EXOSENSE: Exoskeleton Sensor Data Fusion and Insight System

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS BEING MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ARMY APPLIED SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) W50RAJ-20-S-0001. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement January 27, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release February 25, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals March 24, 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, March 24, 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. 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 visiting https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login and clicking “DSIP Listserv” located under Quick Links. Help Desk: If you have questions about proposal submission using DSIP, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email [email protected]. The Help Desk is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Topic Q&A : From January 27, 2021 to February 25, 2021, this SBO is issued for Pre-Release with the names of the topic authors and their e-mail addresses. During the pre-release period, proposing firms have an opportunity to contact topic authors by e-mail to ask technical questions about specific BAA topics. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirement. 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 DSIP Topic Q&A module. Once the Army begins accepting proposals on February 25, 2021 , no further direct contact between proposers and topic authors is allowed unless the Topic Author is responding to a question submitted during the Pre-release period. However, proposers may submit written questions through the DSIP Topic Q&A module at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login. The DSIP Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on February 2, 2021 and closes to new questions on March 10, 2021 at 12:200PM ET . 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. This 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 Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. If a proposer can provide adequate documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described in the Phase I section of the topic has been met and describes the potential commercial applications, the Direct to Phase II (DP2) authority allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to make an award to a small business concern under Phase II of the SBIR program without regard to whether the small business concern was provided an award under Phase I of an SBIR program. This ASO is accepting both Phase I and DP2 proposal submissions. For this ASO, Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $200,000. This includes a 3 month base period not to exceed $150,000 and a 2 month option period not to exceed $50,000. Department of the Army will accept DP2 proposals for the cost of up to $1,000,000 for up to a 12-month period of performance. Under this solicitation companies are able to take advantage of the Army SBIR enhancement program and obtain an additional $1,000,000 consisting of $500,000 in SBIR funding and at least $500,000 in non-SBIR matching funding (Government or private sector). The $1,000,000 addition may be included in the Phase II proposal (with a corresponding technical approach) and, if selected for funding, may be funded as part of the base award or can be brought at any time during the period of performance. Evidence of matching funding must be included in order to take advantage of this option. While firms are encouraged to include in their proposal the work to be performed with the additional $1,000,000 and evidence of outside matching funding, this will not be a criterion for Phase II selection. 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 10 pages, and DP2 proposals shall not exceed 15 pages. Proposers can submit an optional slide deck of 10 slides in Volume 5: Supporting Documents. The slide deck can contain information on the technical approach, the team, commercialization plans, or relevant technology/research the proposers have developed, and it can contain additional/complementary information to the technical volume. If a proposer elects to submit a slide deck, its information will be used in the evaluation process. Please refer to Appendix A and Appendix B of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on proposal preparation. Discretionary Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) will not be offered under this ASO 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 SBO. d. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume inclusive of supporting documentation, Company Commercialization Report (CCR), optional slide deck in Supporting Information, and Fraud, Waste and Abuse 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 March 24, 2021 at 12:00pm ET . A214-003 EXOSENSE: Exoskeleton Sensor Data Fusion and Insight System OBJECTIVE: Develop, demonstrate, and deliver a system to identify, gather, process, and integrate exoskeleton internal sensor data to improve the Soldier's physical performance and operational effectiveness. The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. DESCRIPTION: Current exoskeletons that are being developed or used by Army Soldiers perform physical augmentation through AI and sensors. The data generated is processed within the exoskeleton, and remains within the system. Soldiers and Leaders lack the ability to see and use the exoskeleton data to inform Soldiers of their current physical attributes or improve their long-term performance. The Army is currently implementing both the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) and Net Warrior systems with Soldiers and Leaders as situational awareness devices. Both devices are hand held smartphones that communicate through secure tactical radios and have open architecture platforms allowing new application development and integration. These platforms are ideal destinations for exported exoskeleton sensor data because they “allow for precision targeting, surrounding land formation intelligence, situational awareness, navigation, and data sharing” Sensors from which data might be merged include, but are not limited to, electro (ECG, EMG, EEG, EOG, EKG), motion (encoders, IMU), position (GPS), temperature (thermometers) and imaging (cameras, LiDAR) sensors. There is currently no system that integrates these data sources, or provides insight to a more detailed physical performance analysis for operations and training. Capabilities of this solution could include (but are not limited to): Integration with Android Tactical Assault Kit/Nett Warrior (ATAK/NW) systems to visualize real-time biological, physiological, performance, and safety monitoring Provide actionable insight on movements, health, and location to the individual Soldier through ATAK/NW Provide dashboard of insights on multiple Soldiers’ movement, health, and location to leadership Ability to perform sensor fusion, computation, and delivery to ATAK/NW, both connected to the network and on the edge System should be sensor agnostic PHASE I: Design proof of concept solution that fuses data from relevant exoskeleton sensors, evaluates Soldiers’ performance, and transmits insightful information based on sensor data to the ATAK/NW. Solutions will be evaluated based on a holistic view of factors including: the ability to integrate with ATAK/NW, operate on the edge, rapidity and accuracy of Soldiers physical performance and operational analysis, ease of use visualization tool, and any additional factors proposed. Final deliverable will be a concept design presentation, proof of technology demonstration, and plans for follow-on Phase II work. Proposers interested in submitting a Direct-to-Phase-II proposal in response to this topic must provide documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described in the Phase I section of this topic has been met and describes the potential commercial applications of the solution. Documentation should include all relevant information including, but not limited to: technical reports, test data, prototype designs/models, and performance goals/results. PHASE II: Design a prototype system where sensor data will be captured and integrated into the ATAK/NW environment. Solution should contain all capabilities listed above, as well as any additional features proposed by the vendor, and will be evaluated on a holistic basis including quality at which the system captures relevant data and insights, and speed of processing and transmitting to ATAK/NW. Awardee(s) of this topic will have the ability to voluntarily participate in quarterly Soldier touch-points, which are 1–2-day trips within the continental US. Touch-points will be provided free of charge. Participating companies must travel and participate out of company internal operating budgets. Soldier touch-point details will be provided to awardee(s) under this topic at Phase II award. PHASE III: Develop a manufacturing-ready product design, capable of integration with current exoskeleton at the time and ATAK/NW. The system should enable the ability to interpolate Soldiers’ quantified performance data for real time operational effectiveness, assistance in individualized Soldier training, and production of after-action reports (AAR) for Leaders to analyze optimal/suboptimal behaviors in collective and unit task analysis. Potential commercial applications of the technology exist within the automotive, healthcare, sports performance, internet of things (IoT), and manufacturing industries where data fusion and insights are needed. KEYWORDS: Exoskeleton; Physical augmentation; Internet of Things (IoT); Physical performance; Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK); Net Warrior (NW); Sensor Fusion; Data Analytics; Data Science; Robotics; Unsupervised Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) REFERENCES: “Nett Warrior.” Wikipedia , Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nett_Warrior. “Nett Warrior (NW).” USAASC , asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/soldier-nw/. “Android Team Awareness Kit.” ATAK , atakmap.com/default.aspx. “Android Team Awareness Kit.” Wikipedia , Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Team_Awareness_Kit. Ku, Stephanie. Dephy , www.dephy.com/. RDECOM Soldier Center. “Soldier Center Partners with Industry Experts to Advance Exoskeleton Technologies.” Www.army.mil , Public Affairs Office, 23 Jan. 2019, www.army.mil/article/216423/soldier_center_partners_with_industry_experts_to_advance_exoskeleton_technologies.