80NSSC21C0408
Definitive Contract
Overview
Government Description
AUTONOMOUS SWARMING FOR TEAMS OF EXPLORATION ROBOTS (ASTER)
Awardee
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Cambridge, MA 2138 United States
Pricing
Fixed Price
Set Aside
Small Business Set Aside - Total (SBA)
Extent Competed
Full And Open Competition After Exclusion Of Sources
Est. Average FTE
<1
Related Opportunity
None
Charles River Analytics was awarded
Definitive Contract 80NSSC21C0408 (80NSSC-21-C-0408)
for Autonomous Swarming For Teams Of Exploration Robots (ASTER)
worth up to $124,987
by Shared Services Center
in May 2021.
The contract
has a duration of 1 year 1 months and
was awarded
with a Small Business Total set aside
with
NAICS 541715 and
PSC AJ14
via direct negotiation acquisition procedures with 500 bids received.
SBIR Details
Research Type
Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I
Title
Autonomous Swarming for Teams of Exploration Robots (ASTER)
Abstract
NASA will use swarms of robot vehicles for future planetary exploration, including Moon explorations in support of a sustained lunar presence. Advanced robotic and autonomous systems can overcome challenges inherent in navigating extreme terrain. Other tasks, such as obtaining mineral or ice samples from a wide area of a planetary surface or exploring terrain that blocks the transmission of signals to Earth or satellites (e.g., canyons, caves, lava tubes), lend themselves to robotic systems composed of multiple vehicles working in a coordinated fashion (i.e., multi-robot swarms). In addition to sharing work across the team, these swarms can adapt to changing exploration needs, and provide resiliency to failure of single vehicles while being scalable to accept additional vehicles when needed. Charles River Analytics and the Novel Engineering for Swarm Technologies (NEST) Laboratory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will design and demonstrate Autonomous Swarming for Teams of Exploration Robots (ASTER). We introduce three compelling innovations to swarm systems: (1) the use of composable behavior primitives to achieve tasks and that can respond autonomously to unexpected situations; (2) the design of behavior primitives that use heterogeneous capabilities on swarm vehicles to achieve tasks; and (3) the design of behavior primitives that enable the swarm to manage faults as swarm vehicle capabilities degrade over time. ASTER will use three technologies: Charles Riverrsquo;s Swarm Coordination Framework for rapid prototyping and analysis of behaviors, the Buzz swarm programming language for coordinating behaviors among physical robots, and the ARGoS multi-physics simulation engine. We will develop three scenarios consistent with NASArsquo;s Lunar Exploration Program Overview (September 2020), and perform thorough evaluations to support future research and transition opportunities. Our Phase I results will allow us to deploy this work on advanced hardware platforms in Phase II.
Research Objective
The goal of phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of proposed R&D efforts and determine the quality of performance of the small business awardee organization.
Partnered Research Institution
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Topic Code
T10
Agency Tracking Number
211245
Solicitation Number
STTR_21_P1
Contact
Mark Felix
Status
(Closed)
Last Modified 12/14/23
Period of Performance
5/19/21
Start Date
6/19/22
Current End Date
6/19/22
Potential End Date
Obligations
$125.0K
Total Obligated
$125.0K
Current Award
$125.0K
Potential Award
Award Hierarchy
Definitive Contract
80NSSC21C0408
Subcontracts
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to 80NSSC21C0408
People
Suggested agency contacts for 80NSSC21C0408
Competition
Number of Bidders
500
Solicitation Procedures
Negotiated Proposal/Quote
Evaluated Preference
None
Commercial Item Acquisition
Commercial Item Procedures Not Used
Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items
No
Other Categorizations
Subcontracting Plan
Plan Not Required
Cost Accounting Standards
No (Waiver Approved)
Business Size Determination
Small Business
Awardee UEI
DD1BYN8SN355
Awardee CAGE
9W641
Agency Detail
Awarding Office
80NSSC NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
Funding Office
80NSSC
Created By
constance.t.marshall@nasa.gov
Last Modified By
lisa.m.ricco@nasa.gov
Approved By
justin.b.prince@nasa.gov
Legislative
Legislative Mandates
None Applicable
Performance District
MA-05
Senators
Edward Markey
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren
Representative
Katherine Clark
Modified: 12/14/23