Artificial Intelligence-in Automated Scrap Inspection "MvM"

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement October 12, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release October 26, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals November 30, 2021: Deadline for receipt of proposals no later than 12:00 p.m. ET IMPORTANT Deadline for Receipt : Proposals must be completely submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, November 30, 2021. Proposals submitted after 12:00 p.m. will not be evaluated. The final proposal submission includes successful completion of all firm level forms, all required volumes, and electronic corporate official certification. Classified proposals will not be accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. This BAA and the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) sites are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. The DSIP is the official portal for DoD SBIR/STTR proposal submission. Proposers are required to submit proposals via DSIP; proposals submitted by any other means will be disregarded. Proposers submitting through this site for the first time will be asked to register. Effective with this announcement, firms are required to register for a login.gov account and link it to their DSIP account. See section 4.14 for more information regarding registration. The Small Business Administration, through its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, purposely departs from normal Government solicitation formats and requirements and authorizes agencies to simplify the SBIR/STTR award process and minimize the regulatory burden on small business. Therefore, consistent with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, the Department of Defense is soliciting proposals as a Broad Agency Announcement. SBIR/STTR Updates and Notices: To be notified of SBIR/STTR opportunities and to receive e-mail updates on the DoD SBIR and STTR Programs, you are invited to subscribe to our Listserv by emailing [email protected]. Help Desk: If you have questions about the Defense Department's SBIR or STTR Programs, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email to [email protected]. Topic Q&A : The Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on October 12, 2021 and closes to new questions on November 16, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET. Proposers may submit written questions through Topic Q&A at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login or through the SBIR Mailbox at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-alt.mbx.army-applied-sbir-program@mail.mil. In Topic Q&A, the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing. Once the BAA closes to proposal submission, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding your submitted proposal is allowed. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and you may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through Topic Q&A. Proposing firms are advised to monitor Topic Q&A during the BAA period for questions and answers. Proposing firms should also frequently monitor DSIP for updates and amendments to the topics. This Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) is issued under the Army Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR 21.4. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under 21.4, found here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/b79ded14dcf54451bcfb11bddf5cd259/view?keywords=%22army%20sbir%22&sort=-relevance&index=opp&is_active=true&page=1. a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of BAA 21.4 for full eligibility requirements. b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Phase I Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this BAA, Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $250,000 for generally a 3-6-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase I proposals shall not exceed 5 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 10 slides. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 5-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation. Phase II Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this BAA, Department of the Army will accept Phase II proposals for the cost of up to $1,700,000 for generally a 12-24-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase II proposals shall not exceed 10 pages. Phase II commercialization strategy shall not exceed 10 slides. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 5-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on Phase II proposal preparation. c. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in BAA 21.4 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this ASO. d . Discretionary Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) Participation in the Army applied SBIR TABA program is voluntary for each Army Applied SBIR awardee. Services provided to Army Applied SBIR firms under the auspices of the TABA program may include, but are not limited to: Access to a network of scientists, engineers, and technologists focused on commercialization and transition considerations such as protected supply chain management, advanced manufacturing, process/product/production scaling, etc; Assistance with intellectual property protections, such as legal considerations, intellectual property rights, patent filing, patent fees, licensing considerations, etc; Commercialization and technology transition support such as market research, market validation, development of regulatory or manufacturing plans, brand development; Regulatory support such as product domain regulatory considerations, regulatory planning, and regulatory strategy development. Vendors. The Army will select a preferred vendor for the Army Applied SBIR TABA program through a competitive process. Alternately, a small business concern may, by contract or otherwise, select one or more vendors to assist the firm in meeting the goals listed above. The Applicant must request the authority to select its own TABA provider in the Applied SBIR proposal, demonstrating that the vendor is uniquely postured to provide the specific technical and business services required. Participation. Participation in the Army Applied SBIR TABA program is voluntary for each Army Applied SBIR awardee. If a small business concern selects their own vendor, they must include the request in the Applied SBIR proposal. If a small business concern opts to use the Army preferred vendor, the firm may opt into the program at any time during execution of the SBIR project. Resources. The Applied SBIR program sponsors participation in the TABA program. The resource limitation for each firm is: Phase I Firms: Up to $6,500 per project per year (in addition to the base SBIR award amount); Phase II Firms: Up to $50,000 per project; Army-Preferred Vendor: In addition to the base SBIR award amount; Firm-Selected Vendor: Included in the base SBIR award amount and must be included in Phase II proposal. e. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume, and Company Commercialization Report inclusive of supporting documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in BAA 21.4 Section 4.3 Electronic Submission no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, November 30, 2021. Army SBIR 21.4 Topic Index A214-043 Artificial Intelligence-in Automated Scrap Inspection “MvM” OBJECTIVE: The Army demilitarizes non-usable ammunition in the rotary kiln incinerator (RKI) and tries to recycle the scrap through commercial dealers. The scrap must be safe to leave government custody, Success is meeting or exceeding the human 200% ability. Additional insight will be obtained since the x-rays can “see through” the ammo casing and projectile for energetics. Obtaining approval from the Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board (DDESB) will allow an alternate means of inspection, using advanced technology. Automation of the inspection process is another objective of the effort, and the better judgment produced by the AI & ML will increase the sorting effectiveness. Current and emerging requirements (such as the need for “venting” cavities and voids that can’t be “seen”) increase benefits of x-ray penetration and imaging. The following are the topic objectives: detect and discriminate for energetics remaining in ammo scrap and sort as MDAS or MPPEH; create a system of systems that can judge energetic levels as good as or better than human inspection for scrap from the demilitarization (demil) furnace. DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Army has a need for reliable, accurate, and repeatable detection of explosive hazard on metallic ammunition scrap. Current inspection methodologies utilize two independent inspectors, who conduct a ‘200%’ visual inspection which poses costs, safety hazards, accuracy levels, and limits of vision. This also requires additional time with inspection results that are prone to human error. The program builds on the advances in x-ray technology, digital imaging, and advanced algorithms. The project will use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning, and neural networks to interpret metallic scrap inspection images, that are produced by x-rays, for traces of explosive hazards. Success will significantly reduce operator workload and allow a more efficient and effective means of determining pure metal scrap. The results will be integrated into automated sorting for MDAS (Material Documented as Safe) from MPPEH (Material Potentially Possessing Explosive Hazard) Success, and advancement, will be the ability to inspect as good or better than humans reliably and repeatedly, and also “see inside” of questionable surfaces. If this is successful, it could mean a new alternative for inspections, less manpower to be expected, and better documentation for scrap output. PHASE I: Phase I will consist of demonstrating the feasibility of an advanced AI algorithm using (labeled or unlabeled) x-ray images taken from metallic scrap ammunition. This will take algorithms from training sets to create convolutional neural networks, regression models, and unsupervised learning. Phase I should increase effectiveness of the ASI project. PHASE II: Phase II will further mature the AI/ML technology to meet all requirements in the system, with a final demonstration in a relevant environment. PHASE III: Success of Phase II would allow transition to more ammo depots and larger sizes. KEYWORDS: Artificial Intelligence; recycle; scrap; x-ray; automation; inspection; AI/ML; Machine learning; imaging REFERENCES: Liu, Haibo, Yidong Wang, and Hongjuan Zhu. "The Technology Method Research Of Scrap Ammunition Destruction." 2015 3rd International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems. Atlantis Press, 2015. Raftery, Brian W. Conventional Ammunition Demilitarization (Demil)-A Growing Challenge. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY (ACQUISITION LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY) FORT BELVOIR VA, 2008.