Contracting
Office Address
Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts
Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714, UNITED
STATES
Description
CHEMICAL ROBOTS
BAA 07-21, Addendum 2
White Papers Due: May 3, 2007, no later than 4:00PM ET;
Full Proposals Due: July 2, 2007, no later than 4:00PM ET. Technical Point of
Contact: Dr. Mitchell R. Zakin, DARPA/DSO; Ph: (703) 248-1509, Email: baa07-21@darpa.mil;
URL: www.darpa.mil/dso/solicitations/solicit.htm;
Website Submission: https://www.sainc.com/dsobaa/
DESCRIPTION
(Note: This BAA Addendum 2 is submitted as a Special Focus Area as described
in the original BAA, 07-21.)
The ability to safely and covertly gain access to denied or hostile areas and
perform useful tasks provides critical advantages to warfighters over a broad
spectrum of military operations. An effective and logistically attractive means
for gaining entry to denied areas is to deploy an unmanned platform, such as
a robot. However, often the only available points of entry are small openings
in buildings, walls, under doors, etc. In these cases, a robot must be soft enough
to squeeze or traverse through small openings, yet large enough to carry an operationally
meaningful payload. Current robotic platforms are constructed primarily from
hard materials and, while capable of locomotion with embedded payloads, cannot
change their physical dimensions to rapidly traverse arbitrary size/shape openings
whose dimensions are much smaller than the robot itself and are not known a-priori.
In response to this challenge, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) is seeking innovative proposals to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots):
soft, flexible, mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings
smaller than their static structural dimensions; reconstitute size, shape, and
functionality after traversal; carry meaningful payloads; and perform tasks.
ChemBots represent the convergence of soft materials chemistry and robotics to
create a fundamentally new class of soft meso-scale robots that can perform the
following key unit operations in sequence:
1. Travel a distance;
2. Traverse an arbitrary-shaped opening much smaller than the largest characteristic
dimension of the ChemBot;
3. Reconstitute size, shape, and functionality after traversing the opening;
4. Travel a distance; and
5. Perform a function using the embedded payload.
The first phase of this program focuses on the development of novel materials,
material systems, and/or robot architectures, that can both move and morph under
the influence of an appropriate driving force (e.g., electromagnetic, acoustic,
chemical, etc.), as well as demonstration of a rudimentary meso-scale ChemBot.
The specific Phase I milestone is presented under Program Goals and Milestones.
BACKGROUND
To achieve the ChemBots vision, key technical breakthroughs will center on the
development of materials and architectures that can both locomote and reversibly
change their form factor in order to traverse small openings and reconstitute
size/shape on the other side. There are two basic traversal mechanisms: squeeze
through the opening, or first transform to the appropriate form factor and then
traverse. Critical features that must be considered in the ultimate ChemBot devices
are:
1. Morphability in all three dimensions;
2. Architectures that can sense and morph responsively to openings, e.g., using
local tactile sensing;
3. Flexible backbone structures or architectures that themselves morph or dissolve,
then reconstitute - keystone that enables system;
4. Payloads that remain viable after traversal. Hard payloads, including power
sources, must be smaller than the largest characteristic size of the opening.
Novel soft payloads that morph and reconstitute may be larger than this size;
5. Modest power requirements. ChemBots may be self-powered, self-consuming, or
energy-scavenging;
6. Autonomous or user-controlled operation, depending on application. ChemBots
must not be tethered to controllers or power sources;
7. Meso-scale in size, preferentially with size-scalable architecture; and
8. Robust over typical range of military operational conditions (temperature,
humidity, rain, etc.).
Nature provides many examples of ChemBot functionality. Many soft creatures,
including mice, octopi, and insects, readily traverse openings barely larger
than their largest "hard" component, via a variety of reversible mechanisms.
These mechanisms include (1) using elastic materials to twist, crumple, and bend
with many degrees of freedom, (2) utilizing the flexibility of the musculoskeletal
structure to squeeze through openings, and (3) exploiting reversible changes
in modulus (i.e., flexible to stiff) to achieve dimensional reductions which
can exceed 10:1. Soft invertebrates typically locomote by crawling, e.g., peristalsis
(earthworms, caterpillars), pedal waves (snails, slugs), cilial motions, etc.,
and utilize means such as gripping, hooking, and suction to ensure sufficient
traction with the terrain.
Potential approaches to achieve soft meso-scale robots include, but are not limited
to:
1. Gel-solid phase transitions;
2. Non-Newtonian systems (e.g., shear-thinning and -thickening fluids and gels);
3. Shape-memory materials;
4. Electro- and magneto-rheological materials;
5. Electrostatic, electrostrictive, electro-osmotic, electroadhesive, and dielectrophoretic
phenomena;
6. Reversible chemical and/or particle association and dissociation;
7. Geometric transitions, e.g., folding phenomena;
8. Modulus-shifting materials; and
9. New classes of materials and/or system architectures.
Any innovative approach that meets the goals of this BAA will be considered.
PROGRAM GOALS AND MILESTONES
The goal of this program is to develop a payload-carrying soft robotics platform
that can be used in military operations to access denied territory through small
openings and perform functions.
The ChemBots Program will be separated into two phases. The goal of Phase I is
to develop critical material/architecture technologies and demonstrate a rudimentary
meso-scale ChemBot with moving and morphing capabilities. Depending on the success
of the Phase I demonstrations, the goal of Phase II will be to develop a suite
of fully-functional ChemBots for specific applications.
Phase I will be a research effort of not more than 24 months; however, shorter
duration efforts are strongly encouraged.
The Phase I milestone is:
1. Demonstrate a ChemBot, approximately the size (but not necessarily the form-factor)
of a regulation softball (i.e., 30 cm circumference; 10 cm diameter; 500 cm3
volume), that can:
a) travel a distance of 5 meters at a speed of 0.25 meters/minute;
b) achieve a 10-fold reduction in its largest dimension; and
c) traverse through a 1 cm opening of arbitrary geometry and reconstitute its
original size and shape, in 15 seconds.
Phase II is expected to be a research effort of between 18 and 24 months. The
Phase II milestones will be determined by the results of the Phase I effort and
the specific applications that are proposed.
To realize the program vision and meet the Phase I milestone, each research effort
requires performers with expertise in materials chemistry and physics, robotics,
command and control algorithms, and systems integration.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
We anticipate a two-stage source selection. It is STRONGLY ENCOURAGED that a
white paper be submitted according to the guidelines provided below.
White Paper and Full Proposal Deadlines
White papers will be accepted until May 3, 2007, NO LATER THAN 4:00PM ET. All
white papers will be reviewed no later than May 17, 2007, and recommendations
for full proposals will be provided at that time. Full proposals will be due
July 2, 2007, NO LATER THAN 4:00PM ET. White papers and proposals submitted by
fax will not be accepted. All full proposal submissions will be evaluated regardless
of the disposition of the white paper. Note that a full proposal may be submitted
at any time before the close of the solicitation without having submitted a white
paper.
White Paper Submission Guidelines
White papers of eight pages or less (not counting cover sheet) will be reviewed
for the purpose of recommending the submission of full proposals. The white paper
must include the following sections:
1. A cover sheet that includes the Technical Point of Contact's information (name,
address, phone, fax, email, lead organization and business type), the title of
the proposed work, the estimated cost, and the duration (in months) of the proposed
work. (Note: cover sheet does not count towards page limit.)
2. An executive summary, including a clear statement of the uniqueness of the
idea. We are looking for revolutionary ideas that will firmly establish the field
of soft robotics if the proposed work is successfully completed.
3. A concise statement of the approach to the problem, the scientific and technical
challenges inherent in this approach, and possible solutions for overcoming potential
problems. Provide supporting technical analysis. This statement should end with
a description of the proposed ChemBot architecture and an initial estimate of
ChemBot performance. This statement will also serve to demonstrate an understanding
of the state-of-the-art in the field.
4. Briefly outline the research areas relevant to achieving program milestones,
initial experiments to be conducted, and how progress towards these milestones
will be assessed.
5. A cost estimate for resources over the course of the proposed timeline. This
cost estimate should include both labor and materials costs.
6. A summary of expertise of the key personnel on the project relevant to the
program goals. If the team is multi-organizational, a proposed management structure
should also be included.
7. Brief list of relevant references.
Full Proposal Submission Guidelines
As described in BAA 07-21, full proposals shall consist of two volumes: Technical
and Cost. Follow the general guidelines for full proposal format and content
provided at: http://www.darpa.mil/baa/baa07-21pt2.html.
The Technical section of the research proposal must contain the following information:
1. Concept Definition: Clearly describe the proposed materials, actuation, and
systems architecture concepts for ChemBots. Describe the underlying physical
mechanisms that enable locomotion, shape morphing, and reconstitution, including
associated on-board power/computing requirements and resources. Describe the
basic strategy for traversal through arbitrary size/shape openings.
2. Supporting Technical Analysis: Provide a detailed analysis of the technical
rationale that supports the proposed ChemBots concept, including performance
estimates.
3. Research Plan: Provide a detailed research plan that describes the methods
for achieving the Phase I milestone specified in this Broad Agency Announcement.
Provide several specific, quantitative milestones at intermediate stages of the
program to assess progress towards meeting the Phase I milestone.
4. Brief list of relevant references.
In addition, all proposals should be supplemented by a one-page Quad Chart describing
the program objectives, relevance to the military population, performers, technical
milestones, and Fiscal Year total budget. The Quad Chart should include a schematic
illustration of the proposed concept showing the principle(s) of operation. The
Quad Chart will not count against the total page limit.
Evaluation of Proposals
Evaluation of the proposals will be in accordance with BAA 07-21. For general
administrative questions, please refer to the original FEDBIZOPPS solicitation,
BAA07-21, of February 14, 2007: http://www.darpa.mil/dso/solicitations/solicit.htm.
Web Address for Proposal Submission: http://www.sainc.com/dsobaa/.
Address for Proposal Submission:
DARPA/DSO
ATTN: BAA 07-21, Addendum 2, Dr. Mitchell R. Zakin
3701 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203-1714
General Information
In all correspondence, reference BAA 07-21, Addendum 2
Technical Point of Contact
Dr. Mitchell R. Zakin, DARPA/DSO; Phone: (703) 248-1509; Email: Mitchell.Zakin@darpa.mil
Original Point of Contact
Barbara McQuiston, Deputy Director, DSO, Phone 703-526-4759, Fax 703-248-1916,
Email Barbara.McQuiston@darpa.mil
Current Point of Contact
Anthony Cicala, Contracting Officer, Phone (571)218-4639, Fax (703)248-1927,
Email anthony.cicala@darpa.mil
