A -- PALM POWER

Notice Date

December 6, 2000

Contracting Office

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714

ZIP Code

22203-1714

Solicitation Number

BAA01-18

Response Due

February 1, 2001

Point of Contact

Dr. Robert J. Nowak, DARPA/DSO, fax:(703) 696-3999

Description

PALM POWER (PP); BAA 01-18; BAA OPEN THROUGH 02/01/2001; POC: Dr. Robert J. Nowak, DARPA/DSO, Fax: 703-696-3999, email: baa01-18@darpa.mil; URL http://www.darpa.mil/DSO/baa/baa01-18.htm. INTRODUCTION: The Department of Defense (DoD) has a pressing need for lighter and more compact electrical power sources for soldier, robotic, and other emerging applications. At present, batteries are used for these systems. While batteries have many desirable features (air independent operation, low thermal and acoustic signatures) the amount of energy that can be stored in primary or rechargeable batteries will be insufficient to meet the needs of critical future missions. While many improvements in battery technology are being made and future advances are anticipated, the energy shortfall for many DoD missions is expected to exceed a factor of ten if batteries alone are used. Small energy conversion devices that convert high-energy content fuels to electricity will be required to address this shortfall. This program is a technology development program that will advance the technology as far as possible by demonstrating new approaches that will ultimately lead to complete system demonstrations. It is not intended to develop a specific system that meets existing requirements by using off-the-shelf technology. PROGRAM SUMMARY: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Palm Power initiative seeks to develop and demonstrate technology leading to the field demonstration of novel energy conversion devices at the 20 Watt average power level at 12 Volts DC. By the end of the program DARPA expects to have field-tested several energy conversion systems under realistic military conditions and determined their relative figures of merit based on performance and logistics impact. In order to achieve these goals, complete, packaged, turn-key systems will need to be developed in this program. This will require extensive development at the material, component, and system levels. Three mission scenarios have been selected in order to establish clear, quantitative goals for the program. Assuming an average power level of 20 Watts, the mission lengths and minimum specific energy goals are as follows: Three-hour mission -- 1000 Watt-hours/kilogram (Whr/kg); Three-day mission -- 2000 Wh/kg; Ten-day mission -- 3000 Wh/kg. These specific energies include the complete system and fuel. Typical missions for these categories are: 1) a micro air vehicle reconnaissance mission, 2) a three-day land warrior mission, and 3) a ten-day special operations reconnaissance mission. These are examples only and there may be other applications for the technologies that are developed. System volumes should be as small as possible, as these energy sources will be carried by soldiers or integrated into small robotic systems. It may be desirable to operate the system while being carried, however this is not a requirement for this program. Offerors should state which mission, or missions, that their proposal is addressing. DARPA seeks the development and testing of complete energy conversion systems by the end of a five-year technology development program. Multiple awards are anticipated during Fiscal Year 2001 (FY01). The program will be carried out in two phases. In Phase I, offerors may submit system or science and technology development proposals. Offerers may propose in either or both of these categories and should state which type of proposal is being submitted. The majority of funding is expected to be directed to teams who will develop complete systems; however, strong science and technology proposals will be supported provided there are opportunities for technology insertion in systems. For system development submissions, neither conventional designs nor off-the-shelf materials and components are likely to meet the specific energy targets of interest to DARPA. Significant advances in science and technology areas (see examples below) will be needed. System development will require bringing together teams with broad areas of expertise ranging from system integration to science and technology development as described below. Innovative approaches that include highly integrated materials and novel fabrication methods will be required to meet the goals of the Palm Power program. System developers must consider the military environment and discuss thermal and acoustic signatures of the proposed technology as well as system issues such as start-up, shutdown, and load following. Easily handled and safe liquid fuels are preferred. JP8 is the fuel of choice, however, other high energy content fuels, including, but not limited to desulfurized JP8, butane, methanol, or ammonia will be considered provided that they meet the goals stated above. For science and technology submissions, the proposal must demonstrate that the outcome of a successful program will eventually have a significant impact at the system level. In addition, a transition plan for inserting the technology into an ultimate system must be provided. Proposals that do not include quantitative performance goals, system impact, and transition plans may not be considered responsive and may not be evaluated. Important science and technology topics include but are not limited to catalysis, combustion, advanced materials for thermal conductivity and insulation, thermal management and integration, multifunctional materials, compact integrated fuel processors, novel fabrication/materials processing methods, thermally integrated cascading systems, microchemical reactors, and integrated MEMS components. Offerors may submit proposals not to exceed three years of effort in Phase I in response to this BAA. A start date of May 1, 2001, may be used for planning purposes but is not guaranteed by the Government. It is anticipated that a future BAA will be issued to cover Phase II of the program, which will focus on system development and integration into military systems for testing and evaluation. The period of performance for Phase II may or may not overlap with Phase I. Proposals in response to this BAA are for Phase I only. GENERAL INFORMATION: Proposers must obtain a package entitled "BAA#01-18, PALM POWER, Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP)" which provides further information on areas of interest, the submission, evaluation and funding processes, abstract formats, full proposal formats, and other general information. This announcement and the PIP may be retrieved via the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.darpa.mil/DSO/ under Solicitations, by fax, electronic mail (email), or mail request (see below). Proposals not meeting the format described in the PIP may not be reviewed. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA#01-18 PIP, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the 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, which 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 several areas of research for exclusive competition among these entities. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation should be directed to the administrative addresses below; email and fax are preferred. DARPA intends to use e-mail and fax for correspondence regarding BAA#01-18; however, proposals submitted by fax or e-mail will be disregarded. DARPA encourages the use of the WWW for retrieving the PIP and any other related information that may subsequently be provided. PROPOSALS SUBMISSION: Proposers must submit an original and ten (10) copies of the proposal to DARPA/DSO, (Attn: BAA#01-18), 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714, no later than 4:00 P.M., ET, February 1, 2001. Proposal submissions received after this date will not be reviewed. Proposals must meet the objective and format guidelines as described in the PIP to be considered. The proposals shall consist of two volumes: Vol. 1., Technical, and Vol. 2., Cost. Volume 1, Technical, shall not exceed fifty (50) pages in length; including the submission cover sheet (Enclosure 2 of the PIP), all charts, figures and appendices. The submission cover sheet must accompany each submission. Volume 2, Cost, does not have a page restriction. Proposals submitted by fax or e-mail will be disregarded. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished through a technical review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance: 1) overall scientific and technical merit, 2) impact of successful development efforts on Defense systems, 3) ability of the proposer(s) to implement the program, and 4) cost realism. All proposals will be reviewed by Government officials only. Input on technical aspects of the proposals may be solicited by DARPA from non-Government consultants/experts who are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. Non-Government technical consultants will not have access to proposals that are labeled by the offerors as "GOVERNMENT ONLY." Restrictive notices notwithstanding, proposals may be handled, for administrative purposes only, by a support contractor. This contractor is bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Each cost proposal shall contain a section satisfying the requirements of the following: Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the offeror supports and identify the prime contract number. Affirmations shall be furnished at the time of proposal submission, and the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the offeror has taken or proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflict. If the offeror believes that no such conflict exists, then it shall so state in this section. It is the policy of DARPA to treat all proposals as competitive information and to disclose the contents only for the purposes of evaluation. The Government intends to use non-Government personnel as special resources to assist with the logistics of administering proposal evaluation. Support personnel are restricted by their contracts from disclosing proposal information for any purpose. Contractor personnel are required to sign the Organizational Conflict of Interest Non-Disclosure Agreements. By submission of its proposal, each offeror agrees that proposal information may be disclosed to those selected contractors for the limited purpose stated above. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION: The administrative information for this BAA is: POC: Ms. Leanne Wiegand; Email: BAA01-18@darpa.mil; Fax: (703) 696-3999; Mail: DARPA/DSO, ATTN: BAA#01-18; 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001208/ASOL009.HTM (W-341 SN508242)