multi-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) systems, combining general purpose computing elements (multi-core Advanced Reduced-Instruction-Set-Computer Machines (ARM) processor), with on-chip co-processors as multi-core graphical processing units (GPUs) and/or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). 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: Develop an efficient and robust approach based on state-of-the art machine learning technology to extract and fuse information from radar, ESM, and EO/IIR/LIDAR. Define the data specifics desired for each sensor type and provide a format including meta data needs. The principle modes of interest are radar Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) images with IIR images. Demonstrate the feasibility of your approach utilizing a laptop computer for the algorithm to obtain a 5 Hz solution rate, and analyze the detailed mapping and simulation of the new algorithm onto candidate military compatible processors as dictated by the PMA. 

PHASE II: Develop and optimize the real-time embedded software code of the machine learning fusion algorithm developed in Phase I for the candidate processor selected. Work with the government team to test the algorithms against data collected from candidate sensors relevant to the Navy. Pertinent information will be provided to performer if necessary. 

PHASE III: Develop the modifications to the algorithm and real-time code to be hosted in the transition Program of Record as desired by the Navy. Support modeling and simulation efforts as well as software integration, field testing and performance analysis in the specific application. Maritime activities such as the Coast Guard, Shipping monitoring, Homeland Security, that have the need to know what ship traffic exists can benefit from this technology. The basic core of the algorithms and fusion may apply to land-based commercial vehicle tracking as well. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Li, H. & Zhou, Y.T., (1996). SAR/IR Sensor Fusion and Real-time Implementation. 1996 29th Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers (2 Volume Set (Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers//Conference Record). https://www.amazon.com/Asilomar-Conference-Signals-Systems-Computers/dp/0818673702

2. Recognition of SAR Target Based on Multilayer Auto-Encoder and SNN; by Sun et al; International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control Vol 9, Number 11, November 2013 ISSN 1349-4198. http://www.ijicic.org/ijicic-12-11029.pdf

KEYWORDS: Target Recognition; Multi-sensor Fusion; Machine Learning; Radar; IIR; Maritime Identification 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop the capability of a realistic body force cueing system, including hardware and software, for training pilots in a helicopter simulator in the shipboard environment. 

DESCRIPTION: Rotorcraft landings on ships undergo unique motions due to the combination of turbulence and ship motion. The ability of current simulation devices, such as motion platforms, g-seats and dynamic seats, to faithfully replicate these motions is limited in terms of bandwidth and sustained heave cueing. Yet these motion cues provide essential feedback to the pilot, especially in high gain tasks, such as deck landings. This cueing deficiency contributes to the minimal use of simulation for ship-helicopter testing and training. An innovative capability is required that will provide high fidelity body force motion cues, tailored to help replicate the typical pilot workload and pilot control strategy exhibited during simulated shipboard landings in demanding environmental conditions. The solution should be tunable for application to different rotorcraft types, wind-over-deck conditions, and simulators, and usable in combination with, or independent of, current six degrees of freedom motion platforms. In particular, the solution will be integrated and demonstrated in the V-22 piloted simulator at the Manned Flight Simulator (MFS) at Patuxent River, MD, with and without six degrees of freedom motion, using Navy-provided test pilots to evaluate the cueing fidelity. The pilots will evaluate the realism of the solution by using the Simulator Functional Fidelity Rating Scale [Ref. 3]. Wind-over-deck conditions will be representative of typical at-sea conditions within the helicopter operating envelopes. The MFS six degrees of freedom motion platform will be used in the evaluation. 

PHASE I: Develop and determine the feasibility of an innovative approach to address body force cueing deficiencies during shipboard landing. Determine the feasibility of installing the developed technology in current rotorcraft simulators. 

PHASE II: Build a prototype system, install in the MFS V-22 simulator at Patuxent River, MD, and demonstrate fidelity improvement relative to the baseline device, with and without motion platform dynamics. Body force cueing effectiveness of the prototype motion system will be assessed through piloted evaluations using quantitative and qualitative fidelity metrics. Specifically, the pilots will evaluate the prototype motion system while performing maneuvers in the shipboard environment to determine if the system provides significant improvements in simulator realism compared to flying those same maneuvers in the simulator without the prototype system installed. 

PHASE III: Transition the body force cueing solution to current Navy training simulators and engineering test facilities. The proposed technology has broad application in the commercial simulator industry for all types of vehicles (aircraft, ground vehicles, ships, and submersibles) for training, testing and entertainment, including gaming. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Sylvain, M. et al, (2016), An Investigation of Task Specific Motion Cues for Rotorcraft Simulators, Figure 2. http://repository.liv.ac.uk/2053639/

2. Wang, Y., White, M., Owen, I. et al. CEAS Aeronaut J (2013) 4: 385. doi:10.1007/s13272-013-0085-9

3. Berger, D.R. et al, (2007). Simulating believable forward accelerations on a Stewart motion platform, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, TR No. 159, Feb. 2007. http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/files/publications/atta

KEYWORDS: Body Force; Motion; Simulator; Ship; Helicopter; Cueing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an advanced antenna array mapping technology and algorithms capable of emulating phased array antenna behavior in real-time using distributed ad-hoc antenna array layouts to provide warfighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and military vehicles on the move the ability to sweep or broaden the resulting beam collectively so as to communicate or jam targets. 

DESCRIPTION: High performance phased array antennas are necessary due to their focused beam behavior that not only increase data rate and communication range, but also enable secure links. However, todays phased array antennas are rigid in nature, bulky (100s of pounds), expensive (>$10M per unit), and use too much power (100s of kW) in the battlefield. There is a need to develop a technology that takes any ad-hoc antenna array, such as antennas mounted on UAVs, and map the fields into a virtual phased array antenna without changing the original antenna array random layout. The challenge with such an approach is the development of a fault-tolerant mapping algorithm that takes into consideration the relative positions of the original ad-hoc antenna array nodes and target location in order to compute the weights that needs to be applied at each antenna node in association with communication pre-filtering techniques to beamform the signal such that there is a single main lobe focused on the target while the original ad-hoc nodes are on the move, such as ad-hoc distributed UAVs. 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: Identify, develop and simulate the communication pre-filtering techniques and associated antenna weights for five distributed ad-hoc antenna nodes equipped with omnidirectional antennas. Careful analysis should address the advantage and limitation of the algorithms dependency on relative antenna nodes positions, array size, target location and distance from array, and tolerance to nodes relative positions errors. The goal is to define a set of parameters that needs to be met in order to successfully map the ad-hoc antenna array nodes to a virtual phased array antenna by applying these advanced algorithms (antenna weights plus pre-filtering techniques) to focus the collective signal generated from the distributed ad-hoc array on the target with a single main lobe that is at least 10dB higher than side lobes. An analysis of the sensitivity of the algorithms in achieving ideal beam-focusing to knowledge of the relative position of the nodes and the absolute position of the target should be conducted. Phase I should result in a design and analysis proving the feasibility of the approach. 

PHASE II: The advanced virtual phased array mapping algorithms should be implemented in a minimum of 3 moving UAVs (>10mph) using software defined radios to demonstrate the beam-focusing capability to a target node even though the vehicles are moving. During this Phase a demonstration of the ability to control the beam (broadening, narrowing, and dynamic pointing) should occur. The algorithms may use the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates or other absolute/relative coordinates methods to derive the antenna weights associated with the pre-filtering techniques to implement the virtual array mapping algorithm. 

PHASE III: The advanced virtual phased array mapping algorithms should be implemented in a minimum of 5 moving UAVs (>40mph) using software defined radios to demonstrate the beam-focusing capability to a target node even though the vehicles are moving. During this Phase a demonstration of the control the beam (broadening, narrowing, and dynamic pointing) and various waveform types (minimum of continuous wave (CW), pulsed, and swept) will occur. The algorithms may use the GPS coordinates or other absolute/relative coordinates methods to derive the antenna weights associated with the pre-filtering techniques to implement the virtual array mapping algorithm. Successful technology development could assist in multitude of situations where there is insufficient radio frequency (RF) power to communicate through a link. A commercial example is high-altitude assets like Googles Project Loon. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Balanis, Constantine A. (2015). Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 4th Ed. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 302“303. ISBN 1119178983

2. Haimovich, A.M., Blum, R.S. & Cimini, L.J., (2008). MIMO Radar with Widely Separated Antennas. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine ( Volume: 25, Issue: 1, 2008). Page(s): 116 - 129. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4408448/

KEYWORDS: Virtual; Antenna; Array; UAV; Distributed; Ad-hoc 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a model of clutter returns in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) frequency band. The model will support Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) testing of the E-2D platform via a direct inject radar stimulator. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently very little research has been done on UHF clutter. There are no existing UHF clutter models that are suitable for use in a real-time Test and Evaluation (T&E) environments. While there are many models available in other frequency bands (primarily X-Band), these do not adequately translate to the UHF Band. A Real-time UHF Clutter model is needed for inclusion of UHF geo-spatial clutter injection at the radio frequency (RF) level. This effort requires determining the level of fidelity (i.e., number of scatters, scattering coefficients, scattering geometries, clutter density) that is required to fully represent a clutter environment to support radar performance testing through RF stimulation techniques. Testing clutter attenuation and cancellation performed by an airborne radar processor, specifically Moving Target Indication (MTI) and Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) [3], is critical to understanding performance factors such as: clutter visibility factor (false alarms from clutter), sub-clutter visibility (ability to detect moving targets), and inter-clutter visibility (resolve between clutter regions). In attempting to simulate a radar environment, we must characterize clutter as it applies to sea, land, and littoral domains. The clutter simulator should also have an interface to allow for external data inputs for control. The research effort should cover the following areas: characterizing/correlating the best fit UHF scattering coefficients from live data to geometrical land mass data over a broad range of natural (desert, forest, mountainous, etc.) and man-made (urban, rural) environments over an extensive radar search volume. Research should be done to assess the level of fidelity (i.e., number of scatters, amount of clutter) required to fully represent a reasonable clutter density. Ground testing will be performed at the NAVAIR Advanced Systems Integration Laboratory (ASIL) by the Government upon receipt of the model. 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 be 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 contract 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 advance phases of this contract. 

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of and develop a conceptual design for a suitable standalone UHF Clutter model to support generation of geo-spatial clutter for UHF frequencies. 

PHASE II: Develop detailed mathematical models and then compare to data provided for realism. Perform testing and demonstrate in a simulated lab environment and deliver final prototype at the end of Phase II. Collected classified flight test data will be provided at the beginning of Phase II. 

PHASE III: Integrate the Phase II prototype unit with a real-time executive using the Architecture Management Integration Environment (AMIE) thus allowing use with the existing RF stimulator resident at the test facility. Integration specifications will be provided at commencement of Phase III. Develop and fabricate a full-scale UHF Clutter Emulator. This simulator will provide full-scale demonstration of all capabilities and will lead to a full-scale prototype demonstration unit. Develop commercial applications and transitions. Clutter research can be applied toward future clutter models and target generators. The clutter models would be of value for any Radar Target Generator (RTG) that requires a higher degree of realism and fidelity. This would position the contractor to have a unique capability that is marketable in the DoD and commercial Modeling and Simulation worlds. 

REFERENCES: 

1. M. W. Long, Radar Reflectivity of the Land and Sea, 1975, D. C. Heath and Company

2. J. Barrie Billingsley, Low-Angle Radar Land Clutter; Measurements and Empirical Models, William Andrew, 2002

3. J. Ward, Space-Time Adaptive Processing for Airborne Radar, Technical Report 1015, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA, USA, 1994 (available: http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA293032)

KEYWORDS: Clutter; UHF; Radar; STAP; Modeling And Simulation; Test And Evaluation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a more sophisticated imagery storage management capability for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Remote Sensing systems than currently exists with focus on the management of imagery from various platforms, while also expanding capability to address still-frame imagery from tactical sources. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently, imagery exploitation systems that are directly connected to streaming data feeds from larger, high-capacity imagery libraries quickly fill their available storage and either fail or begin dumping imagery using some very simplistic (often First-In, First-Out) management scheme. The imagery thus held at any point represents the result of this default imagery dumping strategy than it does the intended needs of the system operator or analyst. A capability should be created that allows the system to retain more imagery over areas, and of targets that are more likely to be of immediate need, while still retaining robust, or at least some coverage, over much broader areas of potential future need. When successfully implemented, some images will dwell longer in storage than other images. The end-users of imagery exploitation systems have diverse requirements such as intelligence analysis, navigational product creation, precision point geopositioning, etc. They may need greater frequency of imagery coverage in certain political or geographic regions, specified as either areas or points. They may desire longer retention times for imagery with certain photogrammetric characteristics such as obliquity or ground sampling distance (GSD), and these requirements may involve sets of multiple images to meet specific applications, such as in multiple-image geopositioning (MIG) tasks. Create an open, modular imagery metadata searching and screening engine “ image management algorithms, using either existing metadata tags (e.g., National Imagery Transmission Format (NITF) headers, commercial data headers, etc.) or create new metadata tags based on user inputs employing a series of filters and logical rule sets that, when applied to imagery holdings in a given system, can optimize/prioritize its data retention strategies across a given storage capacity to meet the operational needs of that particular system. Incorporate innovative user interfaces for defining the operators data retention priorities, and the graphical display of these priorities. This topic is not seeking the development of imagery exploitation systems or technologies; products for this already exist and are not a part of this effort. 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: Demonstrate the feasibility of an imagery management engine with the capability to optimize data retention strategies across a relatively modest storage capacity (nominally 3 TB / 5000 images) with a daily ingest of 300 new images. Demonstrate how this utility could be employed as a stand-alone capability for managing similarly-sized operational storage systems. 

PHASE II: Develop, refine and update concept(s) based on Phase I results and demonstrate the technology in a realistic, adaptive, RAID-based file storage environment using government provided ISR storage systems and feeds (storage capacities and ingest rates of up to 10x that of Phase I). Demonstrate the technologys ability to interoperate and integrate with current imagery exploitation systems and environments such as those associated with commercial software products, e.g., GXP Xplorer. 

PHASE III: The initial target for transition of capabilities developed under this effort would be geospatial storage associated with NAVAIR mission planning systems. A robust operational testing and evaluation process for these systems currently exists and is conducted in accordance with SECNAV 5000 instruction (Ref 4) and NAVAIR instruction 3960.2. (Ref 5). The private sector utilizes many of the same geospatial data exploitation and storage applications as the government does, this effort will be directly transferable to the commercial remote sensing and Geospatial Information Services sectors. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Dillow, C. (2016). What Happens When You Combine Artificial Intelligence and Satellite Imagery. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/03/30/facebook-ai-satellite-imagery/

2. Gerwirtz, D. (2013). My Infuriatingly Unsuccessful Quest for a Good Media Asset Management Tool. ZDNet. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/my-infuriatingly-unsuccessful-quest-for-a-good-media-asset-management-tool/

3. Cordova, A., Millard, D., Menthe, L.D., Guffey, R.A. (2013. Motion Imagery Processing. RAND Project Air Force. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR100/RR154/RAND_RR154.pdf

4. SECNAVINST 5000, 11 Sept 2011, Retrieved from www.public.navy.mil/cotf/OTD/SECNAVINST%205000.2E.pdf

5. NAVSEAINST 3960.2D - Test and Evaluation, 22 April 1988, Retrieved from https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=384920"

KEYWORDS: Imagery; Algorithm; Geospatial; Metadata; Storage; Optimization 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a stand-alone sonobuoy power source capable of a six-year storage life. 

DESCRIPTION: The Navy has established the need for a long duration, maintenance free power source to fit in an A sized sonobuoy (4.875 x 36). Power sources are required to integrate into the Navys existing buoy handling logistics and be ready for deployment and operation at any time without the need for peripheral charging equipment or additional actions of the shipboard or aircraft crew. Future long duration Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) missions will require persistent monitoring of an ocean area through fixed and mobile sensor networks which will depend upon robust, long endurance power sources capable of delivering uninterrupted power for both active and passive systems. The logistics of placing large networks of monitoring stations in remote, hostile areas of the ocean necessitates the need for an effective, small, and air deployed system which can be fielded in a similar manner to existing shorter duration air dropped sonobuoys. A potential mission profile of up to six months requires a power source with an energy density in the 12kwh/L range, well beyond the capability of electrochemical devices and fuel cells. This energy requirement could therefore rely on novel methods for continuous energy harvesting to charge onboard energy storage systems. Examples of techniques for harvesting energy at or near the oceans surface include photovoltaic, wave action and seawater based semi-fuel cell technology, but other approaches will be considered. The challenge of miniaturizing and incorporating these technologies into the sonobuoy volume constraint and successfully deploying this system in the field remains the dominant technical issue associated with this technology. The proposed sonobuoy power source must have a minimum shelf life of six years and, after deployment, it must provide up to 5W of continuous power, have a peak power of 6.5KW continuously for 10 seconds, and be capable of a total of 120 peak power seconds while deployed with a maximum of a 5% duty cycle. The nominal output potentials of the system are 18V and 65V. The system should be autonomous and require no maintenance during the storage or active periods. In order to fit into the Sonobuoy Launch Container (P/N LAU 16/A), the dimensions must be no greater than 4.55" outer diameter by 7.5" length and weigh no more than 2.7kg. The power source must meet all environmental and safety requirements for Naval Aviation (Ref 4 ). Production Sonobuoy Specifications will be provided by the Navy prior to Phase II as required. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof of concept energy system capable of delivering an average of 5W of continuous power. Define the limits of storage and operability. A detailed estimate of the cost of production units is required at the completion of Phase I base period (assume 5,000 units per year). 

PHASE II: Design, fabricate and deliver two full scale prototype systems capable of meeting all mass and form factor requirements. Storage, deployment, activation (90%), reliability (90%) and safety of the system should be fully characterized for reliability using ground based testing. Prototype should attain a TRL level of 5 and MRL level of 4 at the completion of Phase II. 

PHASE III: Finalize the energy system design and fabricate final pre-production prototypes to obtain certification for flight and deployment from a Navy aircraft. Successful technologies should attain a TRL level of 7 and MRL level of 6 at the completion of this Phase. Pursue commercial applications such as navigational buoy systems or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). Compact, low-cost energy harvesting systems have potential use in commercial, research, and navigational buoy systems. Additional use in UUVs and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) may also be possible where there are significant limitations on the life and volume constraints of the system. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Green M.A., (2014). PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS Prog.Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2015; 23: pgs 1“9, Wiley

2. Turner M.W., (2011). SEAWATER ACTIVATED POWER SYSTEMS (SWAPS): Energy for Deep Water Detection, ocean platforms, buoys, surface craft and submersibles, IEEE Oceans 11 MTS, pgs 1-9, IEEE

3. Bastien S.P., (2010). OCEAN WAVE ENERGY HARVESTING BUOY FOR SENSORS, IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, pgs 3718-3725, IEEE 2009.

4. S9310-AQ-SAF-010, NAVY Lithium Battery Safety Program Responsibilities and Procedures, 15 Jul 10

KEYWORDS: Sonobuoy; Power Source; Energy Harvesting; Battery; Energy Regeneration; Continuous Power 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace 

OBJECTIVE: Design, develop and test a 5-kHz bandwidth fast steering mirror to be used in the next generation beam control systems on airborne platforms for high power laser weapon systems. 

DESCRIPTION: Future high energy laser (HEL) missions will require components that are smaller size and higher performance than currently available. One of the layers of beam control is a small volume, weight and power (SWaP), high bandwidth fast steering mirror (FSM). The FSM will be needed to correct for atmospheric and aero-optic effects, as well as support the internal weapon optical train alignment maintenance. Current voice coil actuated FSM technology has demonstrated between 1 and 1.5 kHz bandwidth control, however, it is envisioned that a compact 3.5 “ 5.0 kHz bandwidth FSM will be required for future fast-mover airborne missions. Additionally, current FSM technology support up to 12 inches in diameter apertures with small strokes of several millimeters. The focus of this topic is to address the higher bandwidth on an aperture size up to 40 cm (goal). Specifically, this topic aims to significantly extend the bandwidth to 5kHz over the 40 cm FSM using either conventional voice coil technology or other means of actuating the mirror. The mirror should also be capable of very high acceleration of 10,000 (minimum) to 20,000 rad/s2 (goal). For the basic FSM specifications, the following can be assumed: 30 to 50 cm beam director aperture 10 (minimum) to 50 cm (goal) input aperture -40 to +70C operating temperature Typical aircraft (rotary and fixed-winged) operating environment (high linear vibration) 150kW laser power FSM angular range ±3 mrad FSM Bandwidth 5.0 kHz minimum FSM angular acceleration >10,000 rad/s2. Offerors are strongly encouraged to interact with beam control systems providers to help ensure applicability of their efforts and begin work towards technology transition. 

PHASE I: Develop a preliminary design for the proposed FSM. Proof of concept hardware development (including any subscale or specific risk reduction activities) is highly desirable. Phase I should include the development of plans to further develop/exploit this technology in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Complete critical design of prototype FSM including all supporting Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (MS&A). Fabricate a prototype or engineering demonstration unit (EDU) and perform characterization testing within the financial and schedule constraints of the program to show level of performance achieved compared to existing technology. The prototype or EDU will be provided to the government for evaluation and test. Provide comparisons between MS&A and their test results, including identification of performance differences or anomalies and reasons for the deviation from MS&A predictions. Prepare a plan for commercialization of developed technology. It is highly recommended to maintain working relationships with beam control systems providers. 

PHASE III: Perform final testing and assist with the transition of the developed technology into the next generation high energy laser weapon (HELWS) under development by the DoD Services. Transition and integrate developed technology to all relevant DoD platforms. Successful technology development would find application in astronomy and high performance camera systems used in private sector applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1. J. Mansell et al., (2007). High Power Deformable Mirrors. SPIE Conference Mirror Technology Days 2007. http://www.activeopticalsystems.com/docs/Mirror%20Tech%20Days%20070801_asGiven_Compressed.pdf

2. Kenji Uchino, Yuzuru Tsuchiya, Shoichiro Nomura, Takuso Sato, Hiromi Ishikawa, & Osamu Ikeda, (1981). Deformable mirror using the PMN electrostrictor, Appl. Opt. 20, 3077-3080. https://www.osapublishing.org/ao/abstract.cfm?URI=ao-20-17-3077

3. Supriyo Sinha, Justin D. Mansell & Robert L. Byer, (2002). Deformable mirrors for high-power lasers. Proc. SPIE 4493, High-Resolution Wavefront Control: Methods, Devices, and Applications III, 55 (February 5, 2002); doi:10.1117/12.454728

4. R. H. Freeman &J. E. Pearson, (1982). Deformable mirrors for all seasons and reasons. Appl. Opt. 21, 580-588 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.21.000580

KEYWORDS: Fast Steering Mirror; Adaptive Optics Systems; High Energy Laser Weapons; Rotary Wing; Fixed Wing; Beam Control Systems 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a functionally-graded flare grain for airborne expendable countermeasures applications with time-varying output. 

DESCRIPTION: The deflagration of energetic materials has been used throughout recorded history for the generation of light. Specific wavelengths can be emitted to produce a desired effect through the careful selection of fuels, oxidizers and binders. For example, strontium-based compounds emit red light, while barium-based compounds emit green light [1]. Additionally, infrared emission may be generated in the form of blackbody radiation, which varies with the temperature of combustion. Airborne expendable countermeasures are deployed from military aircraft to counter incoming threat missiles. The guidance system of the missile may employ a variety of different sensors that detect and track the electromagnetic signature of the aircraft. Upon deployment, the countermeasure device provides an additional electromagnetic signature in the field of view of the missile. The new incoming signal must be processed by the missile, and if successful, the missile will begin to track the countermeasure, diverting its trajectory from the aircraft. As missiles employ more sophisticated sensors and decision-making algorithms, the countermeasures required to deceive them must also be more sophisticated. The increased demand for performance must be met while the device size and quantity on-board remain constant. The ability to generate specific electromagnetic signatures in time and space becomes critical. One means of generating such selectively tuned signatures may be through careful layering of varied energetic materials. Another may include creation of surface or interior structural features that enhance burning surface area. Other means may also be considered. Modern manufacturing methods and developments in materials science may allow for the development of transformational changes in the performance of countermeasure flares. Precise control of material fabrication may enable precise control of electromagnetic signature as a function of time. Pyrotechnics are typically comprised of finely powdered fuels (submicron to 100 micron, often metals) and oxidizers and a binder which may also be a powder, a rubber, or a curable liquid. Historically, display fireworks manufacturers have developed inside-to-outside, layer-by-layer methods to achieve color-changing effects utilizing different pyrotechnic mixtures in each layer. These are fabricated by hand, which is labor-intensive. Since this is a manual process, it is difficult to obtain the highly uniform layering that is necessary for precise signature tailoring. The pyrotechnic compositions used in military applications are more energetic and sensitive than those used commercially, and dangerous to work with by hand. 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. Proposers must be able to obtain raw ingredients, and safely handle, process, store and ship energetic materials (Hazard Class 1.3 or 1.1 [2]). Payloads fabricated using new techniques must maintain physical integrity and function properly when subjected to 40-ft drop, aircraft and transportation vibration, and 28-day temperature and humidity cycling. They must ignite and burn consistently over a range (-65F/+160F) of temperatures [3,4]. 

PHASE I: Develop an innovative solution to incorporate multiple pyrotechnic compositions into a single pellet with layering structures and surface features that, when burned, will sequentially and distinctly display the characteristics of each composition. Test pellets (minimum of 5 pellets, up to 25 grams total explosive weight per pellet) comprised of at least three different pyrotechnic compositions should be delivered to the government for combustion testing as a proof of concept. The compositions should each produce a different effect (for example, combinations of different colored smoke and light) and/or have a distinctly different burn rate. The different effects produced by each layer should be clearly observable during combustion testing of the pellets. 

PHASE II: Specific compositions and output requirements will be provided by the government. The fabrication process established in Phase I should be adapted and incrementally scaled to fabricate full-sized flare pellets (1.25 diameter x 6 length). An interim hazard classification or Department of Transportation explosives shipping (DOT EX) number will need to be obtained to ship a minimum of 30 prototype pellets for government evaluation. 

PHASE III: Integrate prototype pellets from Phase II into standard Navy countermeasure hardware, as specified by the government. The payload material must be ejected and ignited sympathetically via the combustion gases of an impulse cartridge (CCU-136A/A) [5]. Suitability for fleet use will be demonstrated by performing durability testing, environmental testing, flight effectiveness testing and qualification testing [3,4]. The fabrication techniques developed under this project may be used to fabricate devices for commercial fireworks and pyrotechnic applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Conkling, John A. Chemistry of Pyrotechnics. N.p.: CRC, 1985. Print.

2. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Section 173.56

3. MIL-STD-810G

4. MIL-STD-331C

5. MIL-DTL-82962

KEYWORDS: Pyrotechnic; Countermeasure; Decoy; Signature; Infrared; Aircraft 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a miniature oriented fluxgate magnetometer similar to the AN/ASQ-10 for use across multiple operational platforms with focus on unmanned vehicles in a maritime environment. 

DESCRIPTION: There is interest in utilizing emerging classes of miniature Unmanned Vehicles (UVs) for a variety of surveillance and reconnaissance applications. Recent developments in smaller and more sensitive magnetic sensing devices have opened a new exploration arena. Consequently, the magnetic background of data collected aboard these small platforms is compromised due to the inherent motion induced noise of conventional scalar magnetic sensors. Innovative non-ferrous and/or ceramic materials/designs/techniques and servos are sought to create a miniature oriented tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer aboard miniature UVs. Having this capability will improve the transition of increased sensitivity magnetic sensors and other devices into low cost expendable unmanned vehicles. This will include the development, fabrication and integration of an oriented tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer design coupled with innovative low magnetic materials in less than a two (2) pound package. Key characteristics include high field sensitivity, high linearity, dynamic range and ruggedness. The technical challenges and specifications desired are: Weight constraint: 2.0 lbs. (Objective) 15 lbs. (Threshold) Length constraint: 8.0 in (232 mm) (Objective) 32 in (Threshold) Magnetic noise (<30pT/vHz spanning DC to 100Hz) Drive Frequency: 1650-1700 Hz Low vibration (isolation mounting system) Digitization: 24 bits Output and diagnostic measurement system included Vehicle Motion compensation included Multi-consortium teaming is acceptable and may be preferred given this multi-discipline concept. This may be done at the sensor, software or integration levels. The desire is to have a scalable design to a larger or smaller sensor volume/weight potential. 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. is contract. 

PHASE I: Develop a concept design of a miniature oriented tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer with low magnetic signature into a producible design. Identify advantages, disadvantages, and risks of proposed engine design. Establish feasibility through limited lab concept demonstration verifying subcomponents, magnetic noise floor, servo response and error, and overall design. 

PHASE II: Develop and test a prototype miniature oriented tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer including proposed interfaces. Carry out design and validation testing such as noise floor determination, magnetic field response, power-up/down, motion compensation, to confirm that reliable, consistent, characteristic magnetic signatures can be obtained without interference from other UV subsystems. For best transition to UV application, the system should fit within a space (8 - 32 inches in length with a 4 “ 10 inch diameter) with power being provided by the UV. The system should not exceed 15 pounds. Incorporate experimentation results into final and other concept designs. Demonstrate the technology in a realistic environment under proper loading for 10 hour duration. 

PHASE III: Complete final testing and perform necessary integration and transition for use in anti-submarine and countermine warfare, counter surveillance and monitoring operations with appropriate current platforms and agencies, and future combat systems under development. Commercially this product could be used to enable remote environmental monitoring of geo-magnetic survey, facilities, and vital infrastructure assets. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Walker, M., Dennis, T., Kirschivink, J. (2002). The Magnetic Sense and its Use in Long-Distance Navigation by Animals. Retrieved from http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~jkirschvink/pdfs/COINBWalker.pdf

2. Troyan, V., Kiselev, Y. (2010). Statistical Methods of Geophysical Data Processing. World Scientific Publishing. Retrieved from http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~jkirschvink/pdfs/COINBWalker.pdf

3. Nielsen, O.V., Brauer, P., Primdahl, F., Risbo, T., Jørgensen, J.L., Boe, C., Deyerler, M., and Bauereisen, S. (1998). A High-Precision Triaxial Fluxgate Sensor for Space Applications: Layout and Choice of Materials. Retrieved from http://www.science

4. Clem, T., et al., (2004. Magnetic Sensors for Buried Minehunting from Small Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. MTS/IEEE Oceans, pp. 902-910. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1405594/?reload=true&tp=&arnumber=1405594

5. Kreutzbruck, M.V., Allweins, K., and Heiden, C. Fluxgate-Magnetometer for the Detection of Deep Lying Defects. Institute of Applied Physics. Justus-Liebig-University Giessen. Retrieved from http://www.ndt.net/article/wcndt00/papers/idn291/idn291.htm

KEYWORDS: Magnetometer; Fluxgate; Magnetic; MAD; Oriented; UAV 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a customizable software program that provides outputs to result in a suite of training tools and technologies that supports recreation of aviation mishap events to convey lessons learned and improve safety training through classroom based videos and interactive, immersive visualization techniques. 

DESCRIPTION: Spatial disorientation (SD) and situational awareness (SA) are significant contributing factors to the majority of aviation mishap events. The Navy spends millions of dollars on safety training every year to educate aviation personnel of the warning signs to SD and loss of SA, but the training lacks customizable visualizations of actual SD and SA events. Currently, the aviation survival training community has requirements to provide sensory physiology/situation awareness training. This requirement outlines the need to present the effects of the flight environment on the human bodys sensor systems. Specifically, the stressors that affect sensory adaptation (acceleration, darkness, lack of visual cues, visual illusions, etc.) are covered. Disorientation, misorientation, temporal distortion, motion sickness caused by flight, and situational awareness are also discussed. Currently, the training includes classroom based instruction that leverages videos, with potential laboratory evolutions to demonstrate visual and vestibular phenomena; however, these materials are not easily updated as new platforms or situations occur, and the range of opportunities for students to experience the mishap is limited. Advances in virtual reality and computer graphics make it possible to create a software program that allows the user to set a scenario based off of mishap data to recreate a SD and/or SA event for training leveraging a range of media (e.g., classroom briefings, videos for computer based training, game-based training solutions, virtual/augmented reality). The Navy seeks a single scenario development technology that provides inputs to develop a range of training opportunities that are consistent and require minimal investment by the program to continue to expand mishap training scenarios. This system should allow for the development of new scenarios, as well as provide an ability to modify previously created scenarios within the tool through a simplified user interface (i.e., no computer programming required). These simulated events would give personnel a better understanding of the warning signs of SD and loss of SA and provide more impactful training. 

PHASE I: Design and develop a software program that allows the user to input specific scenario criteria to recreate actual mishap events. Using sample mishap data (e.g., FAA Accident & Incident Data, [Ref 4]) demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system supporting user creation of multiple pre-programmed scenarios. Additional tasks include conducting an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to identify best practice method for training delivery (virtual reality, simulator, display screen, etc.) and development of design recommendations for a suite of training technologies for SD/SA training. 

PHASE II: Further develop and demonstrate a customizable mishap software program across multiple delivery platforms (e.g., classroom briefing material, computer based training modules, game-based training, virtual and/or augmented reality). Document the usability of the scenario development aspect of the training software. Conduct a training effectiveness evaluation of the technology suite and existing state-of-the-practice SD/SA training (i.e., classroom-based power-point briefings). Risk Management Framework guidelines should be considered and adhered to during the development to support information assurance compliance (Risk Management Framework [Refs 5 & 6]). 

PHASE III: Extend the baseline functionality to meet robust mishap recreation scenarios across aviation platforms and environmental factors. Implement Risk Management Framework guidelines to support information assurance compliance, including updates to support installation on stand alone or Navy Marine Corps Intranet systems (i.e., Risk Management Framework, [Refs 5 & 6]). Detailed evaluation of the training effectiveness of the various training medias and provide return on investment information for program acquisition. Coordinate with partners or customers of commercial applications of the software suite solution developed. Successful outcome of an easy to use scenario development technology that would allow users to input parameters into a single system to output a variety of training solutions has applicability across aviation training where low cost solutions are being leveraged. Further, the technology could potentially be extended to support more advanced training solutions, although additional resources would be required due to the complexity of these systems. Further, aviation mishaps are not confined to the military domain; commercial vendors and organizations offering student pilot training solutions would also have potential interest in such a technology. 

REFERENCES: 

1. FAA review of Spatial Disorientation: http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/spatiald.pdf

2. Spatial Disorientation Training - Demonstration and Avoidance: https://www.sto.nato.int/publications/STO%20Technical%20Reports/RTO-TR-HFM-118/$$TR-HFM-118-ALL.pdf

3. Spatial Disorientation: Decades of Pilot Fatalities - http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2011/00000082/00000007/art00008

4. FAA Accident & Incident Data: https://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/

5. Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD Information Technology (IT)F: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/851001_2014.pdf

6. Risk Management Framework: https://rmf.org/

KEYWORDS: Situational Awareness (SA); Spatial Disorientation (SD); Virtual Reality; Mishap Recreation; Augmented Reality; Classroom Training 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a laser target board designed to measure the incident power and beam shape of laser energy in an outdoor, and potentially austere, environment at range. 

DESCRIPTION: Develop a laser target board designed to measure the incident power and beam shape of laser energy in an outdoor, and potentially austere, environment at range. With many airborne laser systems now being produced and fielded such as Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and DoN LAIRCM, etc. [Ref 1], the need for low-cost, near real-time evaluation of the system parameters is rapidly becoming prevalent. There currently exist few (if any) rapidly self-sustained and deployable laser receiver target boards that merge the measurement of divergence, power, and pointing accuracy. This combination of ground-based sensor evaluation techniques is needed for use in austere environments. Currently, developmental lasers have been made in the laboratory and extrapolated; when tested in the field they were adjudged as either PASS or FAIL. Future laser testing requires the ability to test the laser on a relevant platform (i.e. helicopter) and in a relevant environment and with the ability to collect data on the target at range (> 1 km). With the advent of several lasers and different roles in the battlefield, a generic solution to explore as broad a range of laser types as possible, is desired. This system should be designed to handle as wide a range of laser parameters to capture data from multiple systems, and not specifically designed for use with only one particular laser system. System designs able to capture data across many different laser systems are needed for use with this ever-expanding collection of fielded and developmental lasers. The developed solution should be portable and capable of being transported in a standard road capable wheeled-chassis for use in austere remote field-test (non-laboratory) environments. The equipment should be supported by 120-volt AC current from either a fixed prepared site or from a portable power unit. The proposed design should be able to measure ultraviolet, (UV), visible, shortwave infrared (SWIR), and midwave-infrared (MWIR) laser beam characteristics, recording the data for immediate visual replay, as well as replay for complete analysis at a later time. The testing and training exercises should be cooperative, with the pilots actively involved in the data collection. It is anticipated that the laser specifications being measured may vary from test to test, so the equipment developed under this SBIR must be flexible in its data collection capabilities and methods. The laser measurement equipment must collect Direct Measurement of the laser beam at relevant ranges (1-10 km) in the field, to include: -Wavebands to include the following values: (UV: 350-450 um/Vis: 450-800um/NIR: 1064 um & 1550um/Mid IR: 3.5-6.0 um) -Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI) -Duty Cycle -Continuous Wave (CW) / Quasi CW -Pulse Width (PW) / Rise and Fall Time (10-90% of total energy) -Pulse Shape (Gaussian or Top Hat/Flat Top) -Beam shape ellipticity (circular, elliptical, squished) -Beam Diameter (Width at which the beam intensity has fallen to 1/e2 (13.5%) of its peak value) -Far Field Irradiance (Watts/sr) -Radiant Intensity on Target (RIOT) (Micro Watts) (Power) -Beam Brightness (Power Density) -Power on Target / Power in the Bucket - Lowest power should be measured in micro-Watts (Sensitivity requirement) -K-Factor - The K Factor expresses beam focusability in terms of a Fundamental TEM00 beam, K = (Lambda/Pi)(4/Db*Theta), where Db = diameter of incident beam; Theta = full beam divergence. For a Fundamental TEM00 beam K=1; K is < 1 for higher beam modes, the closer to 1, the higher the beam quality. In more controlled (laboratory and flight line) settings, the attributes of the laser measurement equipment during measurement of the laser beam at a closer range, e.g. 100 “ 200 meters, to include: -Exitance (Power per unit area leaving a surface) -Beam Pointing Accuracy / Angle of Error -Beam Divergence -Beam Width - defined by 1/e position. -Beam shape ellipticity (circular, elliptical, squished) -Spatial Resolution of 1/10 of beam width will be more than adequate. Other errors will be larger (1 centimeter). -Beam profile (Spatial Intensity Distribution) beam spatial profile is similar at different wavelengths. The expected beam profile can be assumed to be top-hat, nearly uniform out to some radius. -Beam Diameter (Width at which the beam intensity has fallen to 1/e2 (13.5%) of its peak value) -Bias -Jitter -Degree of Polarization (circular, linear) -Temporal Resolution / Beam Stability Desired time resolution is a two-part answer. The first answer deals with pointing error. Here, we would like better than 100 Hz with an objective of double or 200. -Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) -Hot Spots -Scintillation Include proposed arrangement and spacing of detectors, type of detectors, the ability to arrange the detectors into different array shapes and sizes, tracking cameras, or any other proposed sensors required; and the equipment required for transmitting data to be analyzed on-site, analysis equipment, and how the data is to be stored for post analysis. The testing should be performed with operational and developmental lasers from static positions and installed in fielded platforms to collect laser data from in-situ systems in real-world conditions. The completed technology should be easily set up, and able to be relocated to other test sites in less than two hours. 

PHASE I: Develop the design, architecture and composition of the proposed laser target and any associated support equipment required for the proposed solution. Develop an associated support equipment list in parallel with the actual measurement devices. Define concept of the test equipment and how it will be used in a semi-rugged field test environment. Identify any possible commercial-off-the-shelf equipment that may be partially used to complete overall tasking. Theoretical models used to illustrate and support feasibility should be directly relevant to the key technological issues of the proposed concept. 

PHASE II: Further refine the concept design and incorporate all requirements from the Description. Execute the prototype system fabrication, construction, and integration activities that lead to the completion of a laser target measurement prototype system. Test subsystems in laboratory environment, working towards eventual combination into single combined system. Demonstrate the prototype laser target board system components in a laboratory environment initially to prove capability, and then test the final integrated system in a field environment. In addition to producing a deliverable 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 should be produced and delivered. 

PHASE III: Demonstrate and deliver a complete system to collect the relevant laser evaluation data in a remote, austere test environment. Develop training and operations manuals for end-users. Compact portable laser test functionality will have commercial applications to industries that use calibrated outdoor lasers for measurements and other areas of job performance. A successful portable target board system could be used by several non-military industries, including surveying or ecological/pollution monitoring, as a tool. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft and Weapons. Department of the Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures. http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&key=317620AA-C1D9-4EEB-805C-AB8FC2378B05

2. Pratik Shukla, Jonathan Lawrence, Yu Zhang; Understanding Laser Beam Brightness, Optics and Laser Technology 75 (2015) 40-51 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2015.06.003)

3. William L. Wolfe, Introduction to Radiometry, Tutorial Texts in Optical Engineering, Volume TT29, SPIE Optical Engineering Press, 1998

4. George W. Godfrey, Fundamentals of Light, Color and Photometry for Aerospace Vehicles, Aerospace Lighting Institute, Revised 1991 Third Edition

KEYWORDS: Wavelength; Infrared; Laser Target Board; Radiometer; Laser Diagnostics; Beam Control 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a radio frequency (RF) link analysis tool, which interfaces with commercially available antenna modeling software, capable of providing comprehensive electromagnetic propagation effects and a three-dimensional availability analysis necessary for evaluating RF system performance. 

DESCRIPTION: Successful mission performance requires the ability to maintain connectivity of the various digital RF links aboard Navy platforms. These links support the functions of command and control, and communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). The performance of RF links is dependent upon the receiver and the transmitter (RT) characteristics, the propagation effects and the in-situ antenna (antenna onboard the platform) performance. RF link performance requirements are defined in terms of range and availability, which are evaluated through RF link analysis. High fidelity RF link analysis requires in-situ antenna radiation patterns be utilized, which are most effectively determined with computational electromagnetic (CEM) antenna modeling. Electromagnetic propagation effects must be comprehensive including the effects of the atmosphere and terrain. Finally, high fidelity RF link analysis must include a three-dimensional spatial link availability analysis allowing for platforms to be at any position within a volume at any orientation (pitch, roll or yaw). There are existing software tools and packages available to assist in analyzing RF link performance, but they lack the capabilities listed above. These tools are as simple as an excel spreadsheet or are included in very comprehensive packages costing tens of thousands of dollars with yearly licensing fees (e.g., AGI System Tool Kit). Other tools are available to the government but with limited capabilities (e.g., LinkBudget 5.4). All of these tools are inadequate to fully and accurately model RF link performance. There is a need for an advanced RF link analysis tool that interfaces with commercially available antenna modeling software providing comprehensive electromagnetic propagation effects and a three-dimensional availability analysis capability. The developed tool must have the following capabilities: 1. Ability to import simulated antenna patterns in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format from commercially available CEM modeling codes such as WIPL-D, SAVANT, FEKO. For Phase I, only import from WIPL-D will be required, the other formats will be provided after the award of Phase I Option. The WIPL-D format, which has elevation or azimuth, is provided at the end of this section for 2-D and 3-D antenna patterns. 2. Comprehensive RF propagation effects from very high frequency (VHF) to microwave bands simultaneously included as enabled by the user * Approach to properly account for multipath fades due to reflection from the earths surface (land and water) based upon geometry of nodes * Ability to incorporate Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) files * Applicable to all types of propagation path configurations including satellite communication (SATCOM) and line-of sight (LOS) for ground, surface and airborne platforms * Include atmospheric effects such as refractions, absorption and scattering in atmospheric gases and hydrometeors * Link availability based on combined statics of fast and slow fades * Include models of noise, distortion, and interference that are significant for a particular frequency band * Account for diversity reception 3. Advanced analysis capabilities * Calculate 3-D spatial link availability analysis which is the percentage of a volumetric region (as defined by the user) where the link threshold is met or exceeded. This must include platforms at any heading and pitch/roll, user defined analysis region including a range of altitudes and distances between platforms and predict satellite coverage displayed as an overlay on earth surface for a specific altitude * Ability to read position and attitude files for flight scenario and calculate link availability 4. This tool must include the basic link analysis capabilities such as: * Requirements for analog and digital modulations including spread-spectrum modulation * Standard error coding and code interleaving modeling * Calculations for antenna noise temperature, cascaded noise figure and propagation factor WIPL-D 2-D pattern format: Line 1: Angle1(°)_Gain(dBi) Line 2: Angle2(°)_Gain(dBi) WIPL-D 3-D pattern format Line 1: phi angle 1(°)_theta angle 1(°)_Gain(dBi) Line 2: phi angle 1(°)_theta angle 2(°)_Gain(dBi) Line n: phi angle 1(°)_theta angle n(°)_Gain(dBi) Line n+1: phi angle 2(°)_theta angle 1(°)_Gain(dBi) 

PHASE I: Design and develop an advanced RF link analysis tool as described above. Demonstrate feasibility and provide a detail description of the electromagnetic propagation algorithms along with references and theoretical analyses as required. Define and develop an approach for the 3-D spatial availability analysis addressing multipath reflection and use of DTED data. Develop preliminary layout for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) showing the input and output interfaces and controls. Develop a Phase II implementation plan. 

PHASE II: Continue the software development with an optimized computation algorithm. Verify the capability to import CEM antenna models. Demonstrate the performance of combined electromagnetics (EM) propagation effects and 3-D availability analysis. 

PHASE III: Refine the methodologies and the tools developed in Phase II, perform testing and complete any resulting upgrade. Produce a finalized tool that can be transitioned to the fleet and commercialized to private industry. As with military platforms, there is a need to perform RF link analysis for commercial airborne and surface platforms. An advanced tool as defined above will have many commercial applications including the automotive and aerospace industries as new RF links are integrated such as cellular and satellites communications as well as satellite navigation. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Levis, C.A., et al. Radiowave Propagation: Physics and Application. Wiley, 2010

2. Saakian, A.S. Radio Wave Propagation Fundamentals. Artech House, 2011

KEYWORDS: RF Communications; RF Link Analysis; RF Link Budget Analysis, Modeling; Antenna; Electromagnetic Propagation; Multipath, RF Propagation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Perform experimentally validated Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on the E-2D flight helmet (HGU-68/P) and develop an optimized solution to mitigate helmet vibration experienced during flight, potentially induced by the blade-pass frequency of the engines. 

DESCRIPTION: Since the introduction of the E-2D aircraft into the fleet, pilots have returned from flights complaining about the noise in the cockpit and the vibration of the helmet on their heads. This has led to higher workload during flights, missed radio communications and excessive fatigue post flight. While no directly related mishaps have occurred to date, these problems have yielded multiple hazard reports from fleet squadrons and there is documented hearing loss following missions greater than three hours in the aircraft. In an effort to mitigate the problem, a new earcup was tried. However, when subjected to noise appropriate to an E-2D cockpit, it was found that not only was the new earcup ineffective at low frequency, but the helmet was actually performing worse than if no helmet was being worn at all. This has led to speculation that there may be a resonance or an amplification in the range of frequencies that coincides with the engines blade-pass frequency, explaining the complaints received from pilots on vibration and fatigue. Under this hypothesis, laboratory testing has been conducted on the HGU-68/P helmet, including limited experimental modal analysis and vibro-acoustic testing. These tests were performed on a G.R.A.S. 45CB Acoustic Test Fixture (ATF) (G.R.A.S. Sound & Vibration A/S, Holte, Denmark) to simulate the boundary conditions of the human head. Vibrations were measured using three triaxial accelerometers; one placed at the rear, and one each placed on the left and right sides of the helmet. Initially, modal analysis was conducted by hammer impact tests on baseline HGU-68/P helmet configurations. For the HGU-68/P, resonances were found lower than the Blade-Pass Frequency (BPF) (160 Hz third octave band), but amplifications were found in the BPF range of the E-2D aircraft. For vibro-acoustic testing, helmet vibration and at-ear sound levels of the helmets, subjected to 114 dB in-flight E-2D noise, was measured in a reverberation chamber. Baseline HGU-68/P, and modified HGU-68/P helmet configurations were tested. The HGU-68/P helmet modifications included various concepts of stiffening and damping actions. Vibro-acoustic test results proved that modifications to the HGU-68/P helmet can significantly reduce helmet shell vibrations. The head/helmet vibration solution should utilize experimentally validated FEA and multi-objective design optimization. High-fidelity three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) models should be created for the HGU-68/P helmets in an E-2D flight configuration, which will be provided to the company. Simulations should consist of 1) modal analysis and 2) in-flight loading conditions. Modal analysis should be conducted on all three sizes of the HGU-68/P helmet and be experimentally validated by hammer impact tests or shaker tests. The boundary conditions used for the modal analysis simulations should be representative of 1) the helmet alone and 2) the helmet as being worn by a pilot or on a headform. Conduct simulations using the acoustic and shock loading conditions representative of an E-2D aircraft in-flight. These in-flight simulations should be experimentally validated under the same loading conditions and by measuring vibration using accelerometers mounted on the helmet shell. High-fidelity FE models for 1) all three sizes of the HGU-68/P helmet, 2) a helmeted-headform and/or a helmeted human head model should be utilized for these in-flight simulations. Solutions to mitigate helmet vibration are sought and multi-objective design optimization should be performed on these solutions. It is not required, but highly recommended, that performers interact with the helmet manufacturer. 

PHASE I: Perform modeling and simulation of the HGU-68/P helmet in an E-2D flight configuration. All Phase I performers will be provided with a helmet in the baseline HGU-68/P configuration. High-fidelity three-dimensional FE models should be created and the materials models should accurately represent the strain-rate dependent material responses to loading. An in-depth modal analysis and in-flight simulations should be conducted on these models. Determine if there really is a resonance effect or amplification in the frequencies that dominate the noise and vibration spectrum in the cockpit. Based on the simulation results, develop solutions to mitigate helmet vibration. Propose material solutions to the helmet as both retrofit and production changes. Provide an analysis on the proposed solutions. 

PHASE II: Perform multi-objective design optimization of the proposed solutions to minimize helmet vibration and weight. Generate three prototypes and perform further experimental modal analysis and vibro-acoustic testing to demonstrate improvement by showing minimized helmet vibration in the specified noise field. Once improvement is demonstrated, provide additional hardware that can be installed into flight test assets for an in-flight assessment. Provide results and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models of the optimized solution. 

PHASE III: Assist in commercial development of the optimized solution and transitioning the technology to the fleet. Provide the Navy with all Finite Element models, material models, constraints, boundary conditions, loads, and any other information needed to reproduce FE simulations. Successful technology development could benefit the private sector in the arenas of military, commercial, and sport helmets and protective equipment. This technology may also aid in the development of injury predictors and the human bodys tolerance to vibration and noise. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Holt, N., Walker, I., Carley, M. (2011). Motorcycle helmets and the frequency dependence of temporary hearing threshold shift, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 2011.12, DOI: 10.1121/1.3602104.

2. Gentex Corporation. Gentex HGU-68/P Fixed Wing Aircrew Helmet System. 2016; Available from: http://www.gentexcorp.com/findaircrewcommunications/fixed-wing/gentex-hgu-68-p-fixed-wing-aircrew-helmet-system

3. Tinard, V., Deck, C. & Willinger, R. (2012). New methodology for improvement of helmet performances during impacts with regards to biomechanical criteria. Materials & Design, 2012. 37: p. 79-88, ISSN 0261-3069, DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2011.12.005

4. Willinger, R., Baumgartner, D., & Guimberteau, T. (2000). DYNAMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF MOTORCYCLE HELMETS: MODELLING AND COUPLING WITH THE HUMAN HEAD. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 2000. 235(4): p. 611-625, ISSN 0022-460X, DOI: 10.1006/jsvi.1999.293

5. Tinard, V., Deck, C., Bourdet, N., Willinger, R. (2011). Motorcyclist helmet composite outer shell characterization and modelling, Materials & Design, 2011. 32 (5., p. 3112-3119, ISSN 0261-3069, DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2010.12.019

(Removed on 5/16/17.)

KEYWORDS: Resonance Effect; Modal Analysis; Noise Attenuation; Helmet Vibration; Finite Element Analysis; Design Optimization 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative method for terminating optical fiber with an epoxyless connector. 

DESCRIPTION: Optical fiber connections are common in any optical system employing optical fiber cables. These connections allow predetermined connector types to be plugged in and out as needed while maintaining a reliable connection and alignment of the fibers they house. Current methods involving terminating optical fiber use epoxy to hold the ferrule in place around the fiber. Dependent on the tolerance on the fiber diameter and connector housing hole diameter some of this adhesive can be seen in a polished connector facet between the fiber and its housing. Applications needing high power level coupling into the fiber connections might find issue with this visible adhesive area, as if light is focused on the epoxy region during alignment the adhesive could be damaged compromising the stability and reliability of the fiber connection. The adhesive can also be damaged to a point where particles may deposit on the fiber facet causing it to absorb energy from the injected light, heat up and causing catastrophic damage to the fiber facet. Several solutions to this problem have been developed for commonly used silica fibers that rely on a mechanical or physical contact as part of the housing and the fiber to secure the fiber position. These solutions are not optimized for soft glass fibers, used for Mid-Wavelength Infrared (MWIR) wavelength transmission (2-5 micron), due to the fragile nature of these fibers. Other solutions still rely on adhesive for securing the fiber but it is located away from the fiber facet. This approach while decreasing the likelihood of the damage issue occurring does not mitigate it completely. A fiber optic connector free of any adhesive or with adhesive located in a position where the above issues are of no concern is desired. The fiber connector should be compatible with anti-reflection (AR) techniques under high power MWIR laser (10W) and should handle harsh environment typical of military applications as described in MIL-STD-810G. The telecommunications industry has evolved to epoxyless ferrule connectors for their silica optical fiber with great success. As mid-infrared lasers go up in power from single digit power levels to 10s, and possible 100 Watts, we need epoxyless connectors to go with high damage threshold fiber. The application in this instance is for mid-infrared lasers, 2 “ 6 micron. The optical fibers best suited for mid-infrared transmission include Chalcogenides, Indium Fluoride (ZBLAN) and Tellurite. These fibers all have lower softening temperatures and hardness, and higher thermal expansion coefficients than silica fibers. The properties of mid-infrared fiber dictate an innovative approach to developing an epoxyless ferrule connector. Power handling capabilities of the fiber connector should accommodate tens of watts of power, up to 100 watts of either continuous wave (CW) or modulated power either by free space air or fiber coupled input to the former with an efficiency of 80-90% into the output beam. Respondents should describe how they can handle power levels of 10 GWatts/cm2 on the insertion end of the fiber. The laser source can be of multiple varieties, including fiber, Quantum Cascade, Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL), etc. The laser source will be linearly polarized, linewidth can be <.001 microns and M^2 near diffraction limited at the input to the fiber. The respondent should use Aerospace Standard AS6021 as a guide and discuss the capability of their connectors to handle mate-demate cycles, operating environment specifications (thermal shock, mechanical shock, vibration, temperature, humidity), end face geometry (flat, physical contact, angled), visual inspection criteria (scratches, pits), insertion loss and return loss, etc. 

PHASE I: Develop the design, architecture and composition of the proposed epoxy free ferrule connector. Demonstrate feasibility through experimental test results from mid-Infrared (IR) fiber samples obtained from fiber suppliers, theoretical models, 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. The proposed conceptual design should show how the proposers will produce a prototype epoxyless connector that accepts continuous-wave or pulsed MWIR laser source at power levels greater than or equal to 100 Watts. 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: Develop a prototype from the proposed design in Phase I and demonstrate that it is compact and robust in adverse environments. Provide a test plan demonstrating how to test the power handling capability of this connector. This test plan should also provide test conditions for repeated mating of this connector to a high power (10s of Watts) source radiation and measurement of through put power. The test plan should also outline the procedures used to test environmental test condition specified in MIL-STD-810G. Additionally, provide a plan on how to implement technology in volume. 

PHASE III: Perform final testing and implement epoxyless connectors into production. Demonstrate the manufacturability of the epoxyless mid-IR fiber connectors. Provide a comprehensive report detailing findings in Phase II for repeatability of the product in environmental conditions specified in MIL-STD-810G. This final report should provide rationale for the suitability of this technology for various platforms. This technology would allow the coupling of higher optical power density into MWIR fiber for medical application, such as hard tissue ablation, and industrial application such as cutting or welding. Also, this technology would increase the safety of transporting high optical power density to intended location without posing a risk to operators around this radiation. 

REFERENCES: 

1. MIL-PRF-64266B, Performance Specification: Connectors, Fiber Optic, Circular, Plug and Receptacle Style, Multiple Removable Genderless Termini, Environment Resisting, General Specification for. Department of Defense. 25 November 2008. Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-PRF/MIL-PRF-030000-79999/MIL-PRF-64266_37947/

2. MIL-PRF-29504B, Performance Specification: Termini, Fiber Optic Connector, Removable, General Specification for. 12 Nov 2002. Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-PRF/MIL-PRF-010000-29999/MIL-PRF-29504B_20351/

3. AS6021, Aerospace Fiber Optic Cable Assembly Drawing Specification, Issued 2014-01. Retrieved from http://standards.sae.org/as6021/

KEYWORDS: Epoxy; Epoxyless; MWIR Connectors; MWIR Optical Fiber; Optical Fiber Termination; Optical Fiber Cable Assembly 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a robust algorithm that produces a reliable, more precise and more accurate Area of Uncertainty (AOU) for a target location generated from a multi-static active sonar field of drifting source and receiver sonobuoys. 

DESCRIPTION: The Navys Multi-Static Active Coherent (MAC) system is a multi-static sonar system deployed in the ocean from an aircraft [1] used for wide area search. Surface-drifting buoys are dropped at pre-determined locations and then drift with the currents. Sources are commanded to ping from an aircraft. The drifting receivers relay acoustic and auxiliary data to the aircraft for analysis of possible target detections. Once detected, the next phases of the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) kill chain are to localize, classify and then attack. The Navy seeks to compress the ASW kill chain by localizing and classifying from the originally deployed search sensors. In order to do this, the Navy needs a robust algorithm that yields an AOU that would allow for a successful kill from an air-deployed weapon. The inputs for the proposed algorithm are: 1) estimates of the initial buoy locations, 2) estimates of the speed of sound in water, 3) estimates of current velocities, and 4) the acoustic signals. The acoustic location problem involves solving a set of equations where range, as determined from the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA), and bearing are known. Other simplifying assumptions can yield unreliable AOUs [2]. The equations for location may involve many variables because there are twenty to forty buoys and only a few target detections. Relevant errors must be addressed including uncertain sound speeds, and uncertain buoy positions and velocities. The algorithm cannot rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) or other navigational data. Because point solutions rarely coincide with actual locations, the algorithm will yield AOUs. AOUs should be reliable, containing the target at a confidence level of at least 50 percent. The Navy has a requirement to conduct searches in deep-water (non-littoral) environments where two-way propagation paths are on the order of convergence zone (CZ) ranges each way. The AOU algorithm must be able to work reliably at these longer ranges and with sensor locations that are not ideal. For example, a collinear pattern of buoys may yield larger AOUs than a non-collinear pattern. The algorithm must be able to output AOUs in real-time. The associated probability of target detection should not be based on proposed patterns. The offeror is not expected to estimate the probability of detection; this information will be provided by the Navy. Buoy patterns are limited by an upper limit of numbers of buoys to be used throughout a mission, which will be provided by the Navy during Phase I. The ultimate goal of the algorithms approach is to use acoustic data to self-locate buoys more precisely thus yielding smaller AOUs for targets. 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: Determine the feasibility of an algorithm to yield reliable and small target AOUs. Current AOU parameters will be provided by the Navy during Phase I. Simulate the target AOU for realistic errors and various buoy patterns. Estimate computer resources needed for estimating AOUs in real-time. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype algorithm to generate AOUs from real MAC data. Demonstrate the AOUs are reliable by comparison with independent location measurements of buoys and targets. MAC data will be provided by the Navy. Use the algorithm to modify standard buoy patterns yielding smaller AOUs. Analysis of data from one or more MAC missions may be required. 

PHASE III: Integrate the algorithm into the mission planning system, such as Tactical Open Mission Software (TOMS) or MINOTAUR, final integration plan to be provided during Phase III kick-off. Use the algorithm to generate buoy patterns yielding small AOUs. The algorithm may be integrated into the aircraft for generating AOUs of buoys and targets in real-time. Pursue commercial applications such as seismic and oil exploration concepts. The developed technology has the potential to be useful for any system that can benefit from more accurate receiver and transmitter localization; benefiting industries may include seismic and oil exploration. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft and Weapons, ASW Sensors. http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&key=C8AEF3CE-30B0-4C3D-829C-50FEF3A301F3

2. Ralph O. Schmidt, A New Approach to Geometry of Range Difference Location, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 8, No. 6, Nov 1972, p. 821-835

Buoy Operating Life Table (Uploaded in SITIS on 4/27/17)

KEYWORDS: Sonobuoy; Position; Confidence Interval; Target Location; Nonlinear Optimization; Multi-static Sonar 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a shipboard system for the Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS) Warping Tug to determine wave characteristics (significant wave height, period and direction) in near-real time using Warping Tug motions as input. 

DESCRIPTION: Ship-to-shore cargo transfer operations supported by the INLS causeway ferry and Roll-On/Roll-Off Discharge Facility (RRDF) are dependent on local wave characteristics. Go/no-go decisions are based in part on the wave environment, and throughput planning is impacted by an assessment of the on-site conditions. Local wave characteristics have historically been estimated through largely subjective means by Navy Beach Master Units, which provides an error-prone evaluation of the local environment. This method is intrinsically dependent upon the experience and expertise of the particular individual making the evaluation. Improper evaluations frequently lead to impaired or limited operations. A more objective method for estimating the local wave conditions is sought. The system must be capable of determining the local wave environment in near real-time, including significant wave height, the associated period, and the predominant wave direction. The ideal system would calculate these parameters using only the recorded motions from the INLS warping tug and would not require the deployment or use of other ancillary wave measuring equipment. The system must be compatible with the existing warping tug interfaces, and require as little modification to existing infrastructure as practicable. Wave characteristics must be displayed and recorded locally on a graphical user interface. The warping tug can be expected to hold speed and heading for a limited amount of time to collect steady state data as input to the system. Appropriate INLS interface specifications and drawings shall be provided to performers as required prior to implementation of Phase II and III awards. 

PHASE I: Modeling and Analysis. Demonstrate feasibility of developing algorithms and hardware to determine local wave characteristics using the recorded wave motions from the INLS warping tug. Provide estimates of the accuracy and reliability of predicted wave characteristics. Statistically relevant environmental factors that induce noise and uncertainty on the calculation should be also be identified and accounted for. Identify the limitations of the system. Also include preliminary design plans for fabrication and integration of a working instrument. Develop the basic algorithms for the conversion of warping tug motion to wave characterization and document in both mathematical and flow-chart format. 

PHASE II: Laboratory/Prototype testing. Fabricate a fully functioning stand-alone wave characterization system (i.e., not integrated with existing INLS warping tug onboard systems). Conduct a laboratory scale demonstration using historical warping tug motion data (Government Furnished Information). Prototype operation and accuracy shall be demonstrated during offshore testing, to be coordinated with relevant operators in the Naval Beach Groups. 

PHASE III: Based on the results of Phase II, manufacture a prototype system to fully integrate with the INLS warping tug. Support the Navy with testing, certify and qualify it for Navy use. Simple system operation and maintenance will also be considered in evaluating possible wider DoD implementation. A successful operational system that is also low in cost could be useful for small fishing vessels and on water police or drug enforcement activities where near real-time wave conditions would be valuable and the expense and logistics of ownership and handling of a wave buoy would not be feasible. This technology will also be applicable to monitoring wave conditions at remote sites or those where coastal monitoring systems have been damaged during a natural disaster. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Maritime Prepositioning Force (Seabasing Enabled), document published August 2015 by Marine Corps Combat Development Center. Describes Warping Tug use in MPF force. http://www.mccdc.marines.mil/Portals/172/Docs/Seabasing/documents/MPF(SE)COE.pdf.

2. Seabee Online: LOADEX Sharpens PHIBCB 2s Rapid Response Skills, Description of typical warping tug uses. http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/08/28/phibcb-2-bees-increase-mission-readiness-at-blount-island/"

KEYWORDS: Wave Characterization; Vessel Motions; Lighterage; Improved Navy Lighterage; Warping Tug; Sea State 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a man-portable, rapidly deployable, inflatable tactical surface system to facilitate the high-speed surface tow of a disabled undersea vehicle (e.g. SEAL Delivery Vehicle, Shallow Water Combat Submersible) behind any small craft capable of achieving 20 knots speed over water (e.g., rigid hull inflatable boat). Note: The small craft towing vessel and inflation source (e.g. compressed air/SCUBA bottles) will be provided and are not part of the desired inflatable system. 

DESCRIPTION: The desired system will be one-man-portable, rapidly deployable from a small craft, rapidly installed in the water by no more than three personnel, capable of facilitating the towing of the aforementioned platforms at a threshold speed of 10 knots and an objective speed of 20 knots in sea state zero (0) (sea state definition from U.S. Navy Dive Manual, Vol 2), and rugged enough to support operations in up to sea state three (3). The inflatable surface extraction system must be sufficiently rigid to support vehicle dimensions of 5 ft. x 5 ft. x 23 ft. and weight up to 10,000 lbs. (dry) / 18,000 lbs. (wet) underway at speed, at the sea surface while providing sufficient stability such that the submersible will remain upright and within the wake of the towing craft; be capable of conforming to the aforementioned platforms without major modification to the extraction system (i.e. dual-system capable); withstand repeated deployment, recovery, and re-folding for storage; and immersion in saltwater for up to 48 hours. The inflatable surface extraction system is envisioned to enable / facilitate the surface towing operation; potentially becoming a sled for the undersea mobility platforms; becoming a girdle that uses the platforms rigidity to become a de facto hull, which may create a more hydrodynamic form; or creating a hydrofoil system that may lift the submersible out of the water to create a low-drag body. Threshold (T) and Objective (O) System Characteristics are as follows: System Dimensions: T: 24in. x 24in. x 36in. / O: < T (and able to pass through 30in. diameter hatch) System Weight: T: 150 lbs / O: < T Tow Speed: T: 10 kts in sea state 0; 8 kts in sea state 1 / O: 20 kts in sea state 0 ; 15 kts in sea state 1 Sea State: T: 1 / O: 3 Submersible Dimensions: T: 5ft. x 5ft. x 23ft. / O: = T Submersible Weight: T: 10000 lbs. (dry) / O: 18000 lbs. (wet) Time to Deploy: T: < 4 min in sea state 0 / O: < 2 min in sea state 1 (Deployment is time to remove the system from the towing craft to ready to install) Time to Install: T: < 11 min in sea state 0 / O: < 8 min in sea state 1 (Install is time to attach / fit the system to the submersible to ready to tow) Time to Tow: T: < 15 min in sea state 0 / O: < 10 min in sea state 1 (Time to tow is time from beginning deployment to beginning tow) Stability: T: Submersible remains upright and within the wake of the towing platform in sea state 0 / O: Submersible remains upright in sea state 3 

PHASE I: The proposer will develop overall conceptual system designs that includes studies demonstrating analysis of hydrodynamic requirements for safe and stable surface towing of the undersea mobility platforms at speed in moderate seas; analysis of materials and manufacturing methods; deployment, installation, recovery, and stowage options; analysis of risk and potential payoffs of innovative technologies; and finally, a recommended design and system cost estimate. Phase I work will be leveraged to conduct engineering trades based on the expected results of the conceptual design and analysis of the above system characteristics. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system in a realistic environment to include multiple storage, deployment, installation, and recovery cycles. Conduct testing in maritime environments to prove feasibility under the required operating conditions. Phase II testing may include at sea events in/near Panama City, FL with the use of the Experimental SEAL Delivery Vehicle and a standard RHIB; then move to Little Creek, VA where multiple Naval Special Warfare surface assets could be used for more rigorous at sea testing with a Fleet SEAL Delivery Vehicle or Shallow Water Combat Submersible. Initial testing would be conducted in areas with protected waters; and then potentially graduate into open ocean conditions to replicate higher sea states. Note: the government would provide the submersible and surface crafts and personnel needed for this interoperability testing. 

PHASE III: Assist the Navy in transitioning the technology to operational use by Naval Special Warfare; support the Navy for test, validation and qualification of the system for use with the aforementioned platforms; and develop commercial variants suitable for recovery of commercial and recreational maritime platforms (e.g. Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) used in the gas-oil industry or research community; or a partially submerged pleasure craft). 

REFERENCES: 

1. Bagnell, Daniel G. Recent Advancements of Inflatable Multi-Hull Boats Utilizing Drop-Stitch Fabric. American Society of Naval Engineers (2011). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266166205_Recent_Advancements_in_the_Development_of_Inflatable_Multi-Hull_Boats_Utilizing_Drop-Stitch_Fabric

2. Cavallaro, Paul V. "Technology & Mechanics Overview of Air-Inflated Fabric Structures." Naval Undersea Warfare Center (2006). http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a462232.pdf

3. DiGiovanna, Lia (2013) Characterizing the Mechanical Properties of Drop Stitch Inflatable Structures. MIT Mechanical Engineering Report. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/83708

KEYWORDS: Inflatable, Materials, Sled, Naval Special Warfare, Hydrofoil 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: To develop innovative approaches to cure and repair composite aircraft structures without utilizing an autoclave ("Out of Autoclave Composites") using nanostructured heaters. 

DESCRIPTION: A constraint in fabricating high quality composites parts is the need of an autoclave. There has been sustained research in developing resin systems and fabrication processes that allow composites to be cured without pressure in a vacuum bag, but still in an oven. However, these Out of Autoclave (OOA) technologies have not matured yet and autoclave cure remains the gold standard. Recent developments in nanostructured heaters (i.e., carbon nanotube based) show promise in producing temperatures as high as 500 C and can be used to produce high quality parts. Such heaters can act as envelope heaters or can be embedded at lamina interfaces with the potential of producing parts of autoclave quality, eliminating the need for an autoclave or oven. These nanostructured heaters have the potential of curing very large parts with lower energy and at reduced cost compared to autoclave or oven cure. The Navy is seeking to foster this new technology to develop energy efficient repairs as the primary target; however, this topic will be a stepping stone for OOA and out of oven cure of primary structure of future air platforms. While the primary focus of the topic is Polymer Matrix Composites with cure temperatures below 200 C the proposed technology should be able generate temperatures up to 500 C reliably and in a stable manner. 

PHASE I: Define and develop a concept to use nanostructured heater to cure aerospace grade out of autoclave composites. Establish feasibility of the proposed concept of the producing panels and by coupon level testing. Deliverables include comparison of porosity, strength, and stiffness coupon-data against a conventionally cured baseline. 

PHASE II: Using results from Phase I, (1) demonstrate the concept on a subcomponent level such as a fuselage or a wing panel, (2) develop processes and demonstrate the use of nanostructured heaters for repairs. 

PHASE III: Integrate Phase II development into repair program of a Navy Air platform. The topic has the potential of curing very large parts; it can be used to cure high temperature resins such as bismaleimide (BMI) and benzoxazine, both of which are of interest to the DoD. This technology could be used for efficiently fabricating large, high quality parts and for repairing parts with high cure temperature resin. An additional application is the fabrication of thermoplastic components as the need for high temperature in a controlled manner during fabricating thermoplastics is a gap that has to be addressed to improve quality of thermoplastic parts. This topic has the potential of addressing the gap and accelerating the use of thermoplastics in primary airframe structures. The use of composites in civilian aerospace is as pervasive as it is in the military side. Thus, energy efficient repairs are as transitionable to the commercial sector as it is to the military sector. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Lee, Jeonyoon, et al. Aligned Carbon Nanotube Film Enables Thermally Induced State Transformations in Layered Polymeric Materials. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 7.16 (2015): 8900-8905.

2. Jung, Daewoong, et al. "Transparent Film Heaters Using Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sheets." Sensors and Actuators a: Physical 199.11 (2013): 176-180."

KEYWORDS: Composite Repairs; Out Of Autoclave; Nano-heaters; Composite Curing; Composites; Composites Manufacturing; Out Of Autoclave Curing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop infrared detectors which can operate at room temperature with detectivity greater than 1 x 10^11cm Hz^1/2/W and noise-equivalent power (NEP) less than 1 pW/Hz^1/2 with cutoff wavelengths spanning the range of 3.5 to 4.6 microns for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Naval applications. 

DESCRIPTION: The Navy has a critical need for detectors that operate in the infrared spectral region for identification of chemical warfare species and explosives. A class of detectors spanning the MWIR band is needed to allow selectivity for specific compounds. Applications including hand-held devices and detectors on small autonomous vehicles require superior SWaP properties. In the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) radiation band, state-of-the-art detectors generally must operate below ~200K to achieve good signal-to-noise ratios. Cameras based on focal plane arrays (FPAs) require cryogenic cooling which add to the size, weight, power, and cost. Recent work in academia and industry has included room-temperature Lead Selenide (PbSe) detectors. The bandgap of PbSe results in a cut-off frequency near 4.6 um. A range of cut-off wavelengths across the MWIR band (3-5 um) is desirable for applications. In principle, most of the MWIR band could be assessed by alloying PbSe with Lead Sulfide (PbS) or Lead Telluride (PbTe). There is very little in the literature about PbSeS and PbSeTe alloys. [1] Growth and processing of high-quality ternary alloys will be required to achieve sensitive room-temperature detectors. State-of-the-Art: The commercial state-of-the-art for room-temperature MWIR detectors is based on binary PbSe material. Devices have achieved detectivities of 4 x 10^10cm Hz^1/2/W and (NEP) of 2 pW/Hz^1/2 at a wavelength of 3.8 microns. [2,3] 

PHASE I: Required Phase I deliverables will include growth of PbSeS or PbSeTe alloys, design of detectors, and a report specifying Phase II plans for device fabrication and characterization. 

PHASE II: Detectors will be fabricated and tested at two or more wavelengths between 3.5 and 4.6 microns. Wavelengths will be chosen based upon results from Phase I and consultations with the Navy. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototypes into designs that will meet Navy requirements. 

PHASE III: Upon successful completion of Phase II, the small business will provide support in transitioning the technology for Navy use. Additional considerations including reliability and manufacturability will be examined. The small business will provide support for operational testing and validation and qualify the detectors for Navy use. Commercial applications for this technology include sensing and imaging in the mid-wavelength infrared regime for search-and-rescue, environmental monitoring, and toxic industrial chemical detection. A key specification for many commercial applications is the improved size, weight, and power requirements enabled by the elimination of cryogenic cooling. 

REFERENCES: 

1. N.K. Abbas et al., Structure and Optical Investigations of PbSSe Alloy and Films, J. Mat. Sci. Eng. A 3, 82-92 (2013). http://www.davidpublishing.com/davidpublishing/Upfile/3/21/2013/2013032166031453.pdf

2. B. Weng et al., Responsivity enhancement of mid-infrared PbSe detectors using CaF2 nano-structured antireflective coatings, Applied Physics Letters 104, 021109 (2014). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260722622_Responsivity_enhancement_of_mi

3. Hamamatsu Corporation, Compound Semiconductor Photosensor, http://www.tayloredge.com/reference/Electronics/Semiconductors/Compound_semiconductor.pdf"

KEYWORDS: Infrared; Detectors; Lead-salt; MWIR; Lead Selenide; Photoconductor 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Design a clock capable of achieving a stability <10-15/sqrt(tau) with flicker floor <10-17 that is compatible with use in space. 

DESCRIPTION: Precise clocks are at the core of many modern day systems, providing time and frequency references for such technologies as navigation, radar, and communication networks. Currently, most clocks receive periodic updates from the Global Positioning System (GPS) to correct accumulated timing errors, relying on their ability to pick up the weak GPS signal relayed over the GPS infrastructure. The recent proliferation of GPS countermeasures has created an interest in alternatives. The deployment of high-stability standards into GPS-denied environments could increase mission duration by reducing or eliminating the need for external synchronization. Such clocks could also serve as a trusted timing source in defense- and civilian-critical networks without exposing a corruptible entry point via the GPS receiver. Ultra-precise clocks could also improve the robustness of GPS uplinks by decentralizing and distributing time-transfer stations across the globe and, ultimately improve the robustness of the GPS constellation (references 1 and 2). Current systems with the most demanding long-term timing requirements rely on thermal microwave atomic clocks that have a stability of 10-11/sqrt(tau), and future programs have a stability goal of 5x10-13/sqrt(tau) with a one day Allen deviation of fractional frequency approaching 10-15 (reference 3. Laboratory ultra-precise optical atomic clocks such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) strontium (Sr) and ytterbium (Yb) lattice clocks now routinely achieve fractional frequency instabilities <10-16/sqrt(tau) and systematic uncertainties approaching 10-18, making them the most precise measurement devices in existence (references 4 and 5). Despite rapid progress, a significant gap remains between clocks developed in research laboratories and those deployed in real-world environments. Metrology laboratories focus on high stability and absolute accuracy, resulting in meter-scale clocks operated by highly trained scientists. This topic seeks a start towards realizing ultra-precise clock performance in real-world environments, including space applications, by significantly decreasing the Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) of the core components (e.g. stable laser, optical frequency synthesizer/comb, atomic reference). 

PHASE I: Design a clock capable of achieving a stability of 10-15/sqrt(tau) with flicker floor <10-17 that is compatible with use in space. Include an analysis of SWaP considerations to identify limiting SWaP factors. While space qualification is outside the scope of this effort, the architecture must be shown to have a path to space-qualification. Consider core components having a significantly decreased SWaP for use in real-world environments, and propose one component for development in Phase II. Identify partners who would be interested in integrating the Phase II component into an existing ultra-precise device (not necessarily a clock) to demonstrate the performance of the low SWaP component in a full device. 

PHASE II: Fabricate and test a prototype core component (e.g. stable laser, frequency comb, atomic reference) of the Phase I design, demonstrating the device performance with the target SWaP. The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to be reached is 5: component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment. 

PHASE III: Work to increase the TRL level for integration into possible real world devices. The prototype component with small SWaP, developed in Phase II, can be useful in a variety of ultra-high performance atomic devices or optical frequency control technology. Depending on the specific component chosen, such applications could include optical spectroscopy, gas sensing, fiber optic communication, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), gyros, or gravimeters. 

REFERENCES: 

1. N. Poli, et al., Optical atomic clocks [recent overview], https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.2378, 2014.

2. Andrew D. Ludlow, Martin M. Boyd, and Jun Ye, Optical Atomic Clocks, Review of Modern Physics, 87, 2015.

3. Air Force Research Lab, Space Qualified Atomic Clocks, BAA-RVKV-2016-0002.

4. N. Hinkley et al., An Atomic Clock with 10-18 Instability, Science, 341, 2013.

5. M. Schioppo et al, "Ultrastable optical clock with two cold-atom ensembles," Nature Photonics, 2012.

KEYWORDS: Clock; Stable Laser; Frequency Comb; Atomic Reference; Space; GPS-denied 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop manufacturing processes for a viable high temperature polymer or nanocomposite dielectric film that maintains a 95% or higher charge/discharge efficiency to 400 volts/micron at 125 C and energy storage capability better than biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) (at room temperature). 

DESCRIPTION: Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) is the dielectric of choice for many large capacitor systems because it can be processed into very thin films (<5 microns), is a low loss, high breakdown strength dielectric, and exhibits graceful failure when properly metalized. The primary weakness of the material is that the upper use temperature is about 70 C when used in high electric field applications. Above this temperature, charge mobility within the film increases, the breakdown strength decreases, and the charge/discharge efficiency decreases. Polymers generally considered to have high temperature stability such a polycarbonate, Polyether ether ketone (PEEK), Kapton, and polyetherimide, though better than BOPP, still have substantial drops in discharge efficiency when pushed to high electric fields at high temperature. New polymer and nanocomposite approaches developed in the ONR Dielectric Films program have been demonstrated to maintain good dielectric properties to >125 C, but they are thermosets or composites and have only been demonstrated in the lab (references 1, 2). Little to no work has been done to develop reasonable scale processing techniques for these approaches or to develop similar materials that are processable while still retaining high temperature performance. 

PHASE I: Select or develop a polymer or nanocomposite family of materials having good dielectric properties for high temperature capacitor applications (high dielectric breakdown, low dielectric loss, high charge/discharge efficiency, and retaining strong performance to >125 C). Fully characterize properties as a function of temperature on lab prepared samples. Optimize material properties. Develop lab scale processing approaches that show viability for commercial processing. Process and fully characterize at least 5 square feet of film (10 microns thick or less, free standing, not on substrate). Submit at least 1 square foot of material to the Navy to confirm dielectric properties. Submit a plan for processing that demonstrates the full capability for the material to be processed in a commercial process. Discuss the commercial viability of fully developing this dielectric film in terms of materials costs, processing costs, market, competitive materials, and potential barriers for market entry. Refine tasking for Phase I option and prepare for Phase II product studies. 

PHASE II: Scale material and develop processing capabilities on commercial or near commercial equipment. Characterize processed material. Further develop materials for use in wound film capacitors (improve film quality, investigate metallization, graceful failure, and other relevant factors). Make unpackaged wound film capacitors and submit them to the Navy for testing. Repeat development process as needed. Refine the market analysis of the commercial viability of fully developing this dielectric film in terms of materials costs, processing costs, market potential, competitive materials, and barriers for market entry and present a plan for Phase III. 

PHASE III: Develop fully packaged capacitors for a Navy/DoD application and/or a dual use application. Submit the capacitors to DoD for testing. Potential transition pathways include the Railgun INP program and the Efficient and Power Dense Architecture and Components FNC program. A large dual market use for a successfully developed dielectric film would potentially be in capacitors for under the hood power conversion applications in hybrid automobiles. A DoD capacitor would be a significantly different product, but both could use the high temperature dielectric film. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Qi Li, Lei Chen, Matthew R. Gadinski, Shihai Zhang, Guangzu Zhang, Haoyu Li, Aman Haque, Long-Qing Chen, Tom Jackson, Qing Wang, Flexible High-Temperature Dielectric Materials from Polymer Nanocomposites, Nature, 523, 576-580 (2015).

2. Yash Thakur, Minren Lin, Shan Wu, Zhaoxi Cheng, D.-Y. Jeong, Q. M. Zhang, Tailoring the Dipole Properties in Dielectric Polymers to Realize High Energy Density with High Breakdown Strength and Low Dielectric Loss, Journal of Applied Physics, 117, 114104-6, (2015).

KEYWORDS: Capacitor; Polymer Film; Dielectric Constant; Dielectric Loss; Dielectric Breakdown; High Temperature; Metalized Wound Film Capacitor 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative mathematical techniques for the characterization of total ship power and energy system performance that includes new high energy, pulse load weapon systems. Performance characterization supports early stage ship design synthesis. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks to develop innovative mathematical methods and fast, reliable algorithms aimed at making radical advances in computational modeling of complex Combat Power and Energy Systems (CPES) that include lasers, rail guns, and advanced sensors needed for future ship acquisitions. Navy requirements for the design of future surface combatants having CPES architectures with high-energy pulse electric loads will require new mathematical modeling strategies in system characterization and system configuration. The overall Navy objective is to model many system configurations within many ship platform studies to produce a trade space for decision makers. The complexity of modeling and analyzing these systems has high labor cost due to modeling efficiencies and high computational costs due to time-domain requirements. The object of this topic is to find new and innovative mathematical methods to characterize these new CPES systems and components as surrogates to be used during the early stages of ship design where trade-space decisions are made. These numerical methods are needed at different levels of abstraction from the total ship operational context down to the individual component behavior. Statistical emulators are needed to quantify operational mission loads as boundary conditions for CPES system and platform assessments and new methodologies are needed for component and system performance characterization to be use within surrogate behavior models. Normally parameterized, closed-form surrogate models cannot be directly used for non-linear analysis involving time domain simulations. Because this topic is focused on affecting the early stages of design, it may suffice to create surrogate behavior models that are sufficient using a quasi-static (state) approach. Different surrogate approximation methods exist today. Their merits and applicability vary depending on the behavior needing emulation. Examples of compact surrogate include, but are not limited to, Kriging models, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), multivariate Non-uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS), and Support Vector Machines (SVM). The challenge of this topic is not limited to the characterization of individual component behaviors. It includes numerical methods for characterizing the behavior of subsystems and component-component interactions as well. For this topic, it can be assumed that components within these system architectures are networked in a computational ontology. Components can participate in multiple domain ontologies (i.e. thermal, electrical), have many relationships including spatial (i.e. zone, compartment), and participate in one or more upper boundary ontologies (i.e. mission effectiveness). The upper boundary ontology could be characterized by statistical emulation. It can be assumed that system components are characterized by static and quasi-static properties and state dependent surrogate behaviors. They can represent a single physical component (i.e. Battery), an assembly of components acting as a single entity (i.e. gas turbine generator set, energy magazine), or an aggregation of components (lumped elements) of common type but unknown physical or connectivity characterization (i.e. hotel loads, firemain loads). The interfacing of different numerical methods for different connected components is an area of needed research. These methods should include scaling parameters for components having different size or capacity. 

PHASE I: During the Base period, the company will research, document, numerical methods for statistical emulators needed to quantify operational mission loads. Numerical methods for use by operational emulators will be based on a single notional tactical situation with time variant events and operations. These events and operations produce different mission load scenarios. During the Option period, if exercised, the company will research, document, and demonstrate numerical methods for ship component and system performance characterization. The company will define, design, and document the association between numerical methods and their relationship with existing and standardized Navy surface ship ontologies. These Navy standard ontologies are formalized in the Formal Object Classification for Understanding Ships (FOCUS) which is an object ontology based on Leading Edge Architecture for Prototyping Systems (LEAPS) classes. See Reference for access to LEAPS and FOCUS (Distribution A). The contractor shall discuss with the contracting officers representative (COR) a case study to work in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of the Phase I effort, develop a software prototype for evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in Phase II Statement of Work (SOW) and the Navys need for improved concept designs incorporating CPES systems. Design, develop, and deliver the prototype so that it is compatible with existing early stage ship design software products used by the Navy. Compatibility is implied as compatible with LEAPS classes and FOCUS ontology. Other relevant early stage tools that are LEAPS based include Advanced Surface and Submarine Evaluation Tool (ASSET) and Smart Ship System Design (S3D). These tools can be made available if desired but may have distribution restrictions. (Distribution D, ITAR restricted). 

PHASE III: Apply the knowledge gained in Phase II to develop a software Systems Module, with a software architecture that complies with Navy standards and practices (LEAPS and FOCUS) suitable for use with the Navys early stage design software ASSET and S3D. This software product will be developed with sufficient flexibility needed to support system design and analysis of systems containing future Navy technologies and/or commercial applications of other complex systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Leading Edge Architecture for Prototyping Systems (LEAPS), Formal Object Classification for Understanding Ships (FOCUS) Ontology; Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (contact leaps.nswccd.fct@navy.mil)

2. Koziel, S. and Leifsson, L., 2013, Surrogate-Based Modeling and Optimization: Applications in Engineering, ISBN 978-1-4614-7551-4, http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781461475507

KEYWORDS: Surrogate Math Models, Ontology, Pulse Load, Weapon Systems, Power Electronics, Ship Systems, Early Stage Platform Design 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a multi-functional material system or component of minimal thickness to protect components from the extreme magnetic fields generated during acceleration of a launch package from an electromagnetic launcher. Adequate compressive strength (100-300 KPSI) and minimal weight and volume should be considered. 

DESCRIPTION: Acceleration of a launch package from an electromagnetic launcher requires generation of high magnetic fields which creates the challenge of protecting components within the launch package from damage due to these fields. ONR seeks an innovative solution for a multi-functional material system or component in the shape of a disk that is approximately 3 to 5 inches in diameter with minimal thickness and minimal mass and that can minimize or shield elements on one side of the disk from magnetic fields existing on the other side ranging from 1 to 10 Tesla with milliseconds of duration. The proposed material should also have a compressive strength ranging from 100 to 300 KPSI. The proposed solution will balance effective magnetic field shielding with weight, strength, and volume considerations. Proposed solutions may include, but are not limited to, high magnetic permeability material systems and conductive layers to control magnetic diffusion. 

PHASE I: Define and develop a concept for a multi-functional material system or component of minimal thickness to protect components from the extreme magnetic fields generated during acceleration of a launch package from an electromagnetic launcher. Adequate compressive strength and minimal weight and volume should be considered. Perform analysis to provide initial assessment of concept performance. Develop key component technological milestones. Phase I Option, if awarded, would include the initial concept design and capabilities description to fabricate sample prototype hardware in Phase II. Production of initial material samples for purposes of validating concept feasibility may also be considered as part of the Phase I option. 

PHASE II: Development of intermediate and final prototype's based on Phase I work for demonstration and validation. Prototype units should be delivered to the government for performance evaluation in a relevant environment. 

PHASE III: Integrate the Phase II developed solution into the launch packages associated with the ONR Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) and Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) Future Naval Capability (FNC) efforts for transition to the PEO IWS Hypervelocity Gun Weapons programs. The technologies developed under this topic can be applied to shielding of components in the high-power electronics industry and medical equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 

REFERENCES: 

1. Navy Railgun Program Fact Sheet http://www.onr.navy.mil/Media-Center/Fact-Sheets/Electromagnetic-Railgun.aspx

2. A. Keshtkar, A. Maghoul and A. Kalantarnia, "Magnetic Shield Effectiveness in Low Frequency", International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 4, August 2011

KEYWORDS: Magnetic; Shielding; Railgun; Electromagnetic; Launcher; Advanced Materials; Composite; High Magnetic Permeability; Conductive Layers; Magnetic Diffusion; Low Frequency Magnetic Shielding 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a computational model and a platform that can identify and resolve inefficiencies in large hierarchical organizations using crowdsourcing techniques. 

DESCRIPTION: Identifying organizational inefficiencies and finding methods to resolve them has been widely examined both in theory and practice. The problem becomes especially challenging in large organizations due to their hierarchical structure and complex reporting rules. In general, this problem is addressed by organizations whose sole purpose is to solve inefficiencies of other organizations, such as various consulting firms. While these firms can bring important expertise and impartial assessment, they generally have limited access to all the relevant information and thus can only partially address the underlying problems. Most importantly, they provide a one-time solution as opposed to continuous monitoring and assessment. An alternative way to identify organizational inefficiencies is to utilize internal resources “ i.e., integrate inputs from its members. For example, if an organization is experiencing high attrition rates, it might be due to behavioral and inter- personal problems, such as poor interaction among some personnel, or lack of qualification, or lack of leadership. However, it can also be due to structural and organizational problems such as inefficient reporting rules, unreasonable targets, outdated tools and equipment, etc. In many cases, it is due to both structural and behavioral factors. Information that is relevant to addressing these factors often resides within different functional units and different organizational layers. However, how to exactly integrate such information and make optimal decisions is still not clear. Some of the challenges include: a) how to balance members preferences and interests with organizational interests; b) how to balance short and long-term benefits; c) how to incentivize members to participate in assessment on a continual basis; d) how to insure that members do not fear retaliation if they provide negative feedback and to guard against malicious or incompetent feedback; e) and how to preserve anonymity and open exchange of views while enforcing accountability. Recent advances in crowdsourcing can provide some guidance. For example, it has been shown that crowdsourcing can be used not only for solving simple problems, such as those that do not require coordination, but also for solving complex problems, such as protein folding [1,2,3]. Significant advances have been made in the area of collective decision making and powerful algorithms for robust aggregation of different preferences have been developed [4]. New models for peer assessment and incentivizing participation [5] have been designed, and novel argumentation techniques have been proposed to improve crowdsourcing accuracy [6]. Taken together, these advances provide a solid starting point for developing a platform for improving organizational inefficiencies. However, many challenges still remain, namely that crowdsourcing has never been used within hierarchical structures. Hence, extending crowdsourcing methods to complex organizational structures is one of the main goals of this topic. Such methods will be implemented within a platform that will serve the role of an online interface for communication among the organizational members. The platform will integrate inputs from the members and output a solution or a ranked list of possible solutions for a specific problem that members are addressing. 

PHASE I: Develop the algorithm for identifying and resolving organizational inefficiencies by integrating inputs from organization members. Determine the types of organizational structures (e.g. commercial, government, or military) for which the algorithm is appropriate. Demonstrate that the algorithm will be operational within complex and hierarchical organizations. Develop methods for peer-based assessment of: a) individual performance and b) organizational performance (e.g. teams and divisions). Propose methods for deliberation and argumentation, collaborative problem solving, and collective decision making. During the Phase I option, if exercised, design the platform for algorithm implementation. Design experiments, and approaches that will be used for testing the platform. Identify organizations that will be used for deploying the platform; design metrics for platform evaluation and validation in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Develop a prototype platform and demonstrate the operation of the platform within a real organization. Based on the effort performed in Phase I conduct experiments and demonstrate the operation of the developed algorithm(s). Perform detailed testing and evaluation of the algorithm(s). Establish performance limitations of the platform through experiments. Based on experimental results, further develop and improve the algorithms and the platform. 

PHASE III: The functional algorithm(s) should be developed with performance parameters. Finalize the design from Phase II, perform relevant testing and transition the technology to appropriate Navy and commercial entities. This technology will address the problem of identifying and resolving inefficiencies in large organizations. As such, it is expected that the technology will be transferred to all the commercial organizations that aim to improve their performance and efficiency. 

REFERENCES: 

1. GA Khoury, A Liwo, F Khatib, H Zhou, G Chopra. WeFold: A coopetition for protein structure prediction, Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 2014.

2. A. Woolley and C. Riedl, Teams vs. Crowds: A Field Test of the Relative Contribution of Incentives, Member Ability, and Collaboration to Crowd-Based Problem Solving Performance Academy of Management Discoveries, 2017. https://christophriedl.files.wor

3. J. Kim, S. Sterman, A.A.B. Cohen, and M. Bernstein, Mechanical Novel: Crowdsourcing Complex Work through Reflection and Revision, ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, 2017.

4. A. Procaccia and N. Shah. Optimal Aggregation of Uncertain Preferences, AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2016.

5. Y. Xiao, F Dorfler, and M. van der Schaar, Incentive Design in Peer Review: Rating and Repeated Endogenous Matching, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, 2016.

6. R. Drapeau, L.B. Chilton, J. Bragg, D.S. Weld, MicroTalk: Using Argumentation to Improve Crowdsourcing Accuracy, Fourth AAAI Conference on Human Computation and Crowdsourcing, AAAI Press, 2016.

KEYWORDS: Crowdsourcing; Organizational Inefficiencies; Hierarchical Structures; Collective Decision Making; Problem Solving; Peer Assessment And Evaluation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Apply adaptive training concepts to tailor physical fitness training in order to increase physical fitness and readiness. 

DESCRIPTION: Advances with wearable technologies (e.g. heart rate monitors, sweat sensors, etc.) allow individuals the ability to capture a variety of measures related to physical fitness (Chambers et al., 2015; Heikenfeld, 2014). While the accuracy and reliability of these wearable techniques is a known concern, there is the potential for these tools to provide a greater insight into the impact of physical training. Aside from general feedback, the data captured is not fully exploited, and often requires technical expertise to understand and utilize the results. Currently, many physical fitness programs have a one-size-fits-all approach, though the trainees' bodies and abilities can vary greatly. Training in this way is not ideal for efficiency or effectiveness, as it does not tailor requirements to the individual to ensure they get the training they actually need based on their strengths and weaknesses. Strength and conditioning programs directed by technical experts can improve physical fitness, but is manpower intensive and costly with availability restrictions, and benefits vary across individuals (Bouchard and Rankinen, 2001). Computer-based adaptive training techniques have been used to bridge the gap between one-size-fits-all training and human tutors/teachers for training military knowledge and skills (McCarthy, 2008). Adaptive systems have been shown to be more effective and efficient when compared to traditional one-size-fits-all methods (Landsberg, Astwood, Van Buskirk, Townsend, & Steinhauser, 2012). Adaptive training has not been implemented in physical fitness programs for the military, but this approach could be applied to improve both quality and efficiency of training to ensure each warfighter is getting the training they need. This effort aims to leverage wearable technologies and fully exploit the data captured by applying adaptive training principles to physical fitness training. Advances with wearable technologies allow individuals the ability to capture a variety of physical performance metrics to diagnose strengths and weaknesses. Although wearable technologies are rapidly emerging, substantial hurdles remain relative to their utility in injury mitigation, training optimization protocols, and health maintenance. By applying adaptive training methods to the data, we can fully exploit the data provided by wearable technologies and provide training recommendations of value to the end user. These benefits could result in large decreases to dollars spent in training and in injury treatment. 

PHASE I: Develop initial prototype or mockups and conceptual model to support individual and unit adaptive physical fitness training. The initial prototype or mockups must exploit commercial wearable sensor market (i.e. existing hardware) to address software gap in actionable, tailorable, and adaptive physical training recommendations (i.e. exercise activities) and dashboards for an individual and unit “ 140 people or less. The conceptual model must include: (1) explanations as to what wearable technology will be utilized and how it will be integrated into the overall system; (2) an explanation of how the methodology is novel; (3) a defined physical training approach (tasks should be similar in nature to Marine infantry tasks) and specific data that will determine adaptations to the training; (4) new adaptive techniques and approaches focused on physical training; (5) software or mockups for a recommendations system to support the micro and macros adaptations of physical training. Required Phase I deliverables shall include a (1) Conceptual Model, (2) Functional Prototype(s), or Mockups (3) Final Report, and (4) Phase II Plan. The Final Report shall document the Conceptual Model and Prototype(s) or Mockups using evidence-based rationale, based on credible science, technology, engineering, and or math premises/paradigms, supporting the Conceptual Model and Functional Prototype(s) architecture, performance, effectiveness, and risks. The Phase II Plan shall build on the Phase I accomplishments and enumerate Key Performance Areas (KPAs) necessary to overcome risks, deficits, and/or emergent challenges to the adaptive fitness training system that were discovered as an outcome of the Phase I process as well as other low-risk propositions that may improve the original conceptual model. The capabilities of the Functional Prototype or Mockups shall be presented in a contextual proof-of-concept demonstration. Phase I Option, if awarded, shall include the processing and submission of all required human subjects use protocols, if required. Due to long review times involved, human subject research is strongly discouraged during Phase I base. 

PHASE II: Develop an operational prototype extending the Phase I effort and conduct a transfer-of-training (TOT) validation study supported by objective measures. Identify a relevant, near-term training need as a use case for initial system development and testing. Conduct all appropriate engineering tests and reviews, including a critical design review to finalize the system design. Once system design has been finalized then an evaluation of data acquisition, processing, and analysis will be conducted with a Marine Corps population. Phase II deliverables will include: (1) an operational prototype that satisfies the data acquisition, processing, and analysis capability specifications, (2) training protocol(s) aligned with and stressing data acquisition, processing, and analysis capabilities, (3) system design review, (4) training effectiveness methodology review, and (5) final report to include results of the training effectiveness evaluation. 

PHASE III: The contractor will support transitioning the technology for Marine Corps use including assisting with certifying and qualifying the technology. As appropriate, the small business will focus on broadening capabilities. The innovation shall be amenable to commercial applications such as law enforcement, fire-fighting, emergency-responding, and other domains where not only physically demanding tasks are critical to job performance/safety and measured on a group basis but also where adaptive physical training would be economical and instrumental to performance improvement and injury/risk mitigation. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Bouchard, C., & Rankinen, T. (2001). Individual differences in response to regular physical activity. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 33 (6 Suppl), S446-51.

2. Chambers R, Gabbett TJ, Cole MH, et al. The Use of Wearable Microsensors to Quantify Sport-Specific Movements. Sports Med 2015; 45:1065“81.

3. Heikenfeld, J. (2014). Let them see you sweat. IEEE Spectrum, 51(11), 46-63.

4. Landsberg, C. R., Mercado, A. D., Van Buskirk, W. L., Lineberry, M., & Steinhauser, N. (2012, September). Evaluation of an adaptive training system for submarine periscope operations. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual me

5. McCarthy, J. E. (2008). Military applications of adaptive training technology. In M.D. Lytras, D. Gasevic, P. Ordonez de Pablos, & W. Huang (Eds.), Technology Enhanced Learning: Best Practices, 304-347.

KEYWORDS: Adaptive Training; Wearable Technology; Biometrics; Physical Conditioning; Injury Prevention; Physical Fitness; Diagnostic Training 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: With the Marine Corps acquisition of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1, there is a need to move the vehicles from ship to shore at higher speeds and greater ranges than can be provided by the vehicle itself. The goal is to develop a low cost detachable vehicle augmentation system, referred to as a sled, to provide the ACV with improved range and speed as it moves from ship to shore. 

DESCRIPTION: The ACV 1.1 is an armored personnel carrier that is balanced between performance, protection, and payload for employment within the Ground Combat Element (GCE) and throughout the range of military operations, to include a swim capability. While the ACV 1.1 design has not been finalized, the approximate gross vehicle weight is 65,000 pounds with approximate dimensions of 30 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 9 feet high. Amphibious vehicles operate on the leading edge of an assault and in austere environments where logistics support is limited. Due to the limitations of the ACV 1.1 in open water, it will not be able to transit long ranges at high speeds as desired by the USMC. In order to make these high speed long range transits, the ACV could be carried on a connector such as a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) or Landing Craft Utility (LCU). LCACs and LCUs are expensive platforms that use significant amounts of fuel, are limited in quantity to the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and do not provide the organic survivability to be used as an initial assault in a contested environment. An autonomous sled may provide a low cost solution to provide maneuver options for an ACV. The ONR is interested in novel and innovative concepts that provide extended range and increased water speed while minimizing impacts to shipboard storage. The Navy's amphibious ship fleet is limited in well deck space that can be made available to store the ACV sleds. In order to not displace connectors or other vehicles in the well deck of amphibious ships, the ONR is interested in solutions that do not require long term berthing in a well deck during transit. This may include modular, transformable, or inflatable structures that can be stored and/or stacked at reduced footprints in other spaces aboard amphibious ships or other platforms that do not have a well deck. In addition to the storage considerations, the sled should: - Autonomously navigate back to the sea base after unloading the ACV at or near the shoreline but allow manual control by the ACV when loaded - Mate up with the ACV safely with no external manned interaction - Safely release the ACV in deep water or when beached - Transit at high speeds (25+ knots) with the ACV loaded in a manner that provides a safe and comfortable ride for the Marines in the ACV - Have the endurance to conduct a minimum 130 NM round trip transit (65 NM under control of the ACV and 65 NM operating autonomously without an ACV) - Operate in Sea State 3 at a minimum, with Sea State 4 desired 

PHASE I: The company will define and develop a concept for a sled that could carry an ACV for transit from ship to shore. The company will prove the feasibility of their concept through modeling and simulation, technology exploration, and operational analysis of their innovative approach to the ACV sled. The analysis will demonstrate how the concept will meet the challenges described in the description above. In the option period, the company will provide a preliminary sled design to include general arrangements, weight estimates, resistance estimates, propulsion design, and sea-keeping performance. The company will also provide performance objectives that include maximum and transit speed, fuel efficiency and capacity, range, and cargo capacity based on the operational analysis. At the end of Phase I option, the company should have evaluated a range of innovative solutions to the ACV sled design and proved both the concept feasibility and operational value to the USMC. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of the Phase I effort, the company will develop a detailed design of the sled. The company will use computational fluid dynamics tools to assess the hydrodynamic performance and evaluate propulsion, drag reduction, and other technologies as necessary to meet the performance objectives established in Phase I. Once the concept design is finalized, a scale model will be manufactured for tank testing to validate the modeling and simulation and to refine the design. The government will provide access to a test facility and personnel to execute the testing. The company will perform iterative testing and analysis to improve the design and overall sled performance. A key aspect of Phase II will be identifying low cost approaches to the sled design to reduce unit cost while still meeting the performance objectives and storage constraints. In this Phase, the company will also address how to control and maneuver the vehicle both while the ACV is attached and while the sled is operating autonomously. This will include determining how to attach and detach the ACV in relevant operational environments with minimal or no manned interaction. 

PHASE III: The company will apply the knowledge in Phase II to build a full scale advanced technology demonstrator. Working with the Navy, USMC, and applicable industry partners, the company will demonstrate the ACV sled meets the performance objectives defined in Phase I. The company will deliver a full-scale prototype to the Navy for test and evaluation with an ACV. The product will include the autonomy sensors and processing to provide ship-to-shore and return-to-base maneuvers at the desired speed and ranges. The company will support demonstration of the sled in an operationally relevant environment for transition to an acquisition program of record. Private Sector Commercial Potential: In addition to moving ACV, the sled has potential to move cargo, personnel, and other vehicles at sea at high speed and long ranges for a variety of government agencies, departments, or private shipping companies. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Focus Area Forum: Expeditionary and Irregular Warfare: Amphibious High-Water Speed Challenge; https://www.onr.navy.mil/Conference-Event-ONR/archived-events/Focus-Area-Forum/focus-area-forum-high-water-speed-challenge.aspx

2. Expeditionary Force 21; DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS; 4 March 2014; http://www.mccdc.marines.mil/Portals/172/Docs/MCCDC/EF21/EF21_USMC_Capstone_Concept.pdf

3. The Marine Corps Operating Concept: How an Expeditionary Force Operates in the 21st Century; DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS; Sept 2016; http://www.mcwl.marines.mil/Portals/34/Images/MarineCorpsOperatingConceptSept2016.p

KEYWORDS: ACV: Amphibious Combat Vehicle: Autonomy: Amphibious: Connector: Sled: Hydrodynamics: 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground Sea 

OBJECTIVE: Develop technologies to improve the acoustics performance of abrasive blasting nozzles for paint and surface coatings removal. The objective is to investigate the noise generation mechanisms of abrasive blasting operations and develop a quiet, effective and efficient nozzle. This development is to optimize the acoustics and productivity performance of blasting nozzles and demonstrate a goal of at least 20 dB(A) noise reduction and 20% nozzle efficiency improvement. 

DESCRIPTION: Abrasive blasting nozzle design is rudimentary. Designs techniques have not utilized significant developments in computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling, particularly in jet nozzle development. Current hearing protection is inadequate at higher noise levels and are not compatible with protective hoods and respirators nor provide communications. Noise levels produced during abrasive blasting operations in shipyards, maintenance facilities, and factories for removing paint and surface coatings are high. Noise levels at the air discharge from an abrasive blaster can be as high as 119 dB(A) (reference 1). Exposure of personnel to these levels, even with hearing protection, substantially increases the risk of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Hazardous noise exposure may be mitigated through administrative controls such as limiting an individuals exposure time, use of hearing protection and engineering controls. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires elimination and or reduction of an acoustic hazard through engineering controls prior to implementing administrative controls or relying on personal protective hearing protection. Over the past decade, a large number of hearing loss claims (civilian) have been filed and millions of dollars have been compensated to workers due to NIHL. Reducing a workers occupational noise exposure is imperative from a safety and economics perspectives. The noise generation mechanisms of abrasive blasting nozzles are very similar to aircraft jet engines and rocket engines. Among the blasting nozzles and propulsion systems, jet exhaust noise is the primary source of noise. Jet exhaust noise is aerodynamically generated sound which typically consists of two dominant components: turbulent mixing, and broadband shock associated noise. A review of the turbulent mixing and shock associated noise has been presented by Tam et al. (reference 3). With abrasive blasting, the jet impingement introduces a third noise source. Jet impingement noise is the most significant component. Analysis and modeling of blasting nozzle noise include analytical, numerical, and semi-empirical methods. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling has been used to analyze and optimize flow parameters to minimize acoustical energy in jet engines and ship gas turbines. This technique is applicable to minimize acoustic energy in blasting nozzles while maintaining the effectiveness of the blasting operation. Besides noise, productivity and efficiency of the abrasive blasting nozzles are of great interest and concern to the blasting nozzle user community. Productivity or work output of the nozzle is usually expressed as area per unit time cleaned by abrasive blasting. Efficiency of the nozzle is quantified by the kinetic energy flux of the airflow and blasting particle stream at the nozzle exit. A brief review of the development of blasting nozzles, and discussion of how to improve productivity of the nozzle is given by Settles (reference 4). The measure for success of this topic is quantified by the acoustics and productivity performance of the abrasive blasting nozzle. The goal is to achieve a noise reduction of at least 20 dB(A) relative to the conventional nozzle with a nozzle efficiency (in terms of kinetic energy flux) of at least 20%. 

PHASE I: Determine technical feasibility and develop concept nozzle designs for a quiet and effective abrasive blasting nozzle for refurbishment operations including paint and surface coatings removal. Conduct analysis, modeling and simulation, and/or demonstrations in the laboratory to provide initial design concept of approach. The goal is to achieve at least 20 dB(A) noise reduction relative to conventional nozzles and at least 20% nozzle efficiency based on kinetic energy flux. 

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the small business will further develop and demonstrate the quiet and effective abrasive blasting nozzle prototype hardware. At the conclusion of Phase II, the small business will deliver an abrasive blasting nozzle that can be used for paint and surface coating removal. prototype will exceed the stated minimum performance goals through demonstration, be robust with respect to variations in nozzle operating conditions (e.g. nozzle back pressure, particle grit, throat wear, etc.) while simultaneously remaining ergonomic to the end user. Designed nozzles will be compatible with existing commercial abrasive blasting systems (reference 6). Performance should be demonstrated in an industrial environment to the greatest extent possible. Prototype nozzles will be provided for independent evaluation(s). 

PHASE III: The matured and developed abrasive blasting nozzle will be transitioned into the program of record for PEO Ships, and other Navy Program Executive Officers and DoD components. Commercial/industrial applications, such as paint and surface coatings removal and refurbishment, for shipyards, maintenance facilities, factories, manufacturers, bridges, buildings and civil structures (such as hydro-electric plants, dam spill gates), etc. will also be considered and implemented. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Abrasive Blasting Hazards in Shipyard Employment. https://www.osha.gov/dts/maritime/standards/guidance/shipyard_guidance.html#ref10

2. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Prevention and Control. https://www.osha.gov/shpguidelines/hazard-prevention.html

3. Tam, C.K.W., Chen, P. (1993). Turbulent Mixing Noise from Supersonic Jets. AIAA Journal.

4. Settles, G.S., Garg, S. (March 1996). A Scientific View of the Productivity of Abrasive Blasting Nozzles. Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, Vol. 5 (1).

5. Löhner, R. (2008). Applied CFD Techniques, J. Wiley & Sons.

6. A Guide to Blasting Nozzle Selection. http://www.hironsmemorials.com/Blast_Nozzles_Selection_Guide.pdf"

KEYWORDS: Abrasive Blasting Nozzle; Supersonic Jet Nozzle; Paint And Surface Coatings Removal; Turbulent Mixing Noise; Supersonic Shock Noise; Jet Impingement; Productivity Of Blasting Nozzle 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop, design, and build an affordable, compact HPRF pulse shaping device or switch that can operate at L and S band frequencies from 1 to 4 gigahertz (GHz) and handle up to 8 megawatts (MW) of power. The solution should provide the unique capability to shape a square pulse envelope of 10 nanoseconds (ns) for both rise and fall times and vary pulse widths from 10 ns to 2.5 microseconds (µs). The final product must provide a high degree of flexibility in the pulse shape and the ability to support high (1 kHz) pulse repetition rates. 

DESCRIPTION: Advances in HPRF source technology are constantly pushing to explore and utilize new areas of the Radio Frequency (RF) waveform space. This push creates challenges for testing and the test systems used to conduct lethality and counter-electronics testing. The current approach of building new RF sources and modulators that can only investigate discrete portions of the waveform space is primarily driven by technology limitations, but this is an inefficient methodology, especially in the present fiscally constrained environment. Each source typically has limited flexibility, so a suite of sources is required to fully explore the parameter space. This also requires either a complex modulator or specialized modulators for each source. The HPRF waveform space of interest for this topic includes pulse widths of 10 “ 2500 ns, narrowband frequencies from 1“ 4 GHz, and pulse repetition frequencies from 1-1,000 Hz. Waveguide triggered plasma switches have been previously developed with limited slow closing times or at low power. It has been previously documented that a guided microwave pulse can be reflected with the use of a unipolar high voltage pulse triggered spark gap built into the structure of a waveguide to achieve 50 ns rise times sped up from 1 µs. Current state-of-the-art microwave switches have been demonstrated, but have not explored faster closing times (10s of ns) and rep-rate conditions. The benefit of using a fast plasma switch is that it allows for continuous pulse width agility without having to change or use a different HPRF source and modulator. Switch development utilizing pulse breakdown studies and benchmark code will help create a pulse shaper that can target multiple frequencies and power levels. The end goal of this topic is to produce an affordable ($10s of thousands vs. $1M for a collection of multiple sources covering the same range), compact (<50lbs and <.5m3 device or switch capable of multi megawatt power levels and closing times of tens of nanoseconds The device will significantly reduce the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) of needing complex or multiple modulators to produce the necessary HPRF envelopes as in historical systems such as ORION1). The system should be immune to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) from the generated RF environment and have as minimal as possible SWaP footprint and can easily be integrated into existing Navy test systems, such as Radio-Frequency Vehicle Stopper (RFVS)2, with minimal modifications to power and control systems. A suggested technology to evaluate is the waveguide switch approach; however, any novel technology that can achieve the outlined parameters is acceptable. Whatever technology or topology chosen, electromagnetic and circuit modeling and simulation of the design should be conducted (i.e. 3D modeling of microwave behavior with CST) and results leading to the final design(s) should be documented and provided in the Phase I final report along with a data package on all proposed critical components in the final system design. 

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of bipolar HPRF waveform shaping, timing, and phase control. Develop approaches for precise triggering of the high voltage device or switch, pulsed power unit and trigger generator requirements. Determine a methodology for achieving the precision required for this application and other applications where phase control would be required. Examine alternatives to gas spark gap switches with solid state or novel materials and architectures. Develop approaches to increase efficiency while also increasing the reliability and lifetime to levels sufficient for use in counter-electronics testing and potentially, in weapon systems. The lifetime and reliability requirements have not been fully developed yet, but are anticipated to be on the order of 100,000 shots or more (before refurbishment required) and reliabilities on the order of 95%. Perform modeling and simulation to provide initial assessment of the device or switching efficiency, performance of the concept, and tradeoffs between efficiency, waveform flexibility and lifetime/reliability. The design should establish realizable technological solutions for a device capable of achieving the desired switching speed and resulting RF waveform flexibility. The proposed design should be an 80% complete solution and include all sub-systems necessary for this innovative HPRF pulse shaping solution. The objective of this first phase is a conceptual design, analysis and simulation of an L band device capable of operating up to 4 MW with pulse widths between 10-1000 ns at repetition rates of 100 Hz, with a clearly defined path outlined for improved performance. Cost analysis and material development should be assessed to determine critical shortfalls in readily available current technology. Specifically, the amount of infrastructure needed, such as modulators and RF sources to provide the necessary HPRF profile range described. The design and modeling results of Phase I should lead to plans to build a prototype unit in Phase II. 

PHASE II: Following the conceptual design and modeling in Phase I, the Phase II efforts will focus on establishing the performance parameters of the HPRF pulse shaping solution through experimentation and prototype refinement. In this phase a HPRF pulse shaping solution will be constructed and demonstrated. The prototype will be capable of operating in an outdoor, open air environment, across a range of temperature and humidity variations. The unit will need to demonstrate efficient and reliable operation with a conventional magnetron source driver and compare the efficiency to the predicted performance from Phase I. Based on the prior modeling of waveform control, experimental verification of the waveform flexibility will also need to be demonstrated. The objective of this second phase is development of L and S band devices capable of operating in excess of 8 MW with pulse widths between 10-2500 ns at repetition rates of 1kHz. Phase II will involve the design refinement, procurement, integration, assembly, and testing of a proof of concept prototype leveraging the Phase I design and simulation. The use of actual hardware and empirical data collection is expected for this analysis. 

PHASE III: The performer will apply the knowledge gained during Phase I and II to build and demonstrate a full scale functional final design that will include all system elements and represent a complete solution. The focus of the final phase is the demonstration of phase control and precision timing to control the RF waveform in terms of rise time, fall time, pulse width and overall envelope. The waveform envelope should be capable of variation from the standard square pulse to different sinusoidal envelopes with a wide range of amplitude variation. Design consideration on how to additionally meet 15 MW and 10kHz operations goals should also be assessed and reported. The efficiency (threshold of 70%, objective of 90%), limited reflection (<1%) back to the originating RF source, and system reliability should be demonstrated, along with ease of control to reduce setup and operation time during HPRF lethality testing. Set-up and testing time can be greatly reduced by the amount of infrastructure, hardware, and required personnel by the arbitrary waveform the HPRF pulse shaping solution will provide. The goal will be to use the final system to provide an HPRF shaping device or switch able to handle the previously defined parameter space. The device will be used with existing suites of magnetron sources at various Warfare Centers and/or Navy Labs for generalized RF Directed Energy Weapons effects research to inform non-kinetic strike weapons capability and non-lethal vehicle/vessel stopping. There are a wide variety of potential commercial applications for this type of technology, ranging from (EMI) testing of vehicles, airplanes, and/or other commercial systems such as high power communications and aircraft surveillance radar used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

REFERENCES: 

1. Spark, S. N., et al. The high power microwave facility: Orion. Pulsed Power 2001 (Ref. No. 2001/156), IEEE Symposium. IET, 2001.

2. Merryman, Stephen A. Multifrequency Radio-Frequency (RF) Vehicle Stopper. NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER DAHLGREN DIV VA, 2012. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA559055

3. J. Foster, G. Edmiston, M. Thomas, and A. Neuber, High power microwave switching utilizing a waveguide spark gap, Review of Scientific Instruments 79 (2008).

4. J. Benford, J. Swegle, E. Schamiloglu High Power Microwaves, Third Edition, CRC Press, New York (2015).

5. O. A. Ivanov, V. A. Isaev, M. A. Lobaev, A. L. Vikharev, and J. L. Hirshfield, A resonance switch employing an explosive-emission cathode for high-power RF pulse compressors, Applied Physics Letters 97 (2010).

6. S. Beeson, J. Dickens, A. Neuber, A high power microwave triggered RF opening switch, Review of Scientific Instruments 86 (2015)."

KEYWORDS: High Power Radio Frequency; High Power Microwave; Directed Energy Weapons; High Voltage; Microwave Switching; Waveguide; HPM; HPRF; DEW 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Define and develop a software-based solution the U.S. Navy to validate the existence and security posture of government-purpose mobile apps that use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) into mobile device applications would employ differing categories (knowledge, possession, and inherence) in concert to authenticate users relying on varying infrastructure to ensure continuity of service during single (ideally multiple) points of failure. 

DESCRIPTION: One of the Navys greatest Information Technology (IT) challenges involves providing an efficient, effective, and trusted means to authenticate users of its myriad electronic systems. The de facto Personal Identity Verification (PIV) standard (Common Access Card, CAC) has helped homogenize authentication schemes the wider DoD uses, but that introduces its own challenges in the mobile computing space and its sunset is eminent. Legacy alternatives to authentication utilizing only a single factor such as assigned user names and user-generated passwords cost the Navy dearly. IT resources spent on forgotten passwords and mandatory password changes eat up thousands of call center hours per year. Data breaches are the natural consequence of centrally hosting thousands of user credentials. All of this takes its toll on the end users as well, reducing efficiency of use, confidence in Navy IT practices, and ultimately satisfaction with Navy systems. The Navy needs a flexible, efficient, trusted, and user-friendly authentication solution that consumes fewer IT resources and brings more satisfaction to the Sailors and the wider Navy community. MFA solutions are employed widely in the civilian IT space. These solutions have allowed the civilian industry to achieve maximum participation, promote ease-of-use for the end-user, and minimize expensive tech support resource utilization. The Navy is looking to replicate the success seen there. The Navy desires MFA solutions that are coherent, tested, robust, and easy-to-integrate into new and legacy mobile solutions. Services providing MFA must be trusted and flexible enough to meet the security and reliability needs of the fleet and wider Navy community. The accreditation model produced for this topic should ensure any MFA solution under consideration is composed of, at a minimum, two of the following authentication factors: Knowledge “ something the user knows (e.g. password, Personal Identification Number, PIN) Possession “ something the user has (e.g. PIV card, smart chip) Inherence “ a characteristic the user cannot change (i.e. biometrics) The accreditation model should evaluate MFA solutions with respect to the containment of authentication tokens they produce, specifically methods of: Identity Proofing and Registration Token Storage (token and credential management mechanisms used to establish and maintain token and credential information) Token Passing (assertion mechanisms used to communicate the results of a remote authentication if these results are sent to other parties) The accreditation model should also ensure MFA solutions under consideration by the Navy contain a variety of delivery methods (network infrastructure, protocols, etc.) for these factors. Reliance on a single delivery mechanism (e.g. only using Short Message Service, SMS) or even two pathways presents an infrastructure risk to any authentication system. If the single delivery method goes down, users will be unable to authenticate, disrupting service entirely, even if the infrastructure serving the content and business services remains up. Continuity of authentication support can only be guaranteed if the various factors comprised in the MFA solution use more than one method of delivery (e.g. using TCP to transmit the username and password while SMS delivers a one-time password (OTP) to the users mobile phone). The processes and standards should evaluate MFA solutions based upon criterion established in DoD guidance documents and any other industry best practices found to be relevant to MFA. To increase the chances of Navy Approval Authority acceptance, the accreditation model should borrow heavily from existing, relevant standards established by the DoD which provide a decent baseline, but leave much work to be done, especially vis-Ã-vis mobile authentication solutions. The Navy has encountered several challenges in establishing the procedures and standards solicited in this topic. Innovative small business engineers and experts may fair better, but would do well to keep in mind some of the challenges inherent in this task: MFA is fast-changing technical landscape with new, competing solutions emerging, each with their own well-advertised strengths and often-overlooked flaws Its difficult for regulations to maintain pace with innovation in the marketplace MFA solutions involve a variety of sensors, protocols, encryption methods, and data formats, making the process to certify and accredit these solutions multifaceted and quite technical 

PHASE I: Research, analyze, and define a draft set of standards by which MFA solutions will be evaluated and accredited by Navy Approving Official (NAO). PMW 240 will provide a relevant set of use cases with varying attributes for consideration including personally owned and personally enabled, personally owned corporately enabled (Mobile application management), and corporately owned corporately enabled (GFE devices). These use cases also include considerations for personal controlled unclassified information vs corporate controlled unclassified information (more than personal) and general requirements to drive research and tailor the final standards. The hub of these procedures and standards will be a questionnaire for MFA solution providers to fill out when soliciting the Navy for business. A competent Navy Approval Authority should notionally vet these standards for clarity, concision, and applicability to the Navys needs. PMW 240 will coordinate with the NAO as appropriate. PMW 240 will provide a relevant set of use cases with varying attributes for consideration including personally owned and personally enabled, personally owned corporately enabled (Mobile application management), and corporately owned corporately enabled (GFE devices). These use cases also include considerations for personal controlled unclassified information vs corporate controlled unclassified information (more than personal). Specifics to the software solution, such as platform compatibility and code base, will be provided to the small business during this phase. 

PHASE II: Based on the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the small business will develop the software solution designed in Phase I. The small business will develop two mobile apps for sailors to view their personnel record information on Android and iOS mobile operating systems. They will use the developed software validation tool to execute the validation process end to end against the two mobile apps. Performance of these objectives will be evaluated by PMW 240 and the Navys designated approval authority overseeing the certification and accreditation process. 

PHASE III: The small business will deploy and manage the software solution developed in Phase II to the Navy IT community, overseen by PEO EIS. The Phase III SOW will specify the Navy IT organizations the company will collaborate with and describe in detail expectations for validating mobile applications in the future. PMW 240 is assisting PEO EIS with establishing the Navy Mobile Center of Excellence. This includes the hosting of the Navy mobile app locker and defining the process and standards for development and deployment of Navy approved mobile apps. This capability will greatly assist the cyber security aspects of mobile app development, and certification and accreditation. 

REFERENCES: 

1. NIST Special Publication 800-124 Revision 1 (final) June 2013. Guidelines for Managing the Security of Mobile Devices in the Enterprise Accessed on 7 Nov 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-124r1

2. NIST Special Publication 800-63-2 August 2013 Electronic Authentication Guideline Accessed on 7 Nov 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-63-2

3. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) TOTP: Time-Based One-Time Password Algorithm Accessed on 7 Nov 2016. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6238

4. Ramona Adams (ExecutiveGov.com) Terry Halvorsen: DoD to Replace Common Access Cards With Multifactor Authentication Systems" Accessed on 7 Nov 2016. http://www.executivegov.com/2016/06/terry-halvorsen-dod-to-replace-common-access-cards-with-multifactor

5. Shaun Waterman (FedScoop.com) DOD plans to eliminate CAC login within two years Accessed on 7 Nov 2016. http://fedscoop.com/dod-plans-to-eliminate-login-with-cac-cards"

KEYWORDS: Multi-Factor Authentication; MFA; Access Control; Certification; Accreditation; C&A; One-time Passcode; One-time Password; OTP; Time-Based One-Time Password; TOTP; Encryption; Identity And Access Management; IdAM; IAM; Identity Proofing; Tokens; Assertion Mechanisms; Protocols; Cryptographic Key; Cyber Security; CS; Information Assurance; IA 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Identify and/or develop innovative heat transfer technologies or novel approaches to address MIDS JTRS thermal concerns. Document, assess and rank any new cooling technology based on applicability, performance and integration complexity to a military communications and data terminals. Pursue feasible technology candidate (s) for transition into MIDS JTRS terminals. 

DESCRIPTION: Currently, the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) terminal (as well as other Command, Control, Communications and Computer (C4) avionics) are rapidly increasing capabilities, now running multiple waveforms in a single terminal or box. As these capabilities advance within the same terminal form factor, power dissipation and heat in the terminal are increasing significantly. Therefore, terminal performance and reliability will be impacted due to the inability of the terminal to dissipate more heat. The fleet has become accustomed to the current high reliability provided by the MIDS JTRS terminal, but for this to continue technology breakthroughs are needed to improve heat transfer performance out of the terminal without impact to current compliant security, Size, Weight and Power (SWaP), and environmental requirements of the terminal (references 3). Innovative technologies must be developed and/or identified that can be adapted to demonstrate significant increase of heat transfer capability to mitigate increasing thermal challenges. These technologies must improve or maintain the current terminal reliability performance which is 1,200 hours MTBF. It is critical to identify and/or develop candidate technological solutions/approaches, analyze and prototype the technology (ies) candidates, and then transfer the technology (ies) to the MIDS industrial base. This effort includes a technical review of the challenges, complexity, maturity, risks and cost of developing and/or integrating the technology. This effort seeks to develop, investigate, assess and validate promising heat transfer technology (ies) or innovative technological approaches that can be mature and provide robust cooling in the fleet environment. In addition, this effort requires demonstrating that the selected technology (ies) can improve heat transfer by at least 30% over the current forced air cooling approach while operating at temperatures between -40 to 71 degrees C without adverse impact to terminal reliability performance. 

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of new technology (ies) or new technological approaches for removing heat out of the MIDS terminals without any negative impact on system performance and SWaP. The Offeror should document the following technical criteria , as a minimum: the thermal characteristics of the technologies and processes (i.e. thermal conductivity, conductance, U factor value, thermal resistance, thermal mass, density, thermal capacity, thermal lag, heat transmission and radiation, etc.), type and complexity of material solution or process, military design applicability (to include IC and PWB application) and modularity, operating environment in C degrees, material origin source, manufacturability, any special equipment required, safety concerns, maintenance, etc. The contractor should review and compare all technology solutions proposed based on criteria above and provide recommendations of best candidates to pursue based on overall potential performance and applicability to a military operating environment. The Offeror should also propose a design and process approach for a Phase II prototype capable of demonstrating heat removal improvements. The design proposal shall strive to maintain or improve the current MIDS JTRS SWaP and testing standards. (Reference 3). 

PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate and test the chosen concept(s) from Phase I based on applicability, best overall performance characteristics by building and testing prototype(s) and/or processes to test the concepts on a MIDS JTRS terminal to the extent practical and reduce technical risks associated with a Phase III transition to a Program of Record (PoR). This effort should aim to demonstrate heat removal improvements, while minimizing MIDS JTRS SWaP and integration requirements impacts. During this phase II effort, it is encouraged that the selected Offeror should partner with the MIDS vendors, to gain knowledge and understanding about MIDS JTRS thermal electronics areas and components to better address technical, integration and testing challenges during the technology demonstration phase. 

PHASE III: Based on the results of Phase II, the Offeror will build and/or manufacture prototypes solutions applicable to MIDS terminal with measurable improvements in heat transfer and reliability as stated in the description section above for Navy testing in an operational relevant environment. The Offeror will support the Navy with testing and validation of the system to certify and qualify it for Navy use. A system capable of handling the operational military environment using small business technology will be field, tested and evaluated by a government independent facility. This will also involve the transfer of the analysis conducted and any assemble processes and bills of materials and suppliers required for the Government to better assess the technology and determine that indeed meets PoR technical requirements, cost-effectiveness and a fieldable solution. The primary application of the technology solution will the MIDS JTRS terminal but also may have applicability to other military and commercial Non Developmental Item (NDI) SDR systems to be acquired by the government. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Advanced electronic cooling technologies, Microelectronics & Electronics, 2009. Prime Asia 2009. Asia Pacific Conference on Postgraduate Research; 19-21 Jan. 2009. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5397426/

2. Advanced Cooling for Power Electronics; Sukhvinder S. Kang, Aavid Thermalloy LLC, Concord NH, USA. https://www.aavid.com/sites/default/files/news/Aavid-Liquid-Cooling-Advances-CIPS-2012.pdf

3. MIL-STD-810 F, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests Military Standard. http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-0800-0899/MIL_STD_810F_949/

KEYWORDS: Heat Transfer, Conduction, Liquid Cooled, Avionics, Convection, Fluid Dynamics, Reliability 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a Circumvention and Recovery (C&R) power and data management design to support functions for shutdown, restart and recovery of high performance processors, memory, System on Chip platforms, Radio Frequency, and advanced inertial measurement sensor subsystems. 

DESCRIPTION: Circumvention and Recovery (C&R) is a system approach to hardening electronics to nuclear weapon high dose rate pulsed radiation effects. The approach enables the overall system to meet strategic or High Altitude Exo-Atmospheric Nuclear Survivability (HAENS) specifications even though certain functions are implemented using components with lower hardness levels. This is done by selectively permitting certain functions to be implemented using parts that are more radiation sensitive. The upset modes of the sensitive parts are mitigated using various error handling, fault isolation, and power-down/reset functions that are implemented in upper radiation hardened parts. A typical C&R scheme may involve the use of a high performance processor that does not meet the system level upset requirement, but is provided a rapid and orderly reset function implemented with lower performance, upper rad hard logic or processor along with rad hard external memory for storing critical data. Circumvention and Recovery (C&R) support functions in terms of available and suitable power and data management for shutdown and restart has not kept pace with the proliferation of high performance processors, memory, System-on-chip (SoC) platforms, Radio Frequency (Global Positioning System and data link) and specialty functions such as Ring Laser Gyroscopes and Micro-electrical-mechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Units. The following capabilities are sought: Managing modern low-voltage high-current digital processing electronics' proliferation of unique power supplies and sequencing requirements Caching and reloading the large amounts of critical state data which must be recovered in order to enable re-acquisition of functionality within mission-appropriate timescales Enabling fast reacquisition of RF operation (Global Positioning System (GPS), command link) in systems which use complex waveforms Saving 3-axis, 3-angle position, velocity, acceleration data for non-inertial guidance systems in hardened nonvolatile memory Protecting power distribution / management resources attached to high performance processors and ensuring these Point Of Load (POL) resources are prevented from damaging their "clients" or from being damaged by various hostile or natural radiation environments Proposed solutions should support the following performance criteria: Dose rate detection, C&R sequencing coverage of multiple and mixed types of electronic content Power supplies from high (primary battery) to low voltage digital and low noise analog / RF Data cache and recovery needs for a broad range of processing and communications subsystems Radiation environments comprehensively suitable to offensive and defensive missile systems, satellite and tactical platforms Cost, reusability, portability and sustainability of the solution-set against long system life cycles and future technology trends 

PHASE I: Develop a proof of concept architecture that can circumvent and recover utilizing leading-edge hardened electronics in a radiation exposed environment. Identify communication protocols and redundancy schemes between functional elements of a guided missile system. Perform a robustness assessment of the initial architecture with respect to allowable frequency of resets, duration of circumvention, and tolerance to faults (such as low power, sensor dropout, clock skew, etc.) and survivable to the nuclear and space radiation environments. 

PHASE II: Mature concept system architecture into a design that handles faults (errors, radiation pulses, power dropouts) with defined degraded states and performance impacts. Identify and assess leading-edge electronics supporting capabilities (for high performance processors, memory, System on Chip platforms, RF, and advanced inertial measurement sensors) for their compatibility with concept architecture. Integrate compatible technologies into the design and perform an assessment of fault tolerance vs. performance capabilities. Develop an equivalent Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) model as necessary to simulate key electrical behaviors of the operations and functions of the design. Simulations should support a model based approach in order to lead to a full understanding of the design prior to any radiation characterization tests. 

PHASE III: For follow-on Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile development, the small business would utilize C&R architecture and model to support feasibility studies for radiation environment requirements, technologies maturation, and performance feasibility assessments beginning in Fiscal Year 2020. Generically, the small business could participate in aerospace (satellite, missile and missile defense) Technology Maturation Risk Reduction (TMRR) & Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase development to augment concept C&R architecture with necessary functions and requirements of the requisite development program. Logic and electronic designs that support fault tolerance for system-on-a-chip systems can be leverage by commercial space and could be applied to any system controlled by electronics. 

REFERENCES: 

1. The Effects of Radiation on Electronic Systems, George C. Messenger and Milton S. Ash, 1986

2. Nuclear Matters Handbook 2016, Appendix E: Nuclear Survivability

3. Military Standard 1766B, Nuclear Hardness & Survivability Program Requirements for ICBM Weapon Systems

KEYWORDS: Circumvention And Recovery; Radiation Hardening; Space Electronics Architecture; Nuclear Event Detector; Nuclear Weapon Effects; Operate Through; Hostile Nuclear Survivability; Fault Tolerant Computing; 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate advanced battery technologies for a primary battery that can meet submarine launched ballistic missile requirements with a specific energy equal to or greater than current silver zinc battery technologies. 

DESCRIPTION: Affordability, safety, and reliability are major objectives of Navy Strategic Systems Programs for continued life extension of the D5 Trident Missile. Current Silver Oxide technology is at risk of becoming obsolete, while other battery technologies with similar or greater specific energy suffer from multiple failure modes, have limited storage life, or have not been tailored to meet the unique requirements for the Navy Strategic Systems Programs. A primary battery that can last 25+ years without the need for maintenance or significant energy loss while in storage, is reliable, and is inherently safe; e.g. is not susceptible to thermal runaway, is required. Submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) have storage lifetimes of 25+ years; and must maintain reliable operation at any point within this time period without the battery being activated. When the battery is activated it must rise to full voltage within a minute and have an activated life of 5+ hours. The battery must be able to survive shock, vibration, and temperatures associated with the launch environments and exo-atmospheric flight. The battery will be required to provide power for missile avionics, guidance, and ordnance initiation events for the entire flight profile. The load on the battery must be capable of periods of pulse power with an average 2C discharge. The goal of this technology development is to design, develop, and test an advanced design for primary batteries capable of 25+ years of storage, 5+ hours of activated life, with a specific energy at a minimum of 50 Wh/kg and a goal to exceed 100 Wh/kg. The battery must be inherently safe during its entire lifetime through the end of discharge. Due to the safety issues associated with lithium battery technologies and the process to receive certification through the Naval Ordnance Security and Safety Activity (NOSSA) for use on an ordnance system, lithium battery technologies will not be considered at this time. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof-of-concept solution; identify candidate materials, technologies and designs. Conduct a feasibility assessment for the proposed solution showing advancements over current state-of-the-art technologies and designs. Develop Anode, cathode, and electrolyte and conduct physical testing to demonstrate feasibility of a Phase II cell. At the completion of Phase I the design and assessment will be documented for Phase II. The deliverables for this phase include: 1) Assessment of battery technology safety 2) Estimate of battery performance characteristics 3) Proof of concept cell characterization 4) Preliminary battery design concept 

PHASE II: Expand on Phase I results by fabricating prototype cells and conducting performance testing to establish cell performance characteristics (Wh/kg, Wh/L, temperature range, discharge rate capability) and safety. The deliverables for this phase consist of: 1) Prototype cells capable of assembly into a battery that can deliver 30V nominal at 22Ah. 2) Subscale prototype demonstrating cell performance and battery design validation 3) Performance characterization to include: a. Wh/kg b. Wh/L c. Discharge rate capability d. Temperature range e. Safety characterization (cell shorted, cell puncture, shock/vibe etc.) 4) A manufacturing assessment of a concept design 30V, 22Ah battery 

PHASE III: Assemble a sufficient quantity of full scale prototype batteries to characterize performance in relevant environments. Performance characterization should include but not be limited to: 1) Wh/Kg 2) Wh/L 3) Startup profile into a representative load 4) Wet Stand Life 5) Discharge profile into representative load 6) Performance under Thermal environment (Hot/Cold) 7) Pressure performance (vacuum) 8) Vibration performance 9) Safety performance characterization (battery shorted, cell puncture, Thermal etc.) Inherently safe battery technologies with the calendar life required for Navy Strategic Systems Programs that are developed under this topic will be applicable to many military and commercial missile and rocket programs. In addition, this safe battery technology is applicable to the automotive, airline and ship industries where human safety is of paramount importance. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Navy Lithium Battery Safety Program: Responsibilities and Procedures. NAVSEA S9310-AQ-SAF-010. Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA). http://www.public.navy.mil/NAVSAFECEN/Documents/afloat/Surface/CS/Lithium_Batteries_Info/LithBattSafe.pdf

2. Banner, J, Tisher, M, Bowling, G When Batteries Go Bad. Joint Power Expo, New Orleans LA, 5-7 May 2009. http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2009power/May6CJulieBanner/banner.pdf

3. Ritchie, A. G., and N. E. Bagshaw. Military Applications of Reserve Batteries [and Discussion]. Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 354, no. 1712, 1996, pp. 1643“1652. http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org

KEYWORDS: Battery; Safety; Missile; Cell; Energy; Efficiency 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a high power electronic solid state switch which may be used to initiate an exploding foil initiator for use in Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) systems and/or private sector space launch platforms such as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. 

DESCRIPTION: High voltage safe and arm (S&A) firing switches are critical components within the initiation systems of missiles and kill vehicles. S&A firing switches are used to ignite rocket motors, provide stage separation and to initiate other critical events. The high voltage S&A firing switchs functions are to prevent unintended initiation of a firing sequence, as well as to initiate an intended firing sequence with very high reliability. S&A firing switches are allowed to be used for in-line safe and arm applications when they initiate only approved secondary explosives. SLBMs, kill vehicles, and to a lesser extent launch vehicles can be exposed to radiation environments which can upset electronics. Due to the critical safety nature of high voltage in line S&A firing switches, they must be able to function properly and reliably through such radiation environments without dudding or unintended firing. Advanced technologies and design concepts that can ensure reliable and safe operation through high level radiation environments are desired. Vibration, shock, and thermal environments additionally apply. The solid state switch should be functional in high power operations (e.g. 2200V, XA), with switch time frames approximating the nanosecond scale. The solid state switch should be capable of remaining fully operational in both the natural space radiation environment, as well as through radiation pulses induced by strategic nuclear events. As the switch is utilized as a safety element in the Ordnance Initiation System (OIS), very high reliability (e.g. 0.9995 at 95% confidence) is required. 

PHASE I: Develop a proof-of-concept solution; identify candidate materials, technologies and designs. Conduct a feasibility assessment for the proposed solution showing advancements in contrast to existing devices. The feasibility assessment should investigate switch capability to perform in shock, vibration, thermal, natural space radiation, and strategic nuclear event induced radiation environments. At the completion of Phase I the design and assessment will be documented for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Design and fabricate an electronic solid state switch which meets the requirements outlined in the description. Manufacture prototypes and test in relevant environments and collect performance data which may be used to characterize the capabilities of the design. 

PHASE III: The scope of Phase III includes a demonstration of the high power electronic solid state switch which may be used to initiate an exploding foil initiator in high power operations as defined in the description and which meets all applicable MIL-STD (see references 2-4) and Range Safety requirements (see reference 5). The demonstration must also show the design's ability to remain fully operational in both the natural space radiation environment, as well as through radiation pulses induced by strategic nuclear events. Private sector applications include space launch platforms such as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Pellish, Jonathan A. Radiation 101: Effects on Hardware and Robotic Systems. NASE Technical Report: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150020839

2. MIL-STD-1316E. Department of Defense Design Criteria Standard: Fuze Design, Safety Criteria: http://quicksearch.dla.mil/

3. MIl-STD-1901. Munition Rocket and Missile Motor Ignition System Design, Safety Criteria: http://quicksearch.dla.mil/

4. MIL-STD-331. Department of Defense Test Method Standard Fuze and Fuze Components, Environmental and Performance Tests

5. Eastern and Western Range (EWR) 127-1 Range Safety Requirements: http://snebulos.mit.edu/projects/reference/NASA-Generic/EWR/EWR-127-1.html

KEYWORDS: Solid State Electronic Switch; Exploding Foil Initiator; Ordnance Initiation System; Radiation Hardened Electronics 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate alternative methods for mixing of high-energy, solid propellants for large, up to 20 gallons in volume, gas generators for Navy strategic missile post-boost propulsion systems, other large missiles, and launch vehicles. 

DESCRIPTION: The current state of the art for producing high-energy, solid-propellant gas generators involves mixing energetic materials in a large bowl using impellers, i.e., rotating blades, until all the formulation ingredients are incorporated into one homogeneous mixture. Mix times are measured in hours, and during this time the rotating impellers are in direct contact with materials having a hazards classification of 1.1 explosives. Accidental fires have occurred when foreign object debris (FOD) have fallen into the mix bowl, and contact with the rotating blades caused a spark. The primary objective of this topic is to develop, demonstrate, and validate a new manufacturing process that does not include impellers for mixing large quantities of high-energy, solid propellants. Resonance acoustic mixing (RAM) technology is a new approach to processing in which low-frequency, high-intensity vibrations are used in place of impeller blades to generate the shear field required to mix high-energy, solid materials. Also, RAM technology eliminates the need for cleaning the impellers at the end of each production run. This advantage reduces the amount of generated hazardous waste containing explosive materials. Any new mixing technology must demonstrate that it can reliably produce a homogeneous mixture that yields a product with properties equal to that obtained using the legacy process. The design and analysis of the new processing method occurs first and is validated using mixtures of inert materials; at this step, validation is a comparison of the dispersion of ingredients as well as the mechanical properties of materials mixed with the new technology versus the legacy method. When acceptable results are obtained using inert materials, then the new mixing process is applied to high-energy, solid materials used for large gas generators. Validation using energetic materials is accomplished with a comparison of the physical, ballistic, and mechanical properties of the same gas generator propellant formulation mixed using the new technology versus the legacy method. 

PHASE I: Phase I includes a technology survey, evaluation, and trade studies to establish what both the current operational and developmental needs are for gas generator manufacturing mixing technology, especially those requirements related to safety, cost reduction, and environmental impact. The evaluation in Phase I relates to the possible candidate mixer technology that, for safety reasons, does not use blades. The process variations in mixing may include mix in case, mix in multiple batches, mix as a single batch, continuous mixing, or other techniques. Each variation is evaluated against the requirements. The small business may choose to demonstrate their technology using Inert propellant formulations. The inert formulation should be chosen to mimic energetic formulation mechanical properties. The deliverable of Phase I is a report that describes the down-select process to the most promising mixing method and results and conclusions from any inert propellant mixes that were performed. 

PHASE II: Design, analysis, fabrication, and test of the candidate mixer. Materials are purchased and assessed for quality. Inert mix trials are conducted to optimize process conditions. Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) China Lake will make subscale mixes of energetic propellant formulations using the down-selected approach. NAWC will perform physical, ballistic, and mechanical tests on the propellant and assess the results. The deliverable from Phase II is a report that describes progress on the design, analysis, fabrication, and test of the mixing hardware for the down-selected approach; also included are the results and conclusions from the subscale, energetic propellant mixes. 

PHASE III: The scope of Phase III includes a full-scale demonstration of the mixing technology using an energetic gas generator formulation at NAWC China Lake. The small business will be funded to provide the mixing equipment for use by NAWC China Lake, and the demonstration will be conducted by NAWC China Lake personnel. The mix process will be used to mix propellant ingredients at the 20-gallon scale. Propellant samples from the full-scale mix process will be tested for physical, ballistic, and mechanical properties. Results will be compared to those from the same formulation mixed using the legacy, rotating-blade method and an assessment of these results will be made as well as recommendations for future work. Following this demonstration, the technology could be transitioned to D5 gas generator production. The gas generator supplier may also use this technology for commercial and other government missions requiring gas generators (space launch, missile defense, orbital insertion). The deliverable from Phase III is a report that describes the full-scale test hardware and procedures; also included are results and conclusions from propellant samples made using the RAM method and the legacy method. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Uniform Distribution of Minor Materials During Powder Mixing: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Scott_Coguill/publication/270216427_RESONANTACOUSTIC_R_MIXING_UNIFORM_DISTRIBUTION_OF_MINOR_MATERIALS_DURING_POWDER_MIXING/links/54a2c3ec0cf267bdb90426ac.pdf?origin=publication_list

2. Investigation of Acoustic Dryer for API Processing: https://www3.aiche.org/Proceedings/Abstract.aspx?PaperID=229348

3. Processing and Formulation Challenges for Cost Effective Manufacturing: http://imemg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/6B2-17235-ResonantAcoustic-Mixing-Processing-and-Formulation-Challenges.pdf

4. Effect of Resonant Acoustic Mixing on Pharmaceutical Powder Blends and Tablets: http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/143900.pdf

5. Evaluation of Resonant Acoustic Mixing Performance http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/235596.pdf

KEYWORDS: Resonance Acoustic Mixing (RAM); Propellant Mixing; Gas Generator Manufacturing; Energetic Materials Processing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Extracting high resolution 3D models from images of textured and non-textured surfaces in an uncontrolled environment. 

DESCRIPTION: A primary objective of computer vision is to enable reconstructing 3D scene geometry and camera motion from a set of images [1]. Several toolsets exist that rely on a controlled collection of images from a single calibrated and known camera to generate a model [2] [3] [4]. This research is unique and will focus on maximizing the level of accuracy and detail in an uncontrolled environment [5]. The environmental limitations include a combination of limited images [6], limited viewing angles, and missing camera metadata. The research goal is to generate a highly accurate model of a large object, such as an automobile, using any combination of the following conditions: Scenario #1: Known Camera in Non-Controlled Environment: Standard DSLR camera No more than 15 images Range greater than 5m Access limited to <180 degrees Scenario #2: Known Camera in Non-Controlled Environment: Standard video camera No more than 30 seconds of video Range greater than 5m Access limited to <180 degrees Scenario #3: Internet Images [5] [6] [7]: Automobile must be different color than previous scenarios No camera metadata The desired end result is a documented workflow that can generate accurate 30 mesh models against many different types of large objects. Accurately is measured as difference from a manually constructed CAD model of the object. The processing architecture should be implemented using commodity hardware and leverage open-source code and projects if applicable. All results should include a measurement of the accuracy of the model generated. Collection limitations and best-practices shall be documented in final project report along with innovative approaches used to capture data to improve model accuracy. 

PHASE I: Document algorithms and/or tools that generate an accurate 3D mesh along with calculated model error and deliver as a proof-of-concept software deliverable. The final project report shall document best practices and potential ideas for innovative approaches to capture data and improve model accuracy. 

PHASE II: Build a prototype workflow using innovative data collection approaches that minimize model error and/or reduce manual data manipulation. Software shall be delivered as a proof-of-concept software deliverable. 

PHASE III: Military Application: Object Modeling, Surveillance, Technical Intelligence, Photogrammetry. Commercial Application: Photogrammetry, Object Modeling. 

REFERENCES: 

1: F. Dellaert, S. Seitz, C. Thorpe and S. Thrun, "Structure from Motion without Correspondence, " in IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2000.

2: P. Moulon, "openMVG," [Online]. Available: http://imagine.enpc.fr/""'moulonp/openMVG.

3: N. Snavely, "Bundler," [Online]. Available: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/""'snavely/bundler.

4: C. Wu, "VisualSFM, [Online]. Available: http://www.ccwu.me/vsfm.

5: H. M. Nguyen, W. C. Burkhard, P. Delmas, C. Lutteroth and W. van der Mark, "High resolution 3D content creation using unconstrined and uncalibrated cameras," in 6th International Conference on Human System Interactions, 2013.

6: R. Padmapriya, M. Li and X. Li, "Efficient dense 3D reconstruction using image pairs," in 10th International Conference on Computer Science & Education, 2015.

7: S. Yu, Y. Qi and X. Shen, "Multi-view Stereo Reconstruction for Internet Photos," in International Conference on Virtual Reality and Visualization, 2011.

8: S. Agarwal, N. Snavely, I. Simon, S. M. Seitz and R. Szeliski," Building Rome in a Day," in 12th International Conference on Computer Vision, 2009.

9: Y. Furukawa, B. Curless, S. M. Seitz and R. Szeliski, "Towards Internet-scale multi-view stereo," in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2010.

KEYWORDS: Image Processing, Structure From Motion, 3D Modeling, Computer Vision, Photogrammetry 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop novel techniques to identify and locate uncommon targets in overhead and aerial imagery, specifically when few prior examples are available. Initial focus will be on panchromatic electro-optical (EO) imagery with a subsequent extension to multi-spectral imagery (MSI) and/or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. 

DESCRIPTION: The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) produces timely, accurate and actionable geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support U.S. national security. To continue to be effective in today's environment of simultaneous rapid growth in available imagery data and number and complexity of intelligence targets, NGA must continue to improve its automated and semi-automated methods. Of particular concern is furthering NGA's ability to identify and locate uncommon intelligence targets in large search regions. Recent advances in computer vision due to deep learning have dramatically improved the state­ of-the-art in techniques such as object detection and semantic segmentation, to include scenarios where little data is available for training (i.e., low-shot). While these approaches have shown encouraging results on NGA problems, little research has been performed which is specific to the remote sensing domain: a deficiency which this effort aims to address. It is the intention of the government to provide labeled data (pending availability and releaseability) to assist with algorithm development and capability demonstration; however, the performer is encouraged to identify and use imagery from other sources as well. Baseline performance will be established by a comparison against a state-of-the-art detection network (e.g., Feature Pyramid Networks, YOLO9000) pre-trained on ImageNet or COCO. Performance evaluation will be conducted using metrics derived from precision-recall curves. 

PHASE I: Address deep learning low-shot detection in panchromatic EO with consideration for extension to MSI and/or SAR in Phase II. Phase I will result in a proof of concept algorithm suite for low-shot detection and thorough documentation of conducted experiments and results in a final report. 

PHASE II: Extend Phase I capabilities to MSI and/or SAR to include researching methodologies to simultaneously exploit multiple modalities and/or develop zero-shot capabilities (i.e., no prior available examples). Develop enhancements to address identified deficiencies from Phase I or those identified when processing MSI and/or SAR data. Deliver updates to the proof of concept algorithm suite and technical reports. Phase II will result in a prototype end-to-end implementation of the Phase I low-shot detection system extended to process MSI and/or SAR imagery and a comprehensive final report. 

PHASE III: Technology enabling the automated search for uncommon objects in overhead imagery would be widely applicable across the government and commercial sectors. Military applications include national security, targeting, and intelligence. Commercially, it will apply to urban planning, geology, anthropology, economics, and search and rescue; and all other domains that benefit from identifying objects in overhead imagery. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Hariharan B. and Hirshick R. Low-shot visual object recognition. arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.02819. 2016 Jun 9.

2: Wang Y. and Hebert M. Combining low-density separators with CNNs. In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 2016 (pp.244-252).

3: Lin T. et al., Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection. arXiv preprint arXiv:1612.03144, 2016 Dec 9.

4: Xie M., Jean N., Burke M., Lobell D., Ermon S. Transfer Learning from deep features for remote sensing and poverty mapping. arXiv preprint arXiv:lSl0.00098. 2015 Oct 1.

KEYWORDS: Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Detection, Segmentation, Low Shot Learning, Image Processing 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a fast automated signal matching algorithm based on hashing algorithms. 

DESCRIPTION: Hashing-based algorithms for audio-matching were introduced by Shazam Entertainment, Ltd. in 2000 to help customers identify music tracks based on short audio clips collected from cell phones [1] [2]. This algorithm matches of a single clip against a massive archive of possible songs in less than a second. The algorithm works by encoding the full song as an "audio fingerprint" and hashing the fingerprints for fast lookup. When a clip is then searched it is also encoded and hashed before being scored against an archive of music. This generates a list of possible matching songs. The documented approach has limited success against discrete time series data that does not generate sharp and reliable peaks in a spectrogram. Mining large volumes of data for similar items has many different automated solutions [3]. A current algorithm that works well and is widely used is normalized cross­ correlation [4]. A major downside to normalized cross-correlation is that it has a runtime based on the number of points in the input and the number of points in the archive. The goal of this project is to develop a hash-based approach that builds upon prior work, but extends the algorithm to support a wide range of single-band discrete time-series data that is robust to noise and amplitude. We are looking for an open technology development [5] that implements creative algorithms to process single-band discrete time-series data that are robust, tolerant to noise, amplitude invariant, and reliable. The desired end result is an automated algorithm that can run in real-time against a large archive. The processing architecture should demonstrate scalability and be implemented using commodity hardware. The expected output is a list of the top matches in sorted order. The government recommends using stock ticker, EKG, or similar data to compare a chip of time to a historical archive to discover similar signatures within the archive. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate an innovative algorithm that provides a rapid search capability via an API against discrete time-series data, document results in a final report, and test in a proof-of­ concept scalable platform. 

PHASE II: Implement the Phase I proof-of-concept algorithm against real sensor data and enhanced to correct any deficiencies identified in Phase I with documentation of the test results and updated algorithm. 

PHASE III: Military Application: Data Labeling, Surveillance, Technical Intelligence. Commercial Application: Voice Matching, Pattern Recognition 

REFERENCES: 

1: A. L.-C. Wang, "An Industrial Strength Audio Search Algorithm".

2: J. Haitsma and T. Kalker, "A highly robust audio fingerprinting system," in International Conference on Music Information Retrieval, Paris, France, 2002.

3: J. Leskovec, A. Rajaraman and J. D. Ullman, Mining of Massive Datasets, 2014.

4: T. Vigen, Spurious Correlations, Hachette Books, 2015.

5: DoD CIO Office, "Open Technology Development: Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Military Software, 2011.

KEYWORDS: Signal Processing, Image Processing, Signal Matching, Audio Fingerprinting, Pattern Recognition 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Construct a computer vision system for synthetic aperture radar imagery (SAR) to demonstrate segmentation into terrain types. 

DESCRIPTION: NGA Research seeks image segmentation algorithms for SAR imagery to identify different terrain types (roads, forest, agricultural, urban). These algorithms should be robust against varying collection geometry and image quality with performance that is comparable to human analysis of SAR imagery. Rather than computer vision systems that rely on tightly controlled and constrained operating conditions, the goal is to develop and demonstrate an approach that is able to classify terrain type and land use in complex scenes with varying image quality and in differing collection geometries. The proposed approaches are expected to lead to systems that can be readily repurposed to imagery from different radar systems. Preference is for fully automated image segmentation systems. Applications could include improved systems for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), Automated Target Recognition (ATR), attention focusing systems, and automated detection systems. 

PHASE I: Produce an architecture and system design. Identify the algorithms to be developed/adapted and where they fit in the design, the metrics by which the technology will be evaluated, and the level of performance against those metrics expected in the evaluation of the working prototype developed by the end of Phase II. Describe each of these elements in detail in the final report. 

PHASE II: Construct a working prototype based on the system design developed in Phase I that incorporates all key components of the proposed approach. Evaluate the prototype using prototype data and measure its performance against the metrics defined in Phase I. Demonstrate that the approach can be adapted to varying image quality and other challenges and is adaptable to a radar imagery from a variety of systems. Phase II deliverables are a demonstration of the working prototype and a final report. The final report should describe the as-built architecture, algorithm description document(s) and design of the prototype, the results of the prototype evaluation, and a description of work needed to mature the technology to a point suitable for use in commercial and/or DoD applications. 

PHASE III: DoD applications include automated surveillance, tracking, and autonomous detection and intelligence analysis of imagery. Commercial applications are expected to include security systems, automated classification and discovery of images, robotic vision, and traffic monitoring. 

REFERENCES: 

1: S. Piramanayagam, W. Schwartzkopf, F. W. Koehler, and E. Saber, "Classification of remote sensed images using random forests and deep learning framework, in Proc. SPIE 10004, Image and Signal Processing for Remote Sensing XXll, October 18, 2016. doi:10.1117/12.2243169.

KEYWORDS: Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Image Processing, Radar, SAR, Scene Recognition, Scene Understanding, Image Segmentation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop algorithms for enhancing resolution of satellite imagery from one source that leverages information from other satellite image sources that might have different resolution and different phenomenology. 

DESCRIPTION: Analysis of satellite imagery is always limited by image resolution. No matter what the resolution of the available imagery there is always additional information of value that lies just beyond the sensor's ability to resolve. Super resolution is the enhancement of imagery to improve resolution beyond what the sensor collects. Typically, super resolution algorithms synthesize additional detail by exploiting the redundancy of multiple similar images, such as frames of video. Other approaches involve using models of objects to interpolate missing data by projecting edges or using high-pass filtering. These approaches fail to address the common case of when multiple sources of data are available, such as imagery taken at different times by different cameras or different sensors, but are essentially of the same scene. With the proliferation of different kinds of satellite sensors for both military and commercial use, the latter scenario is becoming more common and more salable. For example, commercial small satellite companies like Planet Labs and Terra Bella aim to provide imagery with daily revisit rates. DigitalGlobe imagery requires several days for revisits, but can provide greater resolution. The government seeks implementable algorithms to provide a super resolution capability that can synthesize plausible higher resolution images to enable the interpretation and extraction of information that is not normally present in any single presentation of the data. The algorithmic approach should provide for the possibility of improvement as a function of the location or type of terrain, based on reinforcement from an operator's approval or disapproval, or selection of a candidate super-resolved image, or based on new truth obtained from subsequent higher­ resolution collection, or other training approaches, or a combination of these. 

PHASE I: The small business will develop a proof of concept solution for super resolution of low resolution satellite imagery using examples of co-located satellite imagery from different sources. They will demonstrate the feasibility of the algorithm to generate plausible solutions that agree with training data. The company will propose a design for algorithm enhancements to permit improvement of the super-resolved imagery through a training process. 

PHASE II: The small business will develop a demonstration system to implement a prototype multi-source super resolution and demonstrate that the algorithmic approach generates accurate increased interpretability of scenes, and can improve based on further training. 

PHASE III: Government agencies such as NGA will desire the capability to support geospatial-intelligence analysis using available imagery. Private sector commercial applications will leverage remote sensing as a burgeoning field with large commercial military markets. Improved image resolution will provide value to image analysis in markets such as precision agriculture, financial intelligence, and environmental monitoring. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Liebel, Lukas, and Marco Korner. "Single-Image super resolution for multispectral remote sensing data using convolutional neural networks." XXlll ISPRS Congress proceedings p883-890. 2016.

2: Dong, Chao, et al. "Learning a deep convolutional network for image super-resolution." European Conference on Computer Vision. Springer International Publishing, 2014.

3: Dong, Chao, et al. "Image super-resolution using deep convolutional networks." IEEE transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence 38.2 (2016): 295-307.

KEYWORDS: Superresolution, Imagery, Resolution 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop algorithms and techniques that provide superior digital elevation data constituting the surfaces of fixed structures in urban or highly structured environments using remote sensing image data. 

DESCRIPTION: Current methods to produce digital elevation maps using remote sensing have difficulty in urban settings or areas with significant vertical structures and features. Much of the digital elevation data (DEM) used in both commercial and national databases attempts to accurately represent the base ground topography, without regard for vertical obstructions that effectively change the overlying surface. Computational techniques for generating 3D scene geometry from stereo or multi-look electro­ optical imagery are mature. These techniques typically produce dense point clouds of 3D locations consisting of unstructured noisy data. In many cases, surfaces blend together continuously and smoothly, when sharp discontinuities in surface normals are known to exist due to the location of buildings and other structures. The challenge is to create accurate surface boundary representations from the point clouds using models and known information about locations and shapes of structures. While techniques exist to suppress noise and convert point clouds to boundary representations and to simplify those representations, the increasing availability of foundation data that can be associated with the data provides the opportunity to produce more accurate broad surface representations. The association of point cloud data to foundation features can be mediated by maps, electro-optical (EO) imagery, and/or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. It is expected that sensor fusion techniques should be able to improve elevation maps, for example employing a combination of visible and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image data. SAR is complementary to EO as an imaging modality. Geometrically, the location ambiguity of each sample has a different structure (a range / cross range circle as opposed to an elevation / azimuth ray). With appropriate algorithms, it should be possible to exploit the complementary properties of both SAR and EO imagery to produce a more robust and higher fidelity geometric description than could be achieved with either modality alone. 

PHASE I: Develop algorithms and techniques to enhance and make more robust 3D elevation maps in regions with dense vertical structures such as urban environments. Assess the performance of the developed technique and the utility for both visual exploitation and value­ added processing such as change detection. 

PHASE II: Develop an efficient implementation capable of processing large images. Test on a larger sample of government-provided data. Tune or adapt the algorithms to increase accuracy. 

PHASE III: Apart from military use, accurate representation of structures and obstructions will be increasingly important for use by commercial firms that need to update and navigate urban canyons for signals propagation and package delivery systems, operating in the 3D environment. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Ruiz, S. Arroyave, D. Acosta, "Fitting of Analytic Surfaces to Noisy Point Clouds," American Journal of Computational Mathematics, 2013, 3, 18-26; http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajcm.2013.31A004 Published Online April 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajcm)

2: M. Awrangjeb, G. Lu, C. Fraser, "Automated Building Extraction from Lidar Data Covering Complex Urban Scenes," International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-3, 2014, http://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote­ sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-3/25/

KEYWORDS: Point Clouds, Elevation, Digital Elevation Maps, DEM, 3D Data, Sensor Fusion 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Provide highly accurate foundation data of buildings and linear structures by conflating information from multiple available images and volunteered information. 

DESCRIPTION: Much manual labor is involved in. assessing and correcting errors in geospatial information concerning roads, railroads, buildings, and other prominent important features to produce accurate maps. Further, information about the 3D positions of points associated with these features is increasingly important for multiple applications. Fortunately, there is a proliferation of sources of information that can be used to curate accurate position information, although errors still need to be corrected due to noise and discrepancies that can arise from these multiple sources. Conflation refers to processes that aggregate data from the different sources, producing the most accurate assessment from the available data by taking into account potential causes of error, discounting outliers, and applying reasoning from models. For example, railroad lines are typically highly limited in vertical grade rates (as are roads), and footprints of building structures do not generally (but not always!) intersect with the spatial extent of roads. Information sources available for the identification of the location of foundation features include (1) volunteered geographical information (VGI), (2) features extracted automatically from publicly available overhead imagery, such as the automated identification of building rooftops, (3) vector, polyline, and polygon data, or raster scan data, in maps and charts, (4) geometric data extracted from pairs or multiple overhead images by finding correspondences among points, as well as (5) other information that can include imagery, video, and maps that can be used to validate and accurately locate foundation features. Each of these sources represent research and development processes that have now progressed to relatively mature states. At issue is methods to conflate these sources in a way that provides greater accuracy than any single source alone, so as to automate the process of correcting errors and manually improving accuracy of foundation features. Ideally, foundation data would provide machine-readable representations of shapes of structures that can span 3D volumes, 2D manifolds with boundary (such as surfaces lying in 3D such as ribbons), and D curves lying in 3D space, as appropriate to the foundation feature. Buildings, for example, are 3D volumes, whereas roads are more generally 2D surfaces. Individual information sources for foundation features are not only error prone, but they also rarely represent the information in these ideal formats. Accordingly, the conflation process should provide as much of the representation in the ideal format as possible. However, if full 3D shape information of a building is not available (which is likely to be the case in the usual situation), then approximate representations of the building might be based on the footprint and a height. Similarly, a road might be represented by its center-line and a width. Shortcuts such as these need to be documented and represented in a flexible format that respects various extensions to foundation feature management systems. 

PHASE I: Designate a set of foundation feature types, assemble information sources, document discrepancies, and design approaches to conflating information to improve representation and accuracy of the chosen foundation features in those datasets. 

PHASE II: Develop and implement software to access information sources and conflate data to produce representations of a class of foundation features, to include roads and buildings, and demonstrate accuracy improvements from the conflation process with metrics. 

PHASE III: The National Geospatial-lntelligence agency regularly contracts for foundation feature development, and is interested in accurate representations, while commercial uses of publicly-available satellite imagery will increasingly require highly accurate representations for multiple practical applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Ohori, K. A.; Ledoux, H.; Biljecki, F.; Stoter, J. "Modeling a 3D City Model and Its Levels of Detail as a True 4D Model." ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 4 (2015) 1055-1075. Web.

2: Huh, Yong, Sungchul Yang, Chillo Ga, Kiyun Vu, and Wenzhong Shi. "Line Segment Confidence Region-based String Matching Method for Map Conflation." ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 78 (2013): 69-84. Web.

KEYWORDS: Conflation, 3D Feature Extraction, Foundation Data, Volunteered Geographic Information 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop novel ways to update display electronics to maximize native OLED performance within exploitation displays for high-end imagery visualization needs. Design and breadboard prototype techniques that demonstrate sustaining dynamic sharp pixel edge rendering by OLED primitives with novel drive circuits, interfaced with an interoperable display port interface. 

DESCRIPTION: Despite recent consequential advances in applied OLED material science, the back-end electronic driver ecosystem for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) remains deficient to market suitability for application of pixel fidelity for high motion visualization. Despite techniques to interpolate and augment frame rate pixels, the presentation and rendering of remote sensing imagery and high speed video with typical commercial displays is inadequate for effortless cognitive imagery analytic purposes. Due to the native temporal response, OLEDs provide a unique opportunity to natively render high-speed, high-quality pixels for analysts. To remedy this deficiency, research is required to: (1) establish latency diagrams with contemporary OLED displays, and (2) design timing and circuit models to engineer electronics to fully address and render visual content in motion imagery, retaining full edge definitions over the requisite operational envelope for addressability, frame-rate and smooth and continuous scene updates. The standard technique for CRT displays was to fully document the frequency band pass, electron gun options, and transition timelines associated with spot size, sweep rates, frame­ rates, beam-blanking, retrace, and phosphorus persistence. The result was a continuous presentation of remotely sensed imagery with movement-tuned to retrace frame rates that yielded to the human vision system a visually smooth and continuous motion of raster pixels while maintaining relatively sharp edges. The transition of systems from CRT to AM LCD and recently to OLED technologies has yielded display rendering devices where the back-end electronics has not been tuned to the parametric models of the temporal characteristics that new display technology can provide. Especially in the case of OLED technology, pixel response characteristics should permit far greater motion display fidelity absent blur, or other visually degrading artifacts. Accordingly, there is a need to design- and breadboard a superior OLED electronic interface that takes advantage of and is tuned to superior temporal models yielding key performance characteristics. Performance data of rendering thresholds using OLED's and standardized visual motion test targets will be required in order to ensure uniformity of performance and accurate transfer of visual information to human analysts. The National Geospatial-lntelligence Agency searches for novel approaches that provide the necessary understanding of how new electronics can leverage OLED systems to render high performance motion imagery data in a way that maximizes the interpretability of the total information content. 

PHASE I: Develop a timing diagram of the native response of OLED's and drive circuits for smooth and continuous sharp-pixel definition for the rendering of motion imagery, such as full motion video from airborne assets. Design proof-of-concepts for the design of electronics according to parametric models that include timing latency, circuit interfaces, and information for interoperability with display port interfaces. 

PHASE II: Build and demonstrate an electronic prototype (bread board) sufficient to evaluate and demonstrate a 4K OLED display for improved pixel in motion performance yielding measurable gains in visual detection, tracking, and cognition of objects when in motion. Using test targets and imagery datasets, verify performance and compare with commercial off the shelf monitor products. 

PHASE III: The commercialization of electronics to maximize the improved utility of OLED display systems would service an extremely broad range of military and civilian applications where the visual detection of particular objects in motion are critical analytic functions requiring high end display capabilities. Applications include remote sensing, inspection, analysis and playback of sporting events, rocket launch visualizations, analysis in destructive testing, and other activities where high-temporal frame rate visualization is important. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Display Performance Standard, NGA STND.0015, Version 3.1,13 July 2010, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Center for Geospatial Intelligence Standards, see https://nsgreg. nga.mil/doc/view?i=1649 (accessed 1/17/2016).

2: Silosky MS, Marsh RM, Scherzinger AL. Imaging acquisition display performance: an evaluation and discussion of performance metrics and procedures. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2016 Jul 08; 17(4):6220.

3: Silosky M, Marsh RM. Characterization of Luminance and Color Properties of 6-MP Wide­ Screen Displays. J Digit Imaging. 2016 Feb; 29(1):7-13. J Digit Imaging. 2016 Feb; 29{1):7-13. doi: 10.1007/s10278-015-9811-7.

4: International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDMS), Society for Information Display (SID), Definitions and Standards Committee, International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM) Information Display Measurements Standard, Version 1.03, June 1, 2012

5: National Information Display Laboratory {NIDL) Publication No. 171795-036, Display Monitor Measurement Methods under Discussion by EIA (Electronic Industries Association) Committee JT-20, Part 1: Monochrome CRT Monitor Performance, Draft Version 2.0, July 12, 1995. NIDL Publication No. 171795-037

6: DisplayPort (DP} audio/video standard Version 1.4,01 March 2016, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA}, http://www.vesa.org/featured-articles/vesa-publishes­ displayport-standard-ve rsion-1-4/

7: Fang Fang, Huseyin Boyaci, Daniel Kersten, and Scott 0. Murray, Attention-Dependent Representation of a Size Illusion in Human Vl, Current Biology 18, 1707-1712, November 11, 2008 2008 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.025

8: Andrew Dillon et al., "Visual Search and Reading Tasks Using ClearType and Regular Displays," in SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM Press, 2006, pp. 503-11.

9: Lee Gugerty et al., "Sub-pixel Addressing Improves Performance," ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, Vol. 1, no. 2, 2004, pp. 81-101.

KEYWORDS: Display Temporal Performance; Motion Imagery; OLEDs 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors 

OBJECTIVE: Develop robust, automated super resolution image processing techniques to use on low resolution video of objects under a changing pose. 

DESCRIPTION: Super resolution for image processing has been around since the 1980s and multiple techniques exist consisting of various registration, interpolation and restoration methods, with the majority of research and development focused on rigid or static scene applications. Some research is available on using super resolution for moving objects [1] [2] [3], including an approach that addresses translation, rotation and zooming motion [4], but the techniques are not available as automated algorithms to run against real-world data nor have they tested on representative simulated datasets for our area of interest. Currently available super resolution image processing techniques for low resolution IR sensor data apply bias subtraction and image registration; use Drizzle algorithms to recover sampling losses in point structure targets; and then use generic deconvolution algorithms for compensation of effects from Drizzle itself, focal plane charge diffusion, and optical aberrations and diffraction. While the Drizzle algorithm is simple and fast, it requires image registration that is accurate to a small fraction of a pixel and requires a relatively large number of frames. [S] Additionally, only the translation transform from the image registration algorithm is applied in the Drizzle algorithm currently. When run against non-static scenes, these super-resolution algorithms create image artifacts that limit imagery analysis. We are looking for an open technology development [6] that implements non-proprietary algorithms that are less sensitive to image registration errors and account for translation, scale, and rotational transforms of the imagery; the algorithms can build on existing techniques or use alternative techniques. The offeror should consider and place higher priority on implementations that run in a cloud processing environment. The desired end result is an automated algorithm that can run in our large scale near-real-time offline processing environment. The expected output is a super resolved image of 4-lOX improved resolution over the original low resolution data that allows for improved measurements of the object dimensions. The proposal should specify datasets to be used for algorithm verification and validation. The government can provide MATLAB code of the existing technique. 

PHASE I: The expected product of Phase I is a super-resolution algorithm that takes as input an image sequence containing an object against a uniform background with varying pose and outputs a super resolved image of 4-lOX improved resolution over the original low resolution data that allows for measurement of the dimensions of objects along with an estimated accuracy of the product, documented in a final report and implemented in a proof-of-concept software deliverable. 

PHASE II: The expected output of Phase II is a prototype automated implementation of the Phase I proof-of-concept algorithm, tested against real sensor data and enhanced to correct any deficiencies identified in Phase I, with documentation of the test results and updated algorithm. 

PHASE III: Military Application: Surveillance, Technical Intelligence. Commercial Application: Security and police surveillance, Medical imaging. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Antoine Letienne, Frederic Champagnat, Caroline Kulcsar, Guy Le Besnerais, Patrick Viaris De Lesegno, "Fast Super-Resolution on Moving Objects in Video Sequences," 16th European Signal Processing Conference, August 2008.

2: A. W. M. VanEekeren, K. Schutte, J. Dijk, D. de Lange, L. van Vliet, "Super-resolution on moving objects and background," IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, Atlanta, October 2006, pg. 2709-2712.

3: Frederick Wheeler, Anthony Hoogs, "Moving Vehicle Registration and Super-Resolution," IEEE 36th Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop, 2007, pg. 101-107.

4: Yushuang Tian, Kim-Hui Yap, Li Chen, "Ll-norm Multi-frame Super-resolution from Images with Zooming Motion," IEEE 13th International Workshop on Multimedia Signal Processing, 2011, pg. 1-6.

5: Eric Shields, Drew Kouri, "An Advanced Iterative Algorithm for Super-Resolution, OPIR Tech Forum, August 2014.

6: DoD CIO's Office, "Open Technology Development (OTP}: Lessons Learned & Best Practices for Military Software", 2011, https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/O/Documents/FOSS/OTD­ lessons-learned-military-signed.pdf.

KEYWORDS: Image Processing, Super Resolution, Low Resolution Video, Drizzle, Varying Pose 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop methods to focus limited human security specialist resources on highest value indicators, and increasingly automate responses, when continuously monitoring complex collections of IT assets for signs of an attack. 

DESCRIPTION: High value IT assets, such as endpoints, servers, and devices, are under continual attack by well-resourced adversaries that can leverage component product and software defects in order to gain control of the assets. Continuous monitoring of an assets typical behavior including running processes, communications, memory use, and storage can reveal useful anomalous events. However, false positives are high, and human specialists must still spend considerable time sorting through events to determine the highest value investigations to pursue. Without a considerable reduction in false positives there is little hope in providing sufficiently automated resolutions. In addition, due to lack of automated responses, accurate sensors and personnel, the time required to recognize, to diagnose, and act upon events in the commercial sector is in the range of days and hours. Host-based and Network-based intrusion detection systems identify unauthorized, illicit, and anomalous behavior based on agents placed on hosts or upon network traffic. Logs from hosts, servers, firewalls and other devices can also provide an indication of unapproved and irregular activities within the network and on individual devices. Security information and event management (SIEM) technology has been developed and adopted by sectors in the commercial world that supports threat detection through real-time collection and analysis of security events from a wide variety of sensors and events. A driver for operating cost effective and secure operational DoD environments will be availability of subject matter experts (SME) to monitor highly protected assets. Their labor hours are a limited resource and the ability to focus their expertise on the highest value defense activities is an important way to most effectively leverage their resources. This research will develop means of ranking and prioritizing attack indicators so that their time may be more efficiently spent on the most important threats. This may also lead to eventual automation of monitor and response capabilities. This may help reduce the response time for those most serious events down to hours/minutes. No environmental factors required. 

PHASE I: Develop and evaluate solutions to improve ranking and prioritization of asset attack or compromise events using inputs from a wide collection of agents and sensors. Gather and correlate information collected from server and endpoint agents, network traffic monitoring, and other compromise indicators to assess, prioritize and provide information and recommendations to defenders. Innovative techniques such as big data analytics, All learning, and correlation may be explored to identify the highest value threats and rank them. 

PHASE II: Implement the solutions developed in Phase I and demonstrate them in a realistic IT environment. Study and describe how this capability may be augmented by the introduction of automation in the response to events/attacks. 

PHASE III: Commercialize the technology. The solution developed in Phase II will be "productized" for more general use across the government and in the commercial marketplace. Consumer documentation, such as Administration and User's Guides to the product, will be developed. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Incident Response Capabilities in 2016: The 2016 SANS Incident Response Survey, SANS Institute InfoSec Reading Room. https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/incident/incident-response-capabilities-2016-2016-incident-response-survey_37047

2. IDFAQ: What is The Role of a SIEM in Detecting Events of Interest? Kibirkstis, Algis (author), November 2009. https://www.sans.org/security-resources/idfaq/what-is-the-role-of-a-siem-in-detecting-events-of-interest/5/10

3. DoD S&T Priorities: (3) Cyber Science and Technology “ science and technology for efficient, effective cyber capabilities across the spectrum of joint operations. http://www.defenseinnovationmarketplace.mil/resources/ASD(R&E)_StrategicGuidanceMay_2014.pdf

KEYWORDS: Cyber Threat Ranking, Cyber Threat Prioritization, Automated Cyber-attack Response 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop capabilities to facilitate the application of cyber protection techniques, methodologies, algorithms, and capabilities to micro-platform devices in development, ultimately reducing their capacity to become significant threat vectors. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a global cyber war being waged today. The adversaries include hacktivists, criminals, extortionists, and all the way up to nation states. The goals of these adversaries are as varied as the communities they represent, including: denying access, disrupting operations, espionage, financial gain, competitive advantage, and capability destruction. The most common vector today is initiated through phishing emails that exploit vulnerable browsers “ an issue that is rapidly being addressed through the application of key technologies. Since the adversaries are determined and highly motivated, as vulnerabilities are closed, new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered. Recently, some adversaries have turned their attention toward exploiting special purpose devices that incidentally provide vulnerable computing and storage. Indeed, the number of these special purpose micro-platform devices, due to the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), is estimated by some to be at least 7 billion today and will rise to 50 billion by 2020, a 7-fold increase in just 4 years. IoT and other embedded devices represent a significant threat vector which must be mitigated by improving the security of the devices. (Note that there have been significant advances in the patching of existing micro-platform devices and therefore, this research does not address that issue.) No environmental factors required. 

PHASE I: The first phase focuses on the development and evaluation of innovative techniques, methodologies or algorithms to provide cyber intrusion prevention for one or more vital micro-platform devices. However, the solution should demonstrate how it could be applied across a broader set of devices. The solutions should include a low-cost general methods for intrusion prevention that could employ any combination of software, firmware, or hardware, either embedded or external, with the goal of minimizing attack vectors in the devices through various techniques. Innovation in the miniaturization of the common intrusion protection methods is sought. The research should demonstrate protection for device integrity, confidentiality, and availability through some combination of perimeter and/or on-device techniques, including micro-firewalls, micro-segmentation, IDS, logging and other techniques. Of primary concern is the prevention of third party ability to gain access to and launch attacks from the protected devices. The research will include analysis of the relevant standard security metrics. 

PHASE II: Assuming that cyber intrusion prevention techniques, methodologies, or algorithms show sufficient promise, this phase focuses on the development of one or more intrusion prevention capabilities. Protection should be provided for one or more vital micro-platform devices. The solutions should provide a tangible example of the concepts delivered in Phase 1. Innovation in miniaturization and cross-platform control is sought. The resulting capability should demonstrate the strengthening of device integrity, confidentiality, and availability. The research will include penetration testing and provide results. 

PHASE III: Work with the DoD to demonstrate that the prototype developed during Phase 2 can be applied to DoD and non-DoD systems and software. Further demonstrate and deploy the capability within diverse environments. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Americas economic prosperity, national security, and our individual liberties depend on our commitment to securing cyberspace and maintaining an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet. Present Barack Obama, Feb 13 2015 Were the ones who stand with those who create and innovate against those who would steal and destroy. Thats the kind of country we are, and thats the kind of cyber force we are. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Mar 13, 2015 http://www.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/0415_Cyber-Strategy

2: Over the next decade, the Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to change the way we go about our daily lives with projections of over 50 billion connected devices by 2020, compared to the 7 billion devices today. http://www.buzzproducts.com/design/digital/Connected-The-Rise-Of-The-Internet-Of-Things.html

3: Security Risks of Embedded Systems, Schneier, Bruce, January 9, 2014 https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/01/security_risks_9.html

4: Recommended Practice for Patch Management of Control Systems, DHS National Cyber Security Division Control Systems Security Program, December 2008,https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/recommended_practices/RP_Patch_Management_S508C.pdf

KEYWORDS: IoT, Internet Of Things, Embedded Systems, Intrusion Protection 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Provide a capability that can rapidly and automatically reconfigure protected IT assets (e.g., multi-tier servers) in response to an ongoing cyber-attack. 

DESCRIPTION: High value IT assets, such as endpoints, servers, and devices, are under continual attack by well-resourced adversaries. This research will focus on one potential reaction to an ongoing cyber-attack and provide the ability to reconfigure a protected, complex, multi-tiered application. Dynamic reconfiguration can consist of a wide range of actions that can include providing new network addresses for the assets, reconfiguring protection assets, such as firewalls, changing the protocols between components in a multi-tier solution, and changing the cloud infrastructure provider of the mission, even when the underlying infrastructure ecosystem differs across cloud service providers (CSPs). The focus of this research is on reconfiguration in the infrastructure of the application. The goal is to use multiple methods to make the protected assets attack surface rapidly unrecognizable, possible moving the application, and forcing the attacker to go back to square one in planning the attack. High degrees of automation are preferred in the solution, minimizing the administrative burden of the capability. Being able to define the logical components and relationships of an N-tier applications deployment are would be a valuable feature in this research. No environmental factors required. 

PHASE I: This phase will focus on the feasibility and planning for this research effort. The investigators will create an analysis document in the form of a Technical Report, regarding the feasible options for changing the attack surface of an operational application on the fly. Several possible options for automated reconfiguration are mentioned in the description above. (e.g., new addresses, component reconfiguration, cloud porting etc.) The investigators will determine use cases to define when dynamic reconfiguration of an N-tier application should occur and what triggers will be used from the larger threat sensing capabilities to invoke the features developed in this research. (This research does not sense when an attack is occurring, but rather, one reaction to the detected attack.) This research should document the best practices in application development that will facilitate rapid reconfiguration functions. The investigators will describe ideal application/workload design options that best match this dynamic reconfiguration environment. Important to this report is the identification of specific control points, within the protected application and its hosting environment components to include compute, storage, and networking. 

PHASE II: This phase will focus on the design and implementation of a software-based solution to provide extensive reconfiguration of a mission applications run time configuration in order to protect the application from any further progression in an attack. The intent is to reconfigure an applications attack surface, location, and communication methods with only minimal impact to the operation of the asset. The asset may continue to run in a new configuration, which may reside in a different DoD-approved cloud, with new network addresses, with changed security component components, and may communicate internally with different protocols. One important aspect of reconfiguring a N-tier instantiation is being able to define the logical pattern of the application in terms of application components, such as contemporary servers, communications paths, ports, and protocols, and security components. Once these pattern requirements are known, then logically equivalent substitutions can be made for the purpose of changing the attack surface. For example, if Server 1 communicates with Server 2, using protocol A, then the same effective communication can occur through a different communication path, between different addresses, possibly in different cloud IaaS. 

PHASE III: This phase will focus on the commercialization of the technology. The solution developed in Phase II will be productized for more general use across the government and in the commercial marketplace. Consumer documentation, such as Administration and Users Guides to the product, will be developed. The investigators will determine the cloud IaaSs, and guest operating systems that will be supported in the product based on market need, and move to expanding the portability of the product to those environments. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Cloud Migration Research: A Systematic Review,http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6624108/?arnumber=6624108

2: 1. ¦DoD must increase its defensive capabilities to defend DoD networks and defend the nation from sophisticated cyberattacks¦ The DoD research and development community as well as established and emerging private sector partners can provide DoD and the nation with a significant advantage in developing leap-ahead technologies to defend U.S. interests in cyberspace. In addition to supporting current and planned investments, DoD will focus its basic and applied research agenda on developing cyber capabilities to expand the capacity of the CMF and the broader DoD cyber workforce.http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/2015/0415_cyber-strategy/Final_2015_DoD_CYBER_STRATEGY_for_web.pdf

3: 2. Donovan, Paula J., et al. "Quantitative Evaluation of Moving Target Technology." Technologies for Homeland Security (HST), 2015 IEEE International Symposium on. IEEE, 2015.

4: 3. Carvalho, Marco, et al. "Command and control requirements for moving-target defense." IEEE Intelligent Systems 27.3 (2012): 79-85.

KEYWORDS: Cyber Defense, Cloud Migration, Application Reconfiguration, Automation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a solution to isolate critical ICS devices from general network traffic while maintaining network connectivity between devices, between devices and trusted administration entities, and without deploying additional code to the devices. 

DESCRIPTION: Modern ICS devices are network connected. This enables devices to communicate with each other for coordinated operation as well as communicating with a centralized control system. These network connections also allow designated administrators convenient maintenance and administration of the devices. However, these network connections create additional threat vectors into devices controlling critical systems. Furthermore, many of these devices run on proprietary firmware that is closed (unreadable) and rarely updated. As a result, organizations must connect these devices to some portion of the network even though there are very limited use cases for these devices to communicate. Traditional firewalls can help limit traffic in and out of designated areas. However, most firewalls enforce rules based on arbitrary (also dynamic and spoofable) addresses such as internet protocol (IP) addresses. Furthermore, inside the protection of a firewall, devices are still able to communicate laterally and still often visible to the rest of the network. Any misconfiguration of either the device or the firewall is catastrophic. To resolve this problem, an additional name space (apart from IP addressing) is required to abstract the (permanent) identity of a device from the devices corresponding addresses. Rather than using IP addresses to connect, connections now use the host identifier instead, providing a more reliable attribute of identity. One such implementation is Host Identity Protocol (HIP) which adds a host identifier in the form of a cryptographic public key associated with the host. In the instance of HIP, two parties must share a cryptographic binding before being able to see each other on the network; effectively hiding portions of the network that are not allowed to communicate with each other. No environmental factors required. 

PHASE I: Evaluate current methods of abstracting the device identity from the devices addresses, and the suitability of applying this new name space into the network infrastructure for Department of Defense (DoD) networks and networked components built according to military specification (MILSPEC). Identify a use case for isolating connected ICS devices that is appropriate for a proof-of-concept, and design a reference architecture for implementing identity-based whitelisting (or blacklisting) at layer 2 for the identified use case. Describe any potential latencies or delays that may be introduced due to the use of these abstraction methods. 

PHASE II: Develop a lab-scale reference implementation intended to isolate several of the desired devices regardless of address or network location. Identify lessons learned from the reference implementation, and develop a transition plan for operationalizing the solution. Measure expected delays and identify sources. Identify potential vendors, suppliers, integrators, and contract vehicles for acquiring the materials necessary for implementation in a DoD network. 

PHASE III: Develop a repeatable implementation based on the reference implementation for more general use across the government (outside DoD) and in the commercial marketplace; including implementation and configuration documentation, as well as Administration and Users Guides. 

REFERENCES: 

1.Host Identity Protocol (HIP), RFC 5201. Retrieved fromhttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5201.

2.Host Identity Protocol (HIP) Architecture, RFC 4423. Retrieved fromhttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4423.

KEYWORDS: Host Identity Protocol Address Isolation, IP Address Abstraction, Industrial Control System (ICS) Protection, SCADA Protection 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Design and fabricate electronic bidirectional "headstage" system(s) for performing large-scale neurophysiology studies involving multichannel neural recording and microstimulation in awake and freely behaving animals. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to develop a system(s) or platform solution to address the capability gap in the neural interface community, with broad applicability to neuroscience and neuroengineering. Some of the main limitations with current electronics for neurophysiological studies are the size and cost of traditional equipment for neurophysiology studies. Large digital signal processing boxes [1] have enabled large-scale recordings of neural activity in the brain and recent efforts to miniaturize these electronics have yielded successful research products [2]. While clinically available [3] systems have been developed, the number of channels in these systems is comparatively low. There has been significant academic research addressing portions of this need [4-8], but none of this research has provided a complete system ready for commercial distribution. Next-generation neural systems will require bidirectional, real-time communication of high-bandwidth neural signals into and out of the body. Current neural interfaces tend to focus on input (stimulation only) or output (recording only) from the physiological system. As the field of bioelectronic medicine matures, the need to have bidirectional systems that provide closed-loop stimulation (diagnose, analyze, then stimulate accordingly) will require electronics that are capable of recording and stimulating simultaneously. Proposals must develop a compact and flexible bidirectional system that addresses all components of C-SWaP (cost, size, weight, and power). The goal is to move processing power from traditional large, bench-top processing boxes to smaller electronics on (or close to) the site of recording on the animal (i.e., a headstage), including multiplexing functionality that reduces lead-count in the wire bundle connecting head-stage to benchtop instrumentation. The headstage electronics must be compact and lightweight, providing a high throughput data "pipe" to enable high channel count recording and stimulation (minimum of 32 channels per headstage). The system architecture should be flexible and scalable to further increase the channel count and support multiple types of biological data (brain, peripheral nerve, muscle, etc.). The goal is to shift processing power and technology closer to the biological specimen, improve the quality of signal, and lower the overall cost and bulk of the equipment to perform large-scale neurophysiological experiments. Solutions may require real-time analysis capabilities and firmware upgradability to add new capabilities. The device should be intended for pre-clinical research in animals. In addition to C-SWaP, efforts need to account for reliability and manufacturability. Systems and architectures need to account for methods to reliably attach to various electrode(s) and, if the system is to be wired, an external connector. The design should account for relevant environmental stressors to enable robust operation in freely behaving animal experiments. In order to demonstrate a viable prototype by the end of this SBIR, all aspects of system development enabling a functional prototype must be addressed: application programming interfaces for stimulation and recording, data transfer and power, power usage, size, weight, cost to fabricate, encapsulation, thermal budget under operating conditions, design for operation in a realistic environment (e.g., EMI, simulated mechanical behavior, etc.). The design of electronics may require safety features, bioelectric amplification, DAC/ADC, signal processing, operational reconfigurability, true stimulation charge balancing, stimulation artifact immunity/rejection, noise levels (<0.5 uVRMS), onboard memory storage (pseudo wireless), and/or other features that would enable the design to be highly scalable to support high channel count devices. Additional features may include data compression or analysis functions implemented on the headstage. 

PHASE I: Develop preliminary design concept and architecture to determine technological feasibility of a low-power, scalable, flexible bidirectional system for pre-clinical animal use. The component must support capabilities for simultaneous stimulation and recording on each headstage, with flexible and rapid reconfigurability. Neural recording instrumentation must be suitable for measuring various types of bioelectrical signals, including compound and single unit action potentials in peripheral nerve, muscle, and field potentials and action potentials (multi and single unit) in the central nervous system. Stimulation control should offer the resolution and range needed for neural stimulation in these various structures. The proposed electronics must be scalable to enable high channel count (1000+ channels) recording, with a minimum of 32 channels per headstage. Systems need to be lightweight and compact to enable placement very near or on the animal. While the system or platform needs to record from a subset of nerves, brain, spinal cord, and muscle, the specific architecture should enable successful recordings from all structures. Architectures could include an all-in-one solution, a modular design, or other possibilities. A particular electrode technology or connector/link to external equipment is not mandated, but the system design should include specific choices and support for particular electrode(s) and wired connector(s) or link(s). Plans need to include specific methods to connect electrodes and, if applicable, a connector to an external system. Technology feasibility needs to include anticipated specifications (e.g., noise floor, power, heat, size, cost, resolution/step size, etc.) and needs to address the inherent issues of electrical recording neural/muscle waveforms simultaneously with electrical stimulation of neural structures. System noise and power consumption parameters must be defined and quantitatively estimated. In addition, detailed system properties and assumptions need to be defined/supported including, but not limited to: self-test capability to ensure system, electrode, and insulation integrity; tissue heating; and power usage. Error detection and correction capabilities should be assessed where relevant. Efforts should prepare plans for testing in vivo to verify full functionality for bioelectrical recording and stimulation. The Phase I deliverable is a final report that must include : a) modeling and simulations of expected performance; b) modeling and simulations of the effect of relevant biological components on package and electrode interfaces; c) target animal species; d) competitive assessment; and, e) system performance metrics, plans, and a timeline for the systems to be designed and constructed in Phase II. Optimizing usability with multiple neural interfaces or connectors will be considered an additional attractive feature. Plans for Phase II should include preliminary design goals and key technological milestones to enable pre-clinical testing and evaluation. Phase I should account for time to submit and process all required animal use protocols as appropriate. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000 base period, up to 12 months period of performance, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system based on the preliminary design from Phase I. All appropriate engineering and testing will be performed. A critical design review will be performed to finalize the design. Particular emphasis will be placed upon prototype size, weight, power, cost, functionality, scalability, flexibility, and the ability to reliably record neural/muscle data simultaneously with neural stimulation. Phase II deliverables will include: (1) a working prototype of the system, including expected life-cycle capabilities; (2) test data on its performance collected in one or more pre-clinical models; (3) test data to ensure compliance with relevant regulations from FDA, FCC, IEC, or other organizations for use in animals, or potentially humans; and (4) projections for manufacturing yield and costs. Phase II should account for time to submit and process all required animal and/or human subjects use protocols as appropriate. 

PHASE III: An end goal of this effort is to provide a new commercial platform/device(s) to conduct basic research or pre-clinical neural engineering, biomechanical, neuroscience, or neuromodulation research. The platform will enable a multitude of pre-clinical studies from the resulting device(s). Another end goal for this platform may be in clinical applications. The device(s) may also lead to clinical devices for neural engineering, biomechanical, neuroscience, or neuromodulation studies that may be associated with advanced prostheses for civilians/wounded-warriors with upper limb amputations, spinal cord injuries, brain-stem stroke, and other clinically relevant applications. 

REFERENCES: 

1: TDT 512 Channel Neurophysiology System: http://www.tdt.com/512-channel-neurophysiology-system.html

2: Ripple Grapevine Neural Interface Processor: http://rippleneuro.com/products/grapevine-neural-interfaceprocessor/

3: Rouse, A.G., Stanslaski, S.R., Cong, P., Jensen, R.M., Afshar, P., Ullestad, D., Gupta, R., Molnar, G.F., Moran, D.W. and Denison, T.J., 2011. A chronic generalized bi-directional brain machine interface. Journal of neural engineering, 8(3), p.036018.

4: Nguyen, A.T., Xu, J. and Yang, Z., 2015, September. A 14-bit 0.17 mm 2 SAR ADC in 0.13µm CMOS for high precision nerve recording. In Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), 2015 IEEE (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

5: Shulyzki, R., Abdelhalim, K., Bagheri, A., Salam, M.T., Florez, C.M., Velazquez, J.L.P., Carlen, P.L. and Genov, R., 2015. 320-channel active probe for high-resolution neuromonitoring and responsive neurostimulation. IEEE transactions on biomedical circuits and systems, 9(1), pp.34-49.

6: 6. Wheeler, J.J., Baldwin, K., Kindle, A., Guyon, D., Nugent, B., Segura, C., Rodriguez, J., Czarnecki, A., Dispirito, H.J., Lachapelle, J. and Parks, P.D., 2015, August. An implantable 64-channel neural interface with reconfigurable recording and stimulation. In 2015 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) (pp.7837-7840). IEEE.

7: Carboni, C., Bisoni, L., Carta, N., Puddu, R., Raspopovic, S., Navarro, X., Raffo, L. and Barbaro, M., 2016. An integrated interface for peripheral neural system recording and stimulation: system design, electrical tests and in-vivo results. Biomedical microdevices, 18(2), pp.1-17.

KEYWORDS: Advanced Electronics, Stimulation Rejection, Scalable Electronics, Headstage, Computer Aided Engineering, Design For Manufacture, Design For Test, Fabrication, Integrated Product And Process Design, ASIC 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Chem Bio_defense 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative engineering (e.g., automation or bio-sensing technologies), genetic, and/or genomic approaches to reduce the negative characteristics associated with insect colony production to be used for a variety of purposes in agricultural production or agricultural research (e.g., edible insects, natural enemies for biological control of agricultural pests, pathogens, or weeds, etc.). Projects focusing on mosquito production are discouraged from applying. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a DoD need to improve production systems to produce insects for food or feed, agricultural release, or entomological research in an effort to mitigate threats to agriculture stability and develop alternative methods of producing nutrients or other bio-synthesized products. Insects currently provide crucial ecosystem services including natural pest suppression and pollination that are under increasing strain from environmental and anthropogenic disturbance. In contrast, advances in synthetic biology provide future opportunities to bolster these roles, or create entirely new insect-delivered services altogether. Achievement of these goals will require large numbers of specific insect species to be produced at a scale that is currently difficult because of system bottlenecks. If these bottlenecks could be overcome, managed insect production could play a large and important role in ensuring national security through stabilization of food security or the provisioning of other essential services delivered by insects. Insects are the dominant animal group on the planet, and many species are accordingly vital to the provisioning of natural capital in support of the human economy. These so-called ecosystem services may be calculated as the value of the services lost if insects were to disappear. Using this method, Losey and Vaugh (2006) valued wild insect ecosystem services in the United States, including pollination, pest suppression, nutrient cycling, and recreational opportunities, at no less than $57 billion USD per year. Debates continue as to the accuracy and ethics of assigning values to natural services, but few can argue that a world without insects would struggle and perhaps fail to support human economies as we know them today. The opportunity to positively affect large-scale managed insect production requires technological advances to overcome the bottlenecks created by the feeding media or substrate, labor, post-processing, quality control, and insufficient capital to generate efficiencies of scale (Cohen et al. 1999, Grenier 2009). Many insect species, especially those used for pest control, have relatively inflexible dietary demands in terms of nutritional quality, and some natural enemy species require only certain animal species as hosts. Insect bodies are fragile, and have generally been handled by humans during husbandry and packaging, a time-consuming and often expensive endeavor. Artificial rearing sometimes produces poor quality results; for example, it can yield insects with low nutritional value or that are unable to function in the environment upon release. Too often, existing solutions are expensive, thus triggering a vicious cycle where the insect product is not economical enough to attract the very capital expansion investment that would reduce the cost-per-unit to sustainable levels. Accordingly, innovative solutions to these problems of rearing valuable insect species en masse would prove immensely valuable. Opportunities abound to improve rearing success on artificial diets, increase automation of husbandry and processing, improve quality control, and reduce cost-to-entry barriers of novel or existing technologies that overcome the most common insect rearing hurdles. Improved genetic, genomic, and proteomic understanding and editing tools allows enhanced diet optimization on both the production (nutritional) and consumption (insect) ends of the pipeline. Vast improvements in sensors, robotics, and computing have already allowed a nascent, automated plant-farming industry to form, and similar technologies could be developed or transferred to insect rearing and processing methods. Plummeting costs in an array of molecular techniques and specialized production platforms encourage a re-evaluation of formerly cost-prohibitive processes or a re-imagination of new ones. Removing or reducing barriers to the efficient, economical, and effective production of valuable insect species could be used to improve agricultural production, deliver novel sources of nutrition, and protect necessary ecosystem services. Innovative engineering, bio-synthetic, and/or genetic/genomic strategies will be required to improve the output, quality, and viability of large-scale insect rearing needed to meet these goals. This SBIR topic seeks approaches to identify and address issues associated with large-scale insect rearing and/or the improvement of production outcomes. We encourage applications that use emerging engineering and genetic/genomic tools to these ends. Expected outcomes could be: rapid assessment and/or production of successful artificial diets; improved rearing efficiency and/or scale through the use of automation, strategies, or machines to rapidly assess insect quality or delicately handle live insects for post-processing; and materials or methods to speed return on investment during the scaling-up process. 

PHASE I: Identify engineering objectives, molecular targets, or innovative strategies for improving production and performance of insects to improve large-scale rearing operations. Individual projects should address at least one of several challenges expected, which include: (1) artificial insect diet success, (2) increased efficiency and automation, (3) improved quality control and post-processing, (4) materials or methods to significantly improve rates of return on creating economies of scale. Example approaches could include the following: Artificial diets for difficult-to-produce or especially valuable beneficial insect species. Engineering advances in insect rearing facilities to increase energy, materials, and/or labor efficiency. Methods, sensors, or machines to improve insect quality and reduce post-processing time or losses. Novel, alternative, or streamlined solutions to especially costly insect rearing facility problems. The key deliverable for Phase I will be the demonstration of a proof of concept that the selected challenge has been overcome and can be scaled to a larger format. These demonstrations should be performed in repeated experiments in small colonies (i.e., tens to hundreds of individuals) on single or multiple insect species where significant improvements in insect rearing success, efficiency, end product, or cost-per-unit can be shown to have significantly improved through relevant analysis. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000, 12-month base period, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: The small-scale, small-colony approach taken in Phase I will be transferred to and implemented in a large-scale (i.e., hundreds to thousands of individuals) insect-products-sourcing platform. The goal of Phase II is the integration of technologies used to increase the output of insect rearing facilities through the success of artificial diets, automation, quality control and post-processing, or reduced cost per unit. Therefore, the deliverable for Phase II is the demonstration of a large-scale insect production system utilizing integrated engineering, genetic, or materials technologies. Communication with the proper regulatory agencies will be a key component to determine how these technologies can be safely and ethically monitored for proper use and eventual commercialization of the anticipated product. 

PHASE III: Phase III (Commercial): The technologies developed in Phases I and II will be integrated into a fundamental platform to improve the production of economically or environmentally valuable insect species. These integrated technologies will serve as the foundation for further improvement. Phase III will be a demonstration of a fully adopted system that utilizes two or more technologies to improve production. In addition to the development of a plan for regulatory oversight, if applicable, Phase III projects should address the challenge of encouraging human acceptance of insects and insect-derived products for human use. Phase III (Military): The integration of insect-derived products or ecosystem services (e.g., into the Combat Feeding Directorate or the Armed Forces Pest Management Board) is a potential option for technology transition. The objective of Phase III (Military) will be to determine feasibility, utility, and acceptance levels of these products and production systems by military personnel, especially in deployment scenarios. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Chambers, Darrell L. 1977. Quality Control in Mass Rearing. Annual Review of Entomology 22:289-308

2: Clarke, Geoffrey M., Leslie J. McKenzie. 1992. Fluctuating Asymmetry as a Quality Control Indicator for Insect Mass Rearing Processes. Economic Entomology 85(6):2045-2050.

3: Cohen, Allen C., Donald A. Nordlund, and Rebecca A. Smith. 1999. Mass Rearing of entomophagous insects and predaceous mites: are bottlenecks biological, engineering, economic, or cultural? Biocontrol 20(3):85N-90N.

4: Grenier, Simon. 2009. In vitro rearing of entomophagous insects “ Past and future trends: a mini review. Bulletin of Insectology 62(1):1-6.

5: Losey, John E., Mace Vaughn. 2006. The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects. BioScience 56(4):311-323.

6: Riddick, Eric W. 2009. Benefits and limitations of factitious prey and artificial diets on life parameters of predatory beetles, bugs, and lacewings: a mini-review. Biocontrol 54:325-339.

KEYWORDS: Insect Production, Automation, Molecular Biology, Beneficial Insects, Ecosystem Services 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Chem Bio_defense 

OBJECTIVE: Develop generalizable gene-encoded monoclonal antibody (mAb) potency assays for assessing formulated nucleic acid constructs that encode prophylactic monoclonal antibodies. Demonstrate and validate the technology for at least three distinct indications. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to respond effectively to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases by recognizing and responding to new outbreaks early and rapidly [1]. The advent of nucleic acid-based countermeasure technologies has been critical to addressing this need, enabling rapid synthesis, reduced cold chain needs, and decreased costs [2,3]. A significant hurdle remaining in this process are requirements that ensure clinical batch-to-batch comparability. Potency tests for nucleic acid drug products are integral to clinical development to ensure similar, expected behavior of the product when derived from various batches, manufacturers, etc. Those working in this space currently are using ad hoc systems to evaluate product potency, or even worse, not evaluating batch-to-batch potency at all. DARPA seeks to promote the design of a gene-encoded mAb potency assay that requires only minimal (if any) modifications across mAb and/or indication space. For DNA vaccines currently in the clinic, the potency test consists of transfecting cells with the DNA plasmid and using flow cytometry to determine if the transfected cells express the encoded antigen, which then triggers multiple signaling cascades to generate a protective state. For DNA- (or RNA-) encoded monoclonal antibodies, the encoded protein itself confers a protective state, and thus a potency assay based on expression alone is insufficient”the assay(s) should not only demonstrate gene expression by transfected cells but also effectively predict concentration range in the intended recipient (e.g., 40-pound child vs. 130-pound adult) and confirm that the encoded mAb(s) protein maintains desired binding and function. 

PHASE I: Develop key requirements and establish performance metrics for evaluation of the potency assay. Define the components and methods to be used. Investigate and define risks and risk mitigation strategies. Implement a basic prototype system or a simulated system that demonstrates operating principles and fundamental performance capabilities. Establish use cases. Required Phase I deliverables will include a final report detailing the design of the assay, requirements, fabrication process (if needed), and any preliminary performance results. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000, 8-month base period and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Finalize the design of Phase I and complete implementation. Evaluate the performance of the assay against pre-established requirements. Demonstrate and validate the technology for least three distinct use cases spanning i. target tissue(s) (e.g., respiratory, systemic, skin, etc.); ii. mAb physiology (e.g., IgG subtype, ScFv-Fc, etc.), and iii. formulations (e.g., with protamine, lipid, polymer, combination, etc.). Through appropriate statistical analysis, demonstrate the ability of the potency assay to determine similarity (or lack thereof) of a gene-encoded mAb derived from different batches or synthesis protocols. Phase II deliverables will include final potency assay design and working prototype, and a final report detailing system performance for the selected indications. 

PHASE III: The end goal of this effort is to provide the community with a gene-encoded mAb potency assay to enable facile comparison between batches, and ultimately, faster entry into the clinic and mass production of countermeasures against infectious diseases and emerging pandemics to provide immediate protection to susceptible civilian and deployed military populations. The new platform technologies developed under this SBIR are expected to predict stability of the gene-encoded mAb construct and whether it will yield clinically relevant mAb concentrations after delivery to human, which will enable a more rapid, de-risked path to the clinic and regulatory approval, ultimately resulting in increased medical countermeasure IND submissions by commercial/industry and DOD entities. 

REFERENCES: 

1: DARPA P3 Program. http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-02-06a

2: Flingai, S et al. Protection against dengue disease by synthetic nucleic acid antibody prophylaxis/immunotherapy. Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 29.

3: Muralidhara, B et al. Critical considerations for developing nucleic acid macromolecule based drug products. Drug Discov Today. 2016 Mar.

KEYWORDS: Potency Assay, Formulated Nucleic Acid, Infectious Disease, Monoclonal Antibody, Gene-encoded, DNA, RNA 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Design and fabricate an optical phase filter capable of modifying an incident wave into a super-resolved spot, i.e. into a beam that is more tightly focused than a diffraction-limited focal spot. The optical phase filter design should permit its use at Ultra-Violet (UV), visible, and Infrared (IR) wavelengths. The objective is to provide at least an order of 10 improvement in current spot sizes for 3D printing, laser cutting and welding and an improved point spread function for imaging while maintaining high transmission efficiency for all applications. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to significantly improve manufacturing processing through higher precision 3D printing, greater accuracy, and in the case of imaging, improved resolution, e.g. in a scanning system. Optical phase filters have been designed using a variety of approaches in order to efficiently modify an incident wavefront into a spot which is tightly focused transverse to the direction of propagation. For over sixty years, attempts have been made to realize these superresolving filters, usually assuming they are thin with respect to the wavelength of operation resulting in low diffraction efficiency. Spot sizes, smaller than conventional resolution limits suggest, have been obtained but these were often at the expense of increased stray light, reduced field of view or reflections. The limits to resolution from a scattering of diffracting element have been debated over the years by Shannon, Gabor and Di Francia [1] often in terms of analytic properties of the wavefield and the number of degrees of freedom of the imaging system. The classical analysis of this problem and the inherent ill-posedness of superresolution can be found in [2] by Slepian and Pollack and one of the first papers proposing a superresolving filter was by W. Lukosz [3]. Manipulating zero crossings of a field to fashion desirable point spread functions is reasonably straightforward and the relationship between the resulting point spread function and the transmittance of the diffracting mask is well known [4]. In lithography, so-called phase-shift filters have been employed for 30 years to provide some measure of improvement in resolution [5]. Constructive - destructive interference effects can reduce the effective width of a point spread function, but the improvement is limited. A detailed study of superresolving filters was published by Morris et al [6], considering both the transverse width of the point spread function (the G parameter which is the ratio of the first zero of the superresolved point spread function, divided by the first zero of the Airy disk) and its relative intensity (the Strehl ratio: the intensity of the superresolved peak/the intensity of the Airy disk) [7]. One example approach for superresolving filter design is as follows [8]. By manipulating the zero distribution of an optical phase filters diffracted field, tightly focused spots are accompanied by intense sidelobes and correspondingly low intensity in the spot. A useful property of propagating and diffracted wavefields is that one can represent them by analytic functions of a complex variable. A point spread function is an analytic (entire) function of specific order and type determined by the spatial bandwidth. In the one-dimensional case, this allows a representation for the field similar to that of a polynomial, i.e. as a (Hadamard) product encoding zero locations. Asymptotically, the complex roots are equally spaced and tend to lie parallel to or on the real axis. The nature of this class of analytic functions is that one can retain the square integrable properties of such a function if one only perturbs the non-asymptotic zero locations. Thus, by manipulating these zero locations in 1D, 2D and 3D, the point spread function can be shaped to be arbitrarily narrow to form super-oscillatory wavefronts, [9-10]. Unfortunately, this analysis to date has been based upon a physical optics or weakly scattering model. A strongly scattering model is necessary and some kind of 3D or 2.5D metasurface [11] is likely needed to improve efficiency. An inverse problem has to be solved to determine the index distribution of the phase filter or metasurface in order to realize an improved design. By carefully manipulating the interference pattern generated by scattered and diffracted waves transmitted through an optical phase filter which is not necessarily thin, can one generate a spatially superresolved spot that is both light-efficient and manufacturable? What additional degrees of freedom can be usefully exploited to this end, if one includes multiple scattering in the filter and makes use of coherence and polarization properties [12-13] of the incident wave? An innovative approach to this challenging problem is sought. 

PHASE I: Design and numerically simulate the properties of an optical filter that can generate superresolved (e.g. less than tenth of a wavelength) optical spot with high throughput efficiency. The efficiency of the proposed optical phase filter must be specified along with the fundamental limits to the smallest spot size one might achieve. Also, the power handling capability of a practical filter needs to be estimated, as well as its wider angle beam properties (stray light) and field of view. The optical phase filter is anticipated to be a surface relief pattern with high transmission efficiency and ideally be free-standing. The filter should encode the spot at a known distance behind the filter and the sidelobes and depth of focus of the subwavelength spot determined. Polarization, bandwidth and coherence characteristics should be determined also. Phase I deliverable(s) will be a final report that includes the design principles used, the proposed designs for the optical phase filter and numerical simulations or theoretical models that predict the filters practical performance specifications. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $150,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $100,000, 6-month base period, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. 

PHASE II: Using results from Phase I fabricate and validate a prototype. The optical filter can be designed and fabricated to operate at any or several of the specified wavelength ranges. In Phase II, filters will be fabricated and can be characterized in a 3D printing, cutting, or scribing application. The filters use for imaging should also be evaluated. The material choice and fabrication approach is not specified but manufacturability of a large number of these optical phase filters has to be eventually feasible at reasonable cost. Phase II deliverable(s) will include examples of optical filters and their performance specifications in one or more of the applications given above. 

PHASE III: Multiple commercial and military products could benefit from this technology since an optical filter design could be optimized and then scaled for use at different wavelengths. Ideally, a stand-alone mask can be inserted into existing optical systems such as optical printing or machining systems. This filter may be retrofitted to 3D printers that write with lasers (e.g. Optek, 3D Systems tools, Nanoscribe) in both a military and commercial context for greater precision when producing parts or prototypes, e.g. in the battlefield or in space. Advancing this technology has potential applications for: i) Cutting and writing into materials which absorb optical wavelengths; medical and industrial applications come to mind (e.g. chip trimming, ablation or erasure of material with high precision) ii) Optical imaging with the superresolved spot as a probe iii) Reading and writing with optical storage media iv) As a means to produce a highly focused and higher power laser spot by direct use of the filter in a laser cavity (e.g. external cavity laser or direct fabrication onto the end of a fiber laser). v) Possible use as a sensor if small wavelength changes or wavefront perturbations modify the spatial distribution of light vi) Optical scalpel for laser surgery, cutting and sealing tissue, tattoo removal, cosmetic applications, internal/orthoscopic applications, repair of micro- and nano-structures by laser trimming etc. 

REFERENCES: 

1: G. Toraldo di Francia, 45, 497-501, 1955.

2: D. Slepian and H.O. Pollak, Bell Syst. Tech. J., 40, 43-63, 1961.

3: W. Lukosz, J. Opt. Soc. Amer., 52, 827-829, 1962

4: M. A. Fiddy et al, Opt Acta 29, 23-40, 1982.

5: M. D. Levenson, Physics Today, 28-36, July 1993

6: T.R.M. Sales and G.M. Morris, J. Opt. Soc. Amer. A., 1637-1646,1997.

7: T. R. M. Sales and G. M. Morris, Optics Letters 22, 582-584, 1997

8: M.A. Fiddy and H. K. Allamsetty, "Vortex interference for superresolved beam waists", SPIE 5562, pp19-26, 2004.

9: J. Diao, et al. Controllable design of super-oscillatory planar lenses for sub-diffraction-limit optical needles, Optics Express Vol. 24, No. 3, 1924, 2016

10: E. T. Rogers, et al. Super-oscillatory optical needle, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102(3), 031108, 2013.

11: P. Genevet, et al., Recent advances in planar optics: from plasmonic to dielectric metasurfaces, Optica, Vol. 4, p139-152, 2017.

12: F. Qin, et al. Shaping a subwavelength needle with ultra-long focal length by focusing azimuthally polarized light, Sci. Rep. 5, 9977 2015.

13: V. V. Kotlyar, et al. Analysis of the shape of a subwavelength focal spot for the linearly polarized light, Appl. Opt. 52(3), 330“339, 2013.

KEYWORDS: Super-resolving Phase Filter, High Resolution 3D Printing, Precision Laser Machining, High Resolution Imaging, Rapid Prototyping 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and test one or more techniques for plug and play interoperability of computer-aided engineering (CAE) and computer-aided design (CAD) that would allow automated use of new and legacy simulation tools with CAD models obtained from a variety of sources. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to develop and prove out techniques and methodologies that would allow use of new and legacy engineering simulation tools on complex geometric models with minimal or no human intervention and preprocessing. Mechanical CAD data preparation continues to dominate most CAE activities, hindering use of advanced engineering simulation tools, and resulting in excessive costs across a broad range of design and manufacturing activities. Most commercial and legacy tools require gridding or meshing “ semi-automated heuristic procedures that rely on human experts and manual processing. Recent R&D efforts have been focused on meshfree and meshless methods, but the adoption of these tools has been slow and limited, partly due to their difficulty interoperating with realistic CAD data, and partly because they are not mature enough to replace the legacy CAE tools researched and developed over many decades. As a result, significant resources spent on improving and perfecting CAE tools appear to be reinventing and improving the representation and simulation wheel (or a better mousetrap), without being able to harvest their full potential and power. The types of analysis and simulation tools sought for this topic includes but is not limited to mechanics, aerodynamics, thermal, electromagnetics, fracture, aero-elastic, noise, vibration, transport phenomena. In particular, the proposers are expected to develop and prototype one or more of the following (but not limited to): Minimally modify existing analysis and simulation codes to support automated interoperability with CAD models, while reducing or eliminating the need for preprocessing (for example, by combining legacy CAE tools with immersed boundary or meshfree methods) Demonstrate interoperability of existing analysis and simulation codes with legacy and emerging types of CAD models (e.g. polygonal meshes, point clouds, voxels, mixed dimensional models, splines, and implicit representations) Develop automated agents and protocols for applying legacy analysis and simulation codes to CAD models from different sources Demonstrate automatic interfacing and composition of different types of analysis and simulation codes and apply them to CAD models from different sources Proposers are encouraged to leverage both commercial and open source engineering simulation tools, collections of widely available solid and geometric tools and models, as well as cloud-based technologies. The outcome of this investigation is expected to disrupt the existing design and manufacturing workflows, harvesting the power of existing CAE technologies, leveraging previous DOD investments, and leading to dramatic improvements in productivity and cost savings. 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of fully-automated interoperability of analysis and simulation tools with CAD models from a variety of sources without being locked into a specific part family type (e.g., wings) and estimate the level of effort required to develop a fully functional demonstration for dealing with realistic complex simulation scenarios. The Phase I deliverable is a prototype and a final report that will include a Phase II work plan to achieve the stated goals. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000, 12-month base period and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Develop and test fully functional demonstrator for the technology identified and prototyped in Phase I. The technology should be tested using existing CAE codes and CAD models coming from third parties and diverse sources. The Phase II deliverable is a demonstrator and a final report that will contain the results and description of the technology as well as general recommendations for fully automated seamless integration of legacy CAE solutions and CAD models from diverse sources. 

PHASE III: This technology may lead to dramatically different approaches to interoperability between engineering systems that may open up new opportunities for the commercial space to adjust existing analysis codes, that represent many years of effort and expertise, to work in this new environment. In addition, it will enable automated design optimization and synthesis, which is a critical component of modern design, and is equally important for the commercial space as it is for designing future military platforms. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Alan C. O'Connor, J L. Dettbarn, L T. Gilday, Cost Analysis of Inadequate Interoperability in the U.S. Capital Facilities Industry. (NISTGCR) - 04-867

2: Martin, Sheila, and Smita Brunnermeier. 1999. Interoperability Cost Analysis of the U.S. Automotive Supply Chain. Prepared for the National Institute for Standards and Technology, March 1999.

3: Additional FAQs from TPOC for SB172-005, uploaded in SITIS on 5/2/17

KEYWORDS: CAD, CAE, Interoperability, Design, Analysis, Simulation 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Design, develop, validate, and deploy integrated systems for collecting, aggregating, processing, and analyzing data related to Collective Allostatic Load (CAL), to provide quantitative and predictive measures of a team or groups performance resilience or dysfunction in the face of potentially multiple acute and chronic stressors. Envisioned capabilities will enable near-real time measurement of a groups state beyond the simple aggregation of individuals measures and behaviors, toward understanding the causes and consequences of internal and external factors on group performance over time. 

DESCRIPTION: There is critical DoD need for the assessment of diverse, real-world human performance capabilities, particularly in novel, challenging, or adversarial contexts where individuals and teams likely face multiple stressors. The concept of allostasis has been introduced to describe an organisms response to one or more of these stressors in order to return to homeostasis, which can be thought of as a functional state of resilience and adaptability1The resulting wear and tear on the organism from this process, thought to accumulate over time and which can lead to a number of health and performance dysfunctions, is referred to as allostatic load [2-5]. Identifying allostatic load has demonstrated some value for trying to quantify and predict individual trajectories related to health, wellness, and behaviors [6-13]. Much of the research on allostatic load has been done in medical contexts, where associated measures, e.g., a composite index of indicators of cumulative strain on neurophysiological systems, are frequently associated with poor clinical and health outcomes. However, some research on performance in operational, competitive, and high stress environments has found seemingly paradoxical effects, where individual measures that would normally be associated with poor outcomes (such as low vagal tone) are actually associated with better performance [15]. In part, these findings may reflect the fact that current measures of allostatic load fail to incorporate the important influence a persons social context has on their biology. Group cohesion, leadership, morale, and trust have long been qualitatively, if not quantitatively, recognized as key elements in performance and resilience. These factors may shape whether a teams members are able to effectively deal with challenges or threats and are protected against distress and other negative impacts on performance and wellness [16-20]. Without accounting for these intangible but important social influences, conventional interpretation and prediction of any given individuals neurophysiological state and future performance may lead to conclusions that can be misleading, incomplete, or inaccurate. Being able to quantitatively measure a team or groups Collective Allostatic Load (CAL) at appropriate scales and frequencies may enable new capabilities for better predicting the current and future state and resilience of both a team and its individual members. This may further lead to capabilities for identifying and characterizing new design principles and assessment measures for human-machine teams, where “ because humans are involved “ such factors as trust, commitment, social support, and cohesion are likely to remain significant for shaping performance. The intent of this topic therefore is to solicit proposals for innovative quantitative and integrated approaches “ addressing a full pipeline of data collection, aggregation, processing, analysis, updating, visualization, and recommendation/intervention - that might rigorously advance the goal of making the important measurable, rather than making the measurable important for better understanding and predicting both team and individual resilience and performance. Proposers are encouraged to leverage a wide range of domains and technologies such as wearable and non-obtrusive sensors, data science and mathematics, machine learning, network science, cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, psychometrics and computational social science, while seeking to demonstrate the advantages and new capabilities their proposed approach may provide over current state of the art. Examples might include proposals that provide credible approaches to leveraging the growing volume and variety of personal and social data to enable new measures for quantifying CAL; new methods for integrating a suite of sensors that might include passive or social sensing platforms to enable repeated CAL measures; new reproducible experimental approaches to testing diagnostic and predictive validity of CAL measures; indirect assessments of CAL for longitudinal studies of teams or groups in different environments. This topic is generally not seeking to fund approaches that are tightly tied to narrow experimental protocols or sensor systems, rely on restricted or excessively costly software and/or data sets, or are likely to demonstrate only incremental improvements over current, largely qualitative, often non-predictive approaches towards trying to measure team performance. Hardware and sensor approaches should leverage widely-available existing platforms and any proposed development efforts must focus on range of application, ease of use, and low barriers of entry for adoption of the approach by DOD, USG, commercial, and academic communities. 

PHASE I: Identify your specific approach to a research pipeline, including which CAL measures will be developed and how they will be collected, analyzed, validated and reproduced. Justify your approach via detailed specification of the degree of improvement over current practice, or a description of the new capabilities afforded. Identify the teams or groups for which you are proposing to initially develop CAL measures, and explain their relevance for the DoD. Demonstrate the key technical principles behind the proposed solution, and identify mitigations for any barriers to scale. The demonstrations should provide proof of principle both for credible CAL measures as well as significant diagnostic and/or predictive improvements over current approaches for determining a teams and its members resilience and performance. Phase I deliverables include a notional reference model that can achieve the core functionality of a complete product, credible experimental approaches to testing the generalizability of the CAL measures for more than one kind of team, validating and reproducing CAL measures, as well as an extensive commercialization/propagation plan for achieving widespread use. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000, 8-month base period and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate scale, generalizability, and usability of the proposed approach. The demonstration should validate the predicted improvements and/or new capabilities versus current state of practice, as well as the engineering and design work required to easily scale. This may include integrations into existing systems and processes and the development of institutional partnerships. The Phase II deliverables include the prototype system and a final report that includes demonstration system designs and appropriate experimental test results. 

PHASE III: Developed technology may motivate a number of insertions into the academic, commercial, and government systems and communities. Commercial applications may include product development, collaboration and workforce productivity tools, and sports/athletic uses. Military applications may include team design, selection, assessment, and enhancement. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Sterling P, Eyer J. Allostasis: a new paradigm to explain arousal pathology. In: Fisher S, Reason J, eds. Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health. 1988:629-649

2: McEwen BS. Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine. 1998; 338: 171-179.

3: Stress and the individual. Mechanisms leading to disease. McEwen BS, Stellar E. Arch Intern Med. 1993 Sep 27; 153(18): 2093-101.

4: McEwen BS, Wingfield JC. The concept of allostasis in biology and biomedicine. Horm Behav. 2003 Jan; 43(1): 2-15.

5: McEwen BS. Allostasis and allostatic load: implications for neuropsychopharmacology. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2000 Feb; 22(2):108-24.

6: Backé EM, Seidler A, Latza U, Rossnagel K, Schumann B. The role of psychosocial stress at work for the development of cardiovascular diseases: a systematic review. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2012 Jan; 85(1): 67-79.

7: Li J, Jarczok MN, Loerbroks A, Schöllgen I, Siegrist J, Bosch JA, Wilson MG, Mauss D, Fischer JE.

8: Work stress is associated with diabetes and prediabetes: cross-sectional results from the MIPH Industrial Cohort Studies. Int J Behav Med. 2013 Dec; 20(4): 495-503.

9: Loerbroks A, Gadinger MC, Bosch JA, Stürmer T, Amelang M. Work-related stress, inability to relax after work and risk of adult asthma: a population-based cohort study. Allergy. 2010 Oct; 65(10): 1298-305.

10: Rugulies R, Norborg M, Sørensen TS, Knudsen LE, Burr H. Effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of sleep disturbances. Cross-sectional and prospective results from the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study. J Psychosom Res. 2009 Jan; 66(1): 75-83.

11: Siegrist J. Chronic psychosocial stress at work and risk of depression: evidence from prospective studies. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2008 Nov; 258 Suppl 5:115-9.

12: McEwen BS. Mood disorders and allostatic load. Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Aug 1; 54(3): 200-7.

13: Schulte P, Vainio H. Well-being at work--overview and perspective. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2010 Sep; 36(5): 422-9.

14: Kirsten W. Making the link between health and productivity at the workplace--a global perspective. Ind Health. 2010; 48(3):251-5.

15: Morgan CA, Aikins DE, Steffian G, Southwick S. Relation between cardiac vagal tone and performance in male military personnel exposed to high stress: Three prospective studies. Psychophysiology. 2007 Feb; 44(1): 120-7.

16: Li, Angela et al. Group Cohesion and Organizational Commitment: Protective Factors for Nurse Residents' Job Satisfaction, Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Satisfaction, and Burnout. Journal of Professional Nursing, Volume 30, Issue 1, 89 “ 99.

17: Salas E, Grossman R, Hughes AM, Coultas CW. Measuring Team Cohesion. Human Factors 2015. Vol 57, Issue 3, pp. 365 “ 374.

18: Dietz AS, Sierra MJ, Smith-Jentsch K, Salas E. Guiding Principles for Team Stress Measurement. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2016; Vol 56, Issue 1, pp. 1074 “ 1078.

19: Dietz AS, Weaver SJ, Sierra MJ, Bedwell WL, Salas E, Smith-Jentsch K. Unpacking the temporal and interactive effects of stress on individual and team performance. In Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2010; pp. 1017“1021.

20: Duhigg C. What Google Learned from its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. NY Times Magazine. Feb 25, 2016.

KEYWORDS: Performance; Resilience; Teams; Social Science; Biology; Sensors; Stress; Human-machine Teaming 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop approaches to associate human behaviors, across the software development lifecycle, with the production of correct versus faulty or insecure code. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to develop technology for accurately identifying and analyzing different human factors within software development processes that may result in faulty and insecure code, and therefore impact the safety and security of resulting mission-critical applications. Identifying these factors remains a challenge, given the range of potential actors in the software engineering cycle (individual developers with varying levels of skills and knowledge, quality assurance personnel, user representatives, development team managers), as well as the potentially broad range of relevant human behaviors (from individual level effects like fatigue and inattention, to organization-level structural effects and economic pressures). Current cybersecurity efforts focus on identifying faults in software using techniques that scan source code for faults. Such approaches may also apply potentially privacy-invading techniques, such as behavioral anomaly detection to identify malicious intent. These approaches result in significant false positives, as it is difficult to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior (e.g., the difference between a delay in correctly implementing a security function while a developer researches the proper implementation and an omission due to developer fatigue). Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish simple programming errors from systematic insertion of malicious code. Proposers to this topic must present novel methods for identifying and analyzing human dimensions that impact software development processes and significantly increase the identification of faulty and/or insecure code prior to software deployment. Mechanisms to consider may include, but are not limited to: multi-dimensional analysis and modeling of individual and group behavioral characteristics (e.g., patterns of development activity, form and content of communication amongst developers and other stakeholders), in conjunction with source code analysis over time. Proposed techniques should be robust to a variety of software development languages, platforms, and systems. Techniques should consider both open-source and common DoD software development environments and processes, with a particular emphasis on integrating into advanced Agile, DevOps, and other emerging software engineering methodologies. 

PHASE I: Develop innovative approaches for identifying faulty or insecure code that arises due to human dimensions that affect software development processes. Successfully demonstrate the identification and analysis of one or more classes of faulty or insecure code as a proof of concept on a real or realistic dataset, and show how false positives are reduced. The required Phase I deliverable is a final report documenting the technical approach, evaluation effort and quantitative results, as well as a detailed plan for rigorous evaluation of the approach in Phase II. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000, 9-month base period and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Build upon approaches developed during Phase I and execute the evaluation plan on an expanded dataset. Develop a fully functioning prototype that can be used to demonstrate capability for real-world software applications across DoD, commercial, and open-source software engineering processes. In addition to software implementation of the approach, Phase II deliverables will include a final report that documents the technical approach, evaluation effort and quantitative results. 

PHASE III: The capabilities developed within this project may apply to DoD. commercial, and open source software development programs to identify potentially fault and/or insecure prior to software deployment. This technology has broad applicability to commercial markets “ especially those where such faulty code may have a significant impact (e.g., in healthcare, disaster relief, law enforcement). 

REFERENCES: 

1: Wysopal, Classification and Detection of Application Backdoors, Black Hat DC Briefings, February 2008.

2: Ounce Labs, Malicious Code and the Ounce Solution, secure.ouncelabs.com.

3: Weber, et. al, A Toolkit for Detecting and Analyzing Malicious Software, ACSAC 02, November 2002.

4: Wysopal, et. al, The Art of Software Security Testing: Identifying Software Security Flaws, Addison Wesley Professional, November 2006.

5: Payne, Integrating Security into the Software Development Process, IT Pro Magazine, IEEE Computer Society, March 2010.

6: Pfleeger & Caputo, Leveraging behavioral science to mitigate cyber security risk Computers and Security, 31 (4), June 2012.

7: Pletea, Vasilescu, & Serebrenik, Security and Emotion: Sentiment Analysis of Security Discussions on GitHub, in Proc. of the 11th Working Conf. on Mining Software Repositories, 2014, pp. 348“351

8: Dabbish, et al., Social Coding in GitHub: Transparency and Collaboration in an Open Software Repository, Proc. ACM 2012 Conf. on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 2012.

9: Choi et al., Herding in Open Source Software Development: An Exploratory Study, in Proc. of CSCW 2013.

KEYWORDS: Software Development, Software Engineering, Agile Development, DevOps, Insider Threats, Malicious Code, Security 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Build out the open-source ecosystem of secure software components around the seL4 operating system microkernel. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need for secure software components on top of seL4. Recently, seL4, a general-purpose high-performance operating system microkernel, was released to the public as open-source software [1]. Unique to seL4 is its unparalleled degree of assurance, achieved through formal software verification ” the use of mathematical proofs to show that a piece of software satisfies specific properties. As such, seL4's implementation is formally proven functionally correct (bug-free) against its specification, is proven to enforce strong security properties, and its operations have proven safe upper bounds on their worst-case execution times [2]. The open-source release of seL4 includes source code, proofs and specifications, in addition to tools, libraries and example programs that can be used to build trustworthy systems [3]. With seL4 open-sourced, the opportunity emerges to create an extensive community of developers of dependable (safe, secure, reliable) systems, in application areas ranging from national security to automotive, avionics, medical implants, and industrial SCADA automation. In the defense sector, this technology promises to lead to more secure military systems ranging from unmanned ground, air and underwater vehicles, to weapons systems, satellites, and command and control devices. However, seL4 alone is not sufficient. It provides a foundation for developing dependable systems, creating a secure software base upon which further secure software layers (i.e., system and application services) can be layered to form a trustworthy system. Consequently, DARPA seeks to build out the open-source ecosystem of secure software components around seL4. Some examples of ecosystem components may include supporting additional processor architectures, communication protocols, network stacks, trusted boot, and dependable configuration tools, as well as application layers, and so on. DARPA also seeks to have these ecosystem components demonstrated in the context of applications that have potential for national impact. Note that because seL4 enables factored security arguments [4], the components and applications do not necessarily have to be fully formally verified, but they do need to have trust arguments that tie into the formal guarantees that seL4 provides, so that relevant security properties can be established. 

PHASE I: Develop a plan for building open-source secure software components on top of seL4, together with a plan of how these components may be used to create dependable applications. Required Phase I deliverable is a final report that details the proposed plans, the types of components and specific applications targeted, the level of assurance expected to be achieved by the components, and the anticipated amount of software development and formal verification required. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $225,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $175,000 base period, up to 12 months period of performance, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. Alternative structures may be accepted if sufficient rationale is provided. 

PHASE II: Develop secure software components targeting seL4. Required Phase II deliverables include all documentation and software for the software components, relevant assurance arguments, and a software demonstration of the components working with seL4 in the context of a pre-transition application. 

PHASE III: Potential DoD and commercial applications are cyber-physical systems that require a light weight operating systems kernel that has a high degree of assurance. In this context, high assurance means rigorous evidence of a correct implementation and/or evidence that the kernel provides the intrinsic properties of confidentiality and integrity. The goal of this effort is to provide the assured and secure underpinnings for cyber secure cyber physical systems. Often this takes the form of a computer controlling a physical system. This includes most DoD weapons systems, and a variety of systems that is of interest to both the DoD and commercial worlds. Including automotive, machinery control systems, computer peripherals, communication devices, and small interconnected devices collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT). 

REFERENCES: 

1: seL4 website: http://www.sel4.systems/

2: Gerwin Klein, June Andronick, Kevin Elphinstone, Toby Murray, Thomas Sewell, Rafal Kolanski and Gernot Heiser, Comprehensive formal verification of an OS microkernel, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, Volume 32, Number 1, pp. 2:1-2:70, February 2014.

3: Github: https://github.com/seL4

4: Susan D. Alexander, Trust Engineering ” Rejecting the Tyranny of the Weakest Link, Proceedings of ACSAC '12, Orlando, FL.

KEYWORDS: SeL4, Microkernel, Operating System, Formal Verification, Dependable Systems, Open-source Software 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Info Systems 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a system for embedded real-time motion trajectory planning in novel environments and on diverse Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained platforms. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to develop fieldable technology to enable embedded real-time adaptive motion planning in one or more applications of industrial or DoD mission relevance. As autonomous systems increase in capability, one key bottleneck for real-world applications is the high computational cost of planning each action to execute. Because the state space of possible trajectories is enormous, planning even simple motions in relatively sparse environments can be a challenge. In well-controlled settings (such as a factory floor), planning for common motions can be computed offline, and the pre-planned actions can be executed repeatedly as long as the work environment does not change much. In even slightly less structured environments, motion planning typically requires a significant amount of auxiliary computational resources yet still adds significant delays to each action taken. Speeding up motion planning would expand the range of tasks that autonomous machines can perform because they would be able to adapt to changes immediately and more fluidly learn from the consequences of actions. This would pave the way to systems that interact with their environments in near real-time. A successful system will consider both the hardware and software aspects of this problem to provide real-time motion planning on Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained platforms. The solution should be general enough to serve a wide range of platforms and environments. 

PHASE I: Design an initial approach to accelerating motion planning on SWaP-constrained platforms with an eventual goal of real-time planning. Elements of the approach may include innovations in algorithms and/or hardware as appropriate but must account for the impact of both on achieving real-time performance without increasing the overall SWaP requirements (i.e. a purely algorithmic approach must be able to make the case that the performance improvements are so large as to enable the desired performance on existing hardware, while a hardware approach must make the case that the algorithm chosen is the right target for specialized hardware and will not overly limit the platforms or environments that the solution will support). The design should not depend on a particular autonomous platform or task environment. Develop a prototype and/or simulation to demonstrate potential power/performance gains. Required Phase I deliverables will include a final report detailing the technical approach and proposed system design along with an assessment of the expected performance compared with traditional methods. Metrics for this assessment include execution time (both for planning as well as pre- and post-processing, I/O, and other parts of the control pipeline), power consumption, and computational resources. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $150,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $100,000, 6-month base period, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate prototype technology to enable embedded real-time adaptive motion planning in one or more applications of industrial or DoD mission relevance. Based on Phase I results, refine and finalize the design for a system for embedded real-time motion planning. Develop a hardware prototype to demonstrate the operational capability. Performance targets at this stage should demonstrate planning times on the order of milliseconds or less (significantly less than the timescales for perceptual processing in the target domain) and power consumption on the order of Watts. Generate a fabrication-ready design for the final hardware, as well as the associated interface and control software. The Phase II system must be general purpose in the sense that the hardware is not specialized to a particular autonomous platform or task environment. Required Phase II deliverables include a hardware prototype and final report detailing the final system design and implemented interface and control software. 

PHASE III: Successful technology in this area would enable autonomous mechanical systems to operate in complex settings that require new motions to be computed on-the-fly. Military and commercial applications for this technology may include industrial robotics (manufacturing or logistics) tasks or autonomous vehicles for commercial or DoD use. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Jia Pan, Dinesh Manocha, "Efficient Configuration Space Construction and Optimization for Motion Planning", Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2015, Pages 046-057, ISSN 2095-8099, http://dx.doi.org/10.15302/J-ENG-2015009.

2: J. Pan and D. Manocha. GPU-based parallel collision detection for fast motion planning. International Journal of Robotics Research, 31(2):187“200, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0278364911429335

3: Sean Murray, Will Floyd-Jones, Ying Qi, Daniel Sorin, George Konidaris. "Robot Motion Planning on a Chip". In Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems. June 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.15607/RSS.2016.XII.004

KEYWORDS: Autonomy, Real-time Motion Planning, HRI, Robotics, Embedded Systems, Low-power 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a compact, electronically actuated two state optical filter that can rapidly switch between broadband transmission, and narrow line bandpass with high out of band optical rejection. 

DESCRIPTION: There is a critical DoD need to develop a compact active optical filter device for both broadband passive and LIDAR mode measurements to overcome current state-of-the-art challenges. Current focal planes are typically designed to measure passive imagery, but active arrays are available that can measure depth using the time of flight of a short-pulsed laser illuminator, also known as light detection and ranging (LIDAR). Passive imaging drives an optical design that maximizes throughput within the spectral band of interest. However, active mode operation at long range requires efficient rejection of background illumination, and the use of a laser line pass band in the optical path. Camera designs are emerging that are able to image in both passive and active modes. Tunable/switchable filters are available, including liquid crystal, acousto-optic, or Fabry Perot filters. But each suffers from challenges that include switching speed, high passband transmission, out of band blocking, narrow bandwidth, or large aperture. Actively tunable notch wavelength filters are not required but would enable tuning and calibration, as well as other potential applications. For example, hyperspectral imagers tend to be bulky due to their large optical systems, which are needed to simultaneously collect both the spatial and spectral data, and a switchable filter with both broad passband mode and tunable narrow wavelength mode would be beneficial. In another area of interest to the DoD, obscurants such as dust or smoke limit the ability of sensors to provide cues needed by pilots or vehicle drivers while conducting operations. Narrow-band filtering of sensor imagery has been shown to improve visibility in the presence of obscurants. This application does not require a bandpass as narrow as for active illumination. The ability to create a system that has a tunable bandpass filter for spectral imaging, while also allowing broadband passive operation could reduce the number of detectors, the system size and complexity required for several different applications. Innovative approaches are sought which can simultaneously achieve all performance parameters below for laser line transmission. 1. Physical Clear Aperture: 25 mm radius Maximum component thickness: 5 mm 2. Optical (Broadband transmission state) Transmission Band: 1300nm to 1700 nm (threshold), 900 nm to 1700 nm (objective) Average transmission > 45% (threshold), > 80% (objective) 3. Optical (Laser line filter state) Notch center: 1550 nm (threshold), tunable across full transmission band (objective) Notch FWHM: 5 nm (threshold), 1 nm (objective) Notch transmission: > 40% (threshold), > 80% (objective) Out of band rejection: Average OD > 2 (threshold), Average OD > 3 (objective) Switching time: < 10 ms (threshold), < 1 ms (objective) For the alternative application of imaging through obscurants, all of the parameters above still apply, with the following exceptions. Proposals may address either laser line transmission, or obscurants transmission, or both. Transmission Band: 8µm to 12µm (threshold), 7.5µm to 12µm (objective) Narrowband FWHM: 1µm at a fixed center wavelength (threshold), 1µm FWHM tunable across the transmission band (objective). Moving parts are acceptable, but must fit within the above size constraints, which precludes moving a filter in and out of the aperture as in a filter wheel. The design must be sufficiently robust to maintain performance under mechanical vibration. Filter designs that have the laser notch fixed in wavelength or that are real time selectable by the user are both of interest. 

PHASE I: Develop a concept design and model key attributes to show technical feasibility. Produce laboratory demonstrations of high risk or critical components. The Phase I deliverable is a final report that will include detailed plans for Phase II and a description of the likely production cost in quantity. For this topic, DARPA will accept proposals for work and cost up to $150,000 for Phase I. The preferred structure is a $100,000, 6-month base period, and a $50,000, 4-month option period. 

PHASE II: Develop a working prototype of an electronically switchable filter including the incorporation of any materials as well as drive and diagnostic electronics required to demonstrate performance. Undertake thorough testing of the performance of the prototypes in a laboratory environment including evaluation of the sensitivity of the filter to variations in temperature and humidity or mechanical vibration. Fabrication and integration techniques to enable ultimate high volume manufacturing will be assessed. Military robustness and functionality will be evaluated. Phase II deliverable(s) include two working prototypes of the filter, including control electronics, as well as a final report that describes the performance of the device. 

PHASE III: Sensor systems that enable autonomy using compact, inexpensive components in a wide range of environments is a need for many industrial, commercial, and consumer automotive, aeronautic, and robotics markets. For a dual-mode active/passive sensor, a switchable filter element would be a critical enabler for such a system. Other applications could include chemical/biological spectroscopy or displays. 

REFERENCES: 

1: J.S. Milne, J.M. Dell, and A.J. Keating, "Widely Tunable MEMS-Based Fabry“Perot Filter," J Microelectromechanical Sys, 18(4), (2009), p. 905-913.

2: J.Y. Hardeberg, F. Schmitt, H. Brettel, "Multispectral color image capture using a liquid crystal tunable filter," Opt. Eng. 41(10) (2002) 2532-2538.

KEYWORDS: Tunable Filter, Laser Line Filter, Imaging 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop response inhibitors for adversarial domesticated and feral canines to preclude operators from having to temporarily move from an objective area. 

DESCRIPTION: Special Operations Forces must be able to walk or run undetected through rural and urban areas without alerting adversarial domesticated and feral canines. Advance, remote delivery of effects to inhibit response or deter canines from the area will increase unit effectiveness and reduce the possibility of compromise. The goal of this technology pursuit is to develop innovative Canine Response Inhibitors such as sound, light, scent or a combination of these effects that will reduce or eliminate the ability of an adversarial canine to detect operators moving through an area. The inhibitors can be permanent or temporary. Canine Response Inhibitors cannot be observable by human inhabitants in the area where used. Acceptable Canine Response Inhibitors include but are not limited to the following: Inhibit barking, howling and whining Inhibit hearing Inhibit vision Inhibit scent Induce unconsciousness Induce movement away from the area where the effects are deployed The Canine Response Inhibitors must be safe to humans or be mitigated using personal protective equipment and be effective for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes. The preferred Canine Response Inhibitors will not cause death. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to determine if innovative Canine Response Inhibitors described in the above paragraph titled Description can be developed. The feasibility study should include analysis to determine what is in the art of the possible to inhibit the detection and alerting of adversarial canines and/or cause canines to move away from an area. The feasibility study shall also investigate the ability to remotely deliver the Canine Response Inhibitors and the scale-up potential of the Canine Response Inhibitors and delivery methods. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate the Canine Response Inhibitors determined to be the most feasible solution during the Phase I feasibility study. 

PHASE III: Large scale production and delivery methodologies will be determined to support effects and deployment requirements. The Canine Response Inhibitors will have potential commercial applications outside of USSOCOM for law enforcement applications. Various Government and state agencies that encounter adversary canines would also benefit from Canine Response Inhibitors of this nature. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Context Specificity of Inhibitory Control in Dogs: Emily E. Bray, Evan L. MacLean, Brian A. Hare. http://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/context-specificty-of-inhibitory-control-in-dogs-bray-et-al-201

2. Increasing Arousal Enhances Inhibitory Control in Calm but Not Excitable Dogs: Emily E. Bray, Evan L. MacLean, Brian A. Hare; https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/Increasing%20arousal%20enhanc

KEYWORDS: Dogs, Inhibitory Control, Canine, Cognition 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Bio Medical 

OBJECTIVE: Develop novel nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals to enhance important USSOCOM Multi-Purpose Canine (MPC) performance attributes that optimize their performance, improve recovery time when wounded and increase their survivability. 

DESCRIPTION: The optimization of an MPCs ability to perform at very high levels for long durations and to process the operational environment under high levels of stress and distraction will significantly improve their operational effectiveness and recovery. The goal of this technology pursuit is to develop innovative nutraceutical and/or pharmaceutical compounds that will optimize the performance, improve recovery time and increase the survivability of MPCs by: Increasing endurance Improving ability to regulate body temperature Improving hydration Improving acclimatization to acute extremes in temperature, altitude, and/or time zone changes Increase the speed of recovery from strenuous work Improving hearing Improving vision Improving scent Decreasing adverse effects and increase surviving trauma due to loss of a high volume of blood loss The nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals must be safe, affordable and easily administered. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to optimize the capabilities of the proposed nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals to meet the canine performance enhancements described in the above paragraph titled Description. The feasibility study should include both in vitro and/or in vivo (e.g. rodents or mice) studies to determine what is in the art of the possible to enhance the performance attributes of the USSOCOM MPCs. The feasibility study shall also investigate the stability and scale-up potential of the nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals as well as to optimize the performance or performance markers observed during the feasibility studies. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Conduct a proof of concept. Develop and demonstrate a prototype determined to be the most feasible solution during the Phase I feasibility study. Acute toxicology testing will be performed using at least two species (with one of the species being canines) to determine safety. Additionally, tests will be conducted to validate the optimized properties of proposed nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals. Baseline and optimized canine test subjects will be assessed and documented on specific abilities such as, but not limited to: endurance, blood flow, muscle fatigue, recovery, vision, hearing, cognitive processing, and trauma survivability. Phase II will result in a Business Plan to describe the plan to develop and produce the nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals. 

PHASE III: A larger canine study will be conducted to assess and validate the toxicology and performance optimization abilities of the nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals. Large scale production and delivery methodologies will also be determined to support nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals deployment requirements. The nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals will have potential commercial applications outside of USSOCOM in the sporting, hunting, and agility applications. Various Government and state agencies with canine units would also benefit from nutraceutical and/or pharmaceuticals of this nature. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Diverio S1, Guelfi G2, Barbato O2, Di Mari W3, Egidi MG4, Santoro MM4. Non-invasive assessment of animal exercise stress: real-time PCR of GLUT4, COX2, SOD1 and HSP70 in avalanche military dog saliva. Animal. 2015 Jan;9(1):104-9. doi: 10.1017/S1751731114002304. Epub 2014 Sep 23. https://www.nc

2. Huntingford JL1, Kirn BN2, Cramer K2, Mann S3, Wakshlag JJ4. Evaluation of a performance enhancing supplement in American Foxhounds during eventing. J Nutr Sci. 2014 Sep 25;3:e24. doi: 10.1017/jns.2014.38. eCollection 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473135/

3. de Godoy MR1, Beloshapka AN1, Carter RA2, Fascetti AJ3, Yu Z3, McIntosh BJ4, Swanson KS5, Buff PR2. Acute changes in blood metabolites and amino acid profile post-exercise in Foxhound dogs fed a high endurance formula. J Nutr Sci. 2014 Sep 30;3:e33. doi: 10.1017/jns.2014.46. eCollection 2014.

4. Zanghi B1, Middleton R2, Reynolds A. Effects of post exercise feeding of a supplemental carbohydrate and protein bar with or without astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis to exercise-conditioned dogs. 2014 Sep 22, AJVR, Vol 76, No 4, April 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25815575

5. Nogueiras R1, Habegger KM2, Chaudhary N3, Finan B4, Banks AS5, Dietrich MO6, Horvath TL7, Sinclair DA8, Pfluger PT9, Tschöp MH10. Physiol. Sirtuin 1 and sirtuin 3: physiological modulators of metabolism. Rev. 2012 Jul; 92(3):1479-514. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00022.2011. Review. PMID: 22811431. ht

6. Yang H1, Yang T2, Baur JA3, Perez E4, Matsui T5, Carmona JJ6, Lamming DW7, Souza-Pinto NC8, Bohr VA9, Rosenzweig A10, de Cabo R11, Sauve AA12, Sinclair DA13. Nutrient-sensitive mitochondrial NAD+ levels dictate cell survival. Cell. 2007 Sep 21; 130(6):1095-107. PMID: 17889652. https://www.ncbi

KEYWORDS: Canine, Performance, Endurance, Trauma, Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative domestic capability to produce fully functioning facsimiles of foreign made weapons that are equal to or better than what is currently being produced internationally. 

DESCRIPTION: For decades surrogate forces and allies have depended on foreign made weapons which are used in conflicts around the world. USSOCOM intermittently supplies surrogate forces and allies with foreign made weapons from international intermediaries. These foreign made weapons lack interchangeability and standardization which hinders field and depot level part replacement. Developing a domestic production capability for foreign like weapons addresses these issues while being cost effective as well as strengthens the nations military-industrial complex, ensures a reliable and secure supply chain, and reduces acquisition lead times. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to assess what is in the art of the possible that satisfies the requirements specified in the above paragraph entitled Description. As a part of this feasibility study, proposers shall address all viable system design options with respective specifications to reverse engineer or reengineer and domestically produce the following foreign like weapons: 7.62×54R belt fed light machine gun that resembles a PKM (Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovany), and a 12.7×108mm heavy machine gun that resembles a Russian designed NSV (Nikitin, Sokolov, Volkov). Hereafter, foreign like weapons is defined as a 7.62×54R belt fed machine gun and a 12.7×108mm heavy machine gun. Offerors must describe their approach to replicate foreign made weapons and mass produce foreign like weapons with the same form, fit and function as the foreign made weapon counterpart. The approach must describe all facets of design to production to include the actions, activities and processes necessary to: 1) develop drawings and specifications to replicate foreign weapons, 2) acquire and manufacture materials and parts, 3) bring together a production capability, and 4) develop methods for testing and evaluating the manufactured weapon to drawings and specifications. The approach shall also address the manufacture of spare parts to support fielded weapons. The approach shall describe how the offeror will employ only domestic labor, acquire domestically produced material and parts, and ensure weapon manufacture and assembly in domestic facilities. Domestic is defined as the fifty United States (US), Washington, DC, US territories and US possessions. Offers will not be considered if the offeror includes one or more of the following that are not acquired, hired, produced, manufactured, assembled or utilized domestically: labor, materials, parts, weapons, and manufacturing facilities. The Government will not supply or make available for review any drawings, such as Technical Development Drawings (TDP) or Technical Production Drawings (TPD). Such drawings will be produced as part of Phase II. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments, laboratory studies, and manufacturing processes as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate a production readiness, capability, and capacity to achieve precision manufacturing of foreign like weapons to Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 7. The demonstration involves providing conclusive substantiation of the proposers ability to maintain production cost, schedule, and performance. Proposers will be required to demonstrate their capability and capacity to produce foreign like weapons by describing how they cost out production weapons, develop and deliver TPD and TDP for each weapon, bring together effective production processes, acquire and maintain necessary tooling, reconfigure or assemble a production line to accommodate the production of the various foreign like weapon types, disassemble the production line and restart the program (if necessary), and scale production to account for varying order sizes. Proof of concept will be demonstrated by building to TDP specifications and delivery of five fully functional prototypes, to include firing of live ammunition, of a foreign like weapon that resembles the form, fit, and function of a Russian designed NSV 12.7×108mm heavy machine gun. 

PHASE III: Assemble a production capability to supply the US Government with foreign like weapons for use by surrogate and allied forces. 

REFERENCES: 

1: MIL-STD-810G titled Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests “ Thermal Shock Chambers, Revision G, dated 31 October 2008. http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-0800-0899/MIL-STD-810G_12306/

2: AECTP-100 (ED 3) titled Environmental Guidelines for Defense Materiel, Edition 3, dated January 2006; http://everyspec.com/NATO/NATO-AECTP/AECTP-100-3_3977/

3: Test Operation Procedure (TOP)-3-2-045 titled Test Operations Procedure: Small Arms - Hand and Shoulder Weapons and Machineguns; dated 17 September 2007; http://everyspec.com/ARMY/Test-Operations-Procedure/TOP-3-2-045_32068/

4: MIL-STD-1474E titled Department of Defense Design Criteria Standard: Noise Limits, Version E, dated 15 April 2015; http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-1400-1499/MIL-STD-1474E_52224/

5: Test Operations Procedure (TOP) 03-2-504A titled Safety Evaluation of Small Arms and Medium Caliber Weapons, dated 29 May 2013: www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA587409

6: The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering, Volume 111, Number 7, May 2002, by Pamela Samuelson and Suzanne Scotchmer: http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-law-and-economics-of-reverse-engineering

7: MIL-HDBK-115C titled Department of Defense Handbook: US Army Reverse Engineering Handbook (Guidelines and Procedures), Revision C, dated 21 March 2016: http://everyspec.com/MIL-HDBK/MIL-HDBK-0099-0199/MIL-HDBK-115C_54170/

KEYWORDS: Fire Arms, Weapons, Engineering Manufacturing, Production, Foreign Weapons 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop innovative Group 1 (< 20 pounds) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to satisfy intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability gaps that support United States Army Special Operations Forces missions. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic is seeking innovative proposals for Group 1 UAS (< 20 pounds) with respect to air vehicle development (fixed or rotary wing) and non-lethal, external payload-carrying capacity/delivery mechanism development. This topic effort is not seeking to develop a new intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensor per se, rather, emphasis is placed on developing the air vehicle itself and its corresponding external payload-carrying capacity (i.e., the ability to pick and up deliver a box/non-lethal item). An electro-optical/infra-red sensor is required as part of this topic and a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf solution meeting the performance specifications listed below may be deemed acceptable. However, any Commercial-Off-The-Shelf hardware included as part of the system may not be built or owned by a foreign entity. Systems must support operations including, but not limited to, Operational Preparation of the Environment, Advance Force Operations, and Intelligence Operations to shape ongoing operations and to set the conditions for future operations. Proposals should address the following functions: situational awareness tools, sensor employment devices, equipment delivery and recovery, and short-range reconnaissance. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to assess what is in the art of the possible that satisfies the requirements specified in the above paragraph entitled Description. As a part of this feasibility study, proposers shall address all viable overall system design options and seek to achieve as close as possible, the following objective (O) performance parameter specifications {minimum threshold (T) parameters included where required}: 1. Mission Range (How far the UAS can travel in one direction and return): O=10 kilometers. 2. Time on Station (How long the UAS can remain on-station at max range with maximum payload weight at density altitude up to 6000 feet Mean Sea Level): O=5 hours. 3. System Transport (How this system is moved or transported): O =1 man portable. 4. Manning (Number of personnel required to operate the UAS): O =1 person. 5. Weight (Total weight of UAS including any payload): T=20 pounds (air vehicle + payload) / O= <3lbs (air vehicle only). 6. Mission Payload Capacity (Amount of weight the UAS can effectively carry/transport): O=15 pounds. 7. Payload Delivery (Aircraft accuracy for the delivery of non-lethal payloads): O<= 1 meter of specified delivery location. 8. System Tracking (UAS can be tracked to provide situational awareness of the UAS real-time location): O= UAS location displayed on moving map application. 9. Flight Controls: UAS shall have the ability to be flown/payloads controlled via two independent users. 10. Command and Control Link: (The UAS shall be controlled through user specified and selectable protocols): T=Platform specific protocol/O=Threshold plus military standard protocols and commercially available civilian protocols, Iridium short burst data wave relay or a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf similar solution. 11. Payload Modularity: UAS should be capable of having external payloads changed on an as-required basis. 12. Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) Full-Motion-Video: The UAS shall maintain an Electro-Optical and Infra-Red Full-Motion-Video capability to identify dismounts carrying small arms (Video-National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale 7) and activity while maintaining acoustic and visual signature requirements. 13. Audio/Visual Signature: The UAS must be capable of maintaining an altitude and standoff distance that is not acoustically or visually detectable by unaided human senses in remote open areas while meeting Electro-Optical/Infra-Red requirements. 14. System Power: The UAS shall have a removable electrical power system (battery) directly supplying the system. 15. Set-up and Pack-up Time (The UAS shall be able to be unpacked and ready-to-launch in an expeditious manner. The UAS shall be able to be packed-up and ready to move out rapidly upon completion of flight operations): O=10 minutes or less. 16. System Security (UAS shall be capable of deleting all critical data if lost): T=delete flight and Command and Control data/O=zeroize all memory stored on UAS. 17. Command and Control Link Security (System should be capable of employing Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection command and control links): O=Frequency Hopping Command and Control link. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate four (4) unmanned aerial prototype systems (System = Ground Station Controller and three (3) Air Vehicles with sensors) determined to be the most feasible solution during the Phase I feasibility study on a Group 1 UAS for tactical-level intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. 

PHASE III: This system could be used in a broad range of military applications at the tactical level (platoon-sized element and smaller) where a Group 1 UAS would provide critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities without reliance on larger, strategic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms. 

REFERENCES: 

Unmanned Aircraft System Airspace Integration Plan, Department of Defense, Version 2.0, March 2011. <http://www.acq.osd.mil/sts/docs/DoD_2011_UAS_Airspace_Integration_Plan_(signed).pdf>.

Video-National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale “ Published by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency-Motion Imagery Standards Board, 27 February 2014. <http://www.gwg.nga.mil/misb/docs/standards/ST0901.2.pdf>.

KEYWORDS: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Systems, UAV, SUAV, UAS 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop innovative Group 2 (< 55 lbs.) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to satisfy intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability gaps that support United States Army Special Operations Forces missions. 

DESCRIPTION: This topic is seeking innovative proposals for Group 2 UAS (< 55 lbs.) with respect to air vehicle development (fixed or rotary wing) and non-lethal, external payload-carrying capacity/delivery mechanism development. This topic effort is not seeking to develop a new intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensor per se, rather, emphasis is placed on developing the air vehicle itself and its corresponding external payload-carrying capacity (i.e., the ability to pick and up deliver a box/non-lethal item). An electro-optical/infra-red sensor is required as part of this topic and a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf solution meeting the performance specifications listed below may be deemed acceptable. However, any Commercial-Off-The-Shelf hardware included as part of the system may not be built or owned by a foreign entity. Systems must support operations including, but not limited to, Operational Preparation of the Environment, Advance Force Operations, and Intelligence Operations to shape ongoing operations and to set the conditions for future operations. Proposals should address the following functions: situational awareness tools, sensor employment devices, equipment delivery and recovery, and short-range reconnaissance. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to assess what is in the art of the possible that satisfies the requirements specified in the above paragraph entitled Description. As a part of this feasibility study, proposers shall address all viable overall system design options and seek to achieve as close as possible, the following objective (O) performance parameter specifications {minimum threshold (T) parameters included where required}: 1. Mission Range (How far the UAS can travel in one direction and return): O=150 kilometers. 2. Time on Station (How long the UAS can remain on-station at max range with maximum payload weight at density altitude up to 6000 feet Mean Sea Level): O=10 hours. 3. System Transport (How this system is moved or transported): O =1 man portable. 4. Manning (Number of personnel required to operate the UAS): O =1 person. 5. Weight (Total weight of UAS including any payload): T=55 pounds (air vehicle + payload) / O= <20lbs (air vehicle only). 6. Mission Payload Capacity (Amount of weight the UAS can effectively carry/transport): O=50lbs. 7. Payload Delivery (Aircraft accuracy for the delivery of non-lethal payloads): O<= 1 meter of specified delivery location. 8. System Tracking (UAS can be tracked to provide situational awareness of the UAS real-time location): O= UAS location displayed on moving map application. 9. Flight Controls: UAS shall have the ability to be flown/payloads controlled via two independent users. 10. Command and Control Link: (The UAS shall be controlled through user specified and selectable protocols): T=Platform specific protocol/O=Threshold plus military standard protocols and commercially available civilian protocols, Iridium short burst data wave relay or a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf similar solution. 11. Payload Modularity: UAS should be capable of having external payloads changed on an as-required basis. 12. Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) Full-Motion-Video: The UAS shall maintain an Electro-Optical and Infra-Red Full-Motion-Video capability to identify dismounts carrying small arms (Video-National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale 7) and activity while maintaining acoustic and visual signature requirements. 13. Audio/Visual Signature: The UAS must be capable of maintaining an altitude and standoff distance that is not acoustically or visually detectable by unaided human senses in remote open areas while meeting Electro-Optical/Infra-Red requirements. 14. System Power: The UAS shall have a removable electrical power system (battery) directly supplying the system. 15. Set-up and Pack-up Time (The UAS shall be able to be unpacked and ready-to-launch in an expeditious manner. The UAS shall be able to be packed-up and ready to move out rapidly upon completion of flight operations): O=10 minutes or less. 16. System Security (UAS shall be capable of deleting all critical data if lost): T=delete flight and Command and Control data/O=zeroize all memory stored on UAS. 17. Command and Control Link Security (System should be capable of employing Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection command and control links): O=Frequency Hopping C2 link. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate four (4) unmanned aerial prototype systems (System = Ground Station Controller and three (3) Air Vehicles with sensors) determined to be the most feasible solution during the Phase I feasibility study on a Group 2 UAS for tactical-level intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. 

PHASE III: This system could be used in a broad range of military applications at the tactical level (platoon-sized element and smaller) where a Group 2 UAS would provide critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities without reliance on larger, strategic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms. 

REFERENCES: 

Unmanned Aircraft System Airspace Integration Plan, Department of Defense, Version 2.0, March 2011. <http://www.acq.osd.mil/sts/docs/DoD_2011_UAS_Airspace_Integration_Plan_(signed).pdf>.

Video-National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale “ Published by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency-Motion Imagery Standards Board, 27 February 2014. <http://www.gwg.nga.mil/misb/docs/standards/ST0901.2.pdf>.

KEYWORDS: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Systems, UAV, SUAV, UAS 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to develop innovative technologies that increase the probability of a first round hit or effects on target with a standard 60mm, 81mm or 120mm mortar tube; using standard munitions and charges; out to the maximum effective range of the weapon system. Focus will be on an easy to operate, self-contained suite of sensors and computational power mounted to the weapon. 

DESCRIPTION: Mortar systems are widely used within the Special Operations Force to provide organic fire support due to their light weight, low cost, and maneuvablility characteristics. However, aiming systems for mortars have remained largely unchanged over the last 60 years. Recent developments in ballistic microprocessors, positioning systems, and direction measurement offer an opportunity to greatly improve the first round effectiveness across the family of mortars with little or no modification to the existing systems. The envisioned aiming system will operate day and night and very accurately measure the primary variables of a ballistic calculation including elevation, azimuth orientation and cant angle of the barrel and the local environmental conditions, including temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. The system should accept gunner inputs, either via manual input or direct digital input of the target position and wind conditions. The system will combine measured data and gunner inputs with the data from known firing tables of existing munitions and charges to provide the required barrel orientation adjustments to engage the target. System should provide a firing solution in either direct lay, with gunner measured range and bearing to the target; or in indirect lay with target coordinates provided by a forward observer. The ultimate objective of this development effort is a system that will provide high accuracy of fire with minimal system set up and minimum information (or variables) the gunner has to track during the engagement sequence. 

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to determine what is in the art of the possible that satisfies the requirements specified in the above paragraph entitled Description. Conduct market analysis and design studies, and cost analysis to provide an initial system design that minimizes weight, withstands the shock loads associated with extended usage, is simple to operate and has low manufacturing risk. Conduct laboratory evaluations to predict expected accuracy and durability of the proposed design. The results of Phase I will be a detail technical report of analysis completed. The objective of this USSOCOM Phase I SBIR effort is to conduct and document the results of a thorough feasibility study to investigate what is in the art of the possible within the given trade space that will satisfy a needed technology. The feasibility study should investigate all known options that meet or exceed the minimum performance parameters specified in this write up. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options that are investigated and recommend the option that best achieves the objective of this technology pursuit. The funds obligated on the resulting Phase I SBIR contracts are to be used for the sole purpose of conducting a thorough feasibility study using scientific experiments, laboratory studies, and manufacturing processes as necessary. Operational prototypes will not be developed with USSOCOM SBIR funds during Phase I feasibility studies. Operational prototypes developed with other than SBIR funds that are provided at the end of Phase I feasibility studies will not be considered in deciding what firm(s) will be selected for Phase II. 

PHASE II: Demonstrate that what was determined to be feasible in Phase I can be brought into reality. Based on the results and recommendations generated during Phase I, produce full functioning prototypes and test those systems in a simulated operational environment. Modify design as necessary based on test results and retest. The final deliverable of Phase II will be a sufficient quantity of prototypes, with improvements incorporated to conduct an operational evaluation and a report of all test activities, findings and corrective actions. 

PHASE III: The prototype systems delivered during Phase II will be formally evaluated during a structured Combat Evaluation which will include transition planning. While the primary application for this technology will be all the Services within the Department of Defense that use a mortar system, it would also be highly desirable to United States allies. Additionally, commercial applications could include mortar based line delivery and avalanche prevention systems. 

REFERENCES: 

1: Army Field Manual 3-22.90 titled Mortars, Department of the Army, dated December 2007. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-22-90/fm3-22-90.pdf

2: Army Field Manual 3-22.91 titled Mortar Fire Direction Procedures, Department of the Army, dated July 2008. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-22-91/fm3-22-91.pdf

KEYWORDS: Mortar, Fire Control, MEMS, Laser Range Finder, GPS, North Finding, Targeting, Ballistics