SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- SOFTWARE FOR DISTRIBUTED ROBOTICS (SDR) INDOOR RECONNAISSANCE EXPERIMENTS/DEMONSTRATION
- Notice Date
- 3/26/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714
- ZIP Code
- 22203-1714
- Solicitation Number
- BAA02-14
- Response Due
- 4/1/2003
- Archive Date
- 4/1/2004
- Point of Contact
- Dr. Douglas Gage, Program Manager, DARPA/ITO, Phone none, Fax 703-522-7161,
- E-Mail Address
-
none
- Description
- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals for the demonstration of a distributed robotic system to address indoor reconnaissance applications. Experiments should be proposed to assess the mission level performance of the distributed robotic system. Establishing the sensitivity of system level performance to specific task details and to system design decisions is of special interest. The system will be comprised of at least 100 small mobile robots, user interface(s), and any other required system level components. Baseline performance levels will be established using a system of fixed-location sensors. Indoor reconnaissance is a military application domain of increasing importance in a world of MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain), special operations, and counter terrorism. The Software for Distributed Robotics (SDR) program is developing software to coordinate behaviors and provide user interfaces for systems of thousands of small robots. This will enable large ensembles of extremely resource-limited small robots to perform useful tasks in the real world. It will also permit humans to task and query the system as a collective, without having to interact with robots individually. The SDR Program was initiated under DARPA BAA 99-20 with initial research projects addressing the technical areas of coordinated behaviors, communications between robots, human-robot interface, and computational architecture. The projects are described online at http://www.darpa.mil/ito/research/sdr/projlist.html. Research to date in distributed robotics has been driven principally by technology push. The ultimate vision is to develop a system that addresses a real world application and is suitable for production and deployment. This solicitation seeks proposals that address the following tasks: 1. Detailed specification of the reconnaissance missions/functions to be addressed, the target capabilities, and the relevant metrics and measures of performance. 2. The design and implementation of the test bed system to support the experiments and demonstration, including analysis and/or simulation to establish target performance goals. 3. Planning and execution of experiments. Multiple mission scenarios may be proposed. Scenarios are encouraged that address multiple types of targets (e.g., human intruders, sound sources, chemicals) and of tasks (e.g., covertly to locate a single target, to locate places where targets are concentrated, or to proof an area to ensure that no targets are present). 4. Planning and execution of the demonstration. A final system demonstration should be proposed that addresses a "locate and protect" scenario as described in the Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP). 5. Assessment of experimental and demonstration results. System performance metrics and lessons learned should be captured and presented in a final report. The design and implementation task above should address the following research areas: Development of the behaviors of the individual robots, and the resulting system-level functionality, to support the complete mission cycle of preparation, programming, deployment, execution, monitoring and intervention, and recovery/disposal. Specification and development of needed communications/coordination capabilities for the robot ensemble to execute the task. Development of the user interface, to include a coherent user's model of the system's functional capabilities and expected performance levels, as well as the means to program the system for a specific mission task sequence, to monitor its performance in real time, and to assess its performance when it has completed its mission. Utilization of existing robot assets is highly encouraged to minimize cost and technical/schedule risks. PROGRAM SCOPE: Proposed efforts should cover an 18-month period of performance. The project schedule should include a kick-off meeting within a month of the award date, in-progress reviews at 6-month intervals, and multiple experiments and a final demonstration. Up to $2 M may be available for the remaining FY2002 fiscal year. Up to two awards are anticipated, and teaming is highly encouraged. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches and techniques that lead to or enable revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art. Proposals are not limited to the specific strategies listed above, and alternative visions will be considered. However, proposals should be for research that substantially contributes towards the goals stated. Research should result in prototype hardware and/or software demonstrating integrated concepts and approaches. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvement to the existing state of practice or focuses on a specific system or solution. Integrated solution sets embodying significant technological advances are strongly encouraged over narrowly defined research endeavors. Proposals may involve other research groups or industrial cooperation and cost sharing. This BAA shall remain open and proposals received up to one year following this BAA's release. GENERAL INFORMATION: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Information Technology Office (DARPA/ITO) requires completion of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Cover Sheet Submission for each Proposal, by accessing the URL below: http://www.dyncorp-is.com/BAA/index.asp?BAAid=02-14. After finalizing the BAA Cover Sheet Submission, the proposer must submit the BAA Confirmation Sheet that will automatically appear on the web page. Each proposer is responsible for printing the BAA Confirmation Sheet and submitting it attached to the "original" and each designated number of copies. The Confirmation Sheet should be the first page of your Proposal. Failure to comply with these submission procedures may result in the submission not being evaluated. NEW REQUIREMENTS/PROCEDURES: The Award Document for each proposal selected and funded will contain a mandatory requirement for submission of DARPA/ITO Quarterly Status Reports and an Annual Project Summary Report. These reports will be electronically submitted via the DARPA/ITO Technical - Financial Information Management System (T-FIMS), utilizing the government furnished Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on the World Wide Web (WWW). Details in Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP). Proposers must submit an original and 4 copies of the full proposal and 2 electronic copies (i.e., 2 separate disks) of the full proposal (in Microsoft Word '97 for IBM-compatible, PDF, Postscript, or ASCII format on one 3.5-inch floppy disk or one 100 MB Iomega Zip disk). Each disk must be clearly labeled with BAA 02-14, proposer organization, proposal title (short title recommended) and Copy (Number) of 2. The full proposal (original and designated number of hard and electronic copies) must be submitted in time to reach DARPA by 4:00 PM (ET) Friday, May 10, 2002, to be considered during the initial evaluation phase. However, BAA 02-14, SOFTWARE FOR DISTRIBUTED ROBOTICS (SDR) INDOOR RECONNAISSANCE EXPERIMENTS/DEMONSTRATION will remain open until 4:00 PM (ET) Tuesday, April 1, 2003. Thus, proposals may be submitted at any time from issuance of this BAA through Tuesday, April 1, 2003. While the proposals submitted after Friday, May 10, 2002, deadline will be evaluated by the Government, proposers should keep in mind that the likelihood of funding such proposals is less than for those proposals submitted in connection with the initial evaluation and award schedule. Proposers must obtain the BAA 02-14 Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP), which provides further information on the areas of interest, submission, evaluation, funding processes, and full proposal formats. This pamphlet will be posted directly to FedBizOpps.gov and may also be obtained by fax, electronic mail, mail request to the administrative contact address given below, or at URL address http://www.darpa.mil/ito/Solicitations.html. Proposals not meeting the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 02-14 PIP and all references, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for same will be disregarded. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research for exclusive competition among these entities. Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished through a scientific review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance: (1) Overall Scientific and Technical Merit: The overall scientific and technical merit must be clearly identifiable. The technical concept should be clearly defined and developed. Emphasis should be placed on the technical value of the development and experimentation approach. (2) Innovative Technical Solution to the Problem: Proposed efforts should apply new or existing technology in a new way advantageous to the objectives. The plan on how the offeror intends to get developed technology and information to the user community should be considered. (3) Potential Contribution and Relevance to DARPA Mission: The offeror must clearly address how the proposed effort will meet the goals of the undertaking. The relevance is further indicated by the offeror's understanding of the operating environment of the capability to be developed. (4) Offeror's Capabilities and Related Experience: The qualifications, capabilities, and demonstrated achievements of the proposed principals and other key personnel for the primary and subcontractor organizations must be clearly shown. (5) Plans and Capability to Accomplish Technology Transition: The offeror should provide a clear explanation of how the technologies to be developed will be transitioned to capabilities for military forces. Technology transition should be a major consideration in the design of experiments, particularly considering the potential for involving potential transition organizations in the experimentation process. (6) Cost Realism: The overall estimated cost to accomplish the effort should be clearly shown as well as the substantiation of the costs for the technical complexity described. Evaluation will consider the value to Government of the research and the extent to which the proposed management plan will effectively allocate resources to achieve the capabilities proposed. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a proposal to this BAA, must be received at one of the administrative addresses below by 4:00 PM (ET) Tuesday, March 25, 2003; e-mail or fax is preferred. DARPA intends to use electronic mail and fax for some of the correspondence regarding BAA 02-14. Proposals MUST NOT be submitted by fax or e-mail; any so sent will be disregarded. The administrative addresses for this BAA are: Fax: 703-522-7161 Addressed to: DARPA/ITO, BAA 02-14; Electronic Mail: baa02-14@darpa.mil; Electronic File Retrieval: http://www.darpa.mil/ito/Solicitations.html; Mail to: DARPA/ITO, ATTN: BAA 02-14, 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714
- Record
- SN00048786-W 20020328/020326213359 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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