Officials of the Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., issued a sources-sought notice Tuesday (W15QKN16X2843) for the Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming and Collaboration In GPS-Denied Environments (AUSTC) project.
This initiative focuses on identifying and maturing revolutionary and game-changing autonomous unmanned systems sensing and collaborating architectures and related components necessary for today's GPS-denied target-defeat system platforms.
Target-defeat systems can involve weapons specially designed to attack and destroy high-priority targets like hardened and deeply buried enemy facilities that are researching and building nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
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Army researchers want to determine the technical risks of integrating new and previously developed autonomous unmanned systems sensing technologies to enable unmanned systems to sense their environment and work together in areas without use of GPS signals.
Precision GPS-denied mapping, localization, target detection, tracking, and collaboration capabilities could open a unique pathway that allows for new methods of sensing existing and emerging threats, Army researchers say.
ARDEC experts want to refine and develop this AUSTC technology with help from a system prototype. The contractor or contractors chosen for this program will provide engineering services, hardware, and software development for existing and new AUSTC technologies.
The job will involve design, development, prototyping, testing, and deployment of AUSTC technology for situational awareness, collaboration, and engagement for unmanned system autonomy, 3D and 4D mapping, localization, target identification, tracking, collective 3D visualization, advanced real-time analysis, GPS-denied environment radio communications networks, target engagement, and collaboration.
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The technologies developed under the AUSTC project should be applicable to small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) -- particularly those that will be involved in attacking sensitive targets like nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons labs.
Companies interested should email relevant capabilities and information to ARDEC no later than 3 Nov. 2015 to the Army's Stephanie Milne at [email protected].
For questions or concerns contact the Army's Stephanie Milne by email at [email protected], or by phone at 973-724-8782. Also contact the Army's Christie Vicci by email at [email protected], or by phone at 973-724-4179.
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/notices/ed9dba8c767bbd2fde5188923d09f14d.
