The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $96,560 - Thursday the 19th of June 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
  KNOWING THAT USEFUL RESOURCES, SUCH AS WATER, CARBON MONOXIDE, AND HYDROGEN ARE AVAILABLE ON THE LUNAR SURFACE AND OTHER LOCATIONS AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS IMPORTANT; HOWEVER, QUESTIONS REMAIN TO BE ANSWERED BEFORE IN SITU UTILIZATION OF THESE RESOURCES IS PRACTICAL. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW (1) WHAT VOLATILES ARE PRESENT AND IN WHAT QUANTITIES, (2) HOW THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AND UNDER THE SURFACE, AND (3) WHAT MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS COULD INFLUENCE FUTURE ISRU DESIGNS. THE LUNAR VOLATILE CHARACTERIZATION DEMONSTRATION, REGOLITH AND ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE&OXYGEN AND LUNAR VOLATILES EXTRACTION (RESOLVE) MISSION WILL BE DESIGNED TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AS THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP TOWARD HUMAN EXPLORATION OF AND EXPANSION INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM. ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY INC. IS NOW PERFORMING A PHASE 2 SBIR (NNX11CB55C) TO DESIGN, FABRICATE AND TEST A PROTOTYPE POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM. THE PROTOTYPE WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A BUCKET WHEEL TO EXCAVATE BULK QUANTITIES OF LUNAR REGOLITH THAT CAN BE FED INTO A PROCESSING PLANT TO EXTRACT WATER AND OTHER VOLATILES FOR SUPPORT OF ROBOTIC AND CREWED EXPEDITIONS. CREATING A PARALLEL DESIGN FOR THIS POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM WITH RESOLVE INSTEAD OF THE BUCKET WHEEL ENABLES NASA TO EXPLOIT THE FUNDS ALREADY SPENT AND TO BE SPENT ON CREATING THE BUCKET-WHEEL VARIATION. BOTH APPLICATIONS OF THE POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM REQUIRE IT TO BE ABLE TO PRECISELY NAVIGATE TO SUSPECTED OR KNOWN RESOURCES, TO AVOID HAZARDS THAT WOULD DAMAGE LOW-HANGING EQUIPMENT, TO AUTONOMOUSLY REESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS IF INTERRUPTED BY TERRAIN BLOCKAGES, AND TO MANAGE POLAR-SPECIFIC POWER AND THERMAL CHALLENGES.

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• $237,374 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  SUBSURFACE CAVERNS MAY BE THE BEST PLACE ON MARS TO FIND LIFE. THEY MAY BE THE BEST HOPE FOR SAFE HAVENS AND HABITATION ON THE MOON. THEY CAN PROVIDE A WINDOW INTO A PLANET S GEOLOGY, CLIMATE, AND EVEN BIOLOGY. SKYLIGHTS, FORMED BY PARTIAL CAVE CEILING COLLAPSE, PROVIDE ACCESS TO SUBSURFACE VOIDS. TUNNEL ENTRANCES HAVE BEEN CONCLUSIVELY SHOWN TO EXIST ON MARS AND THE MOON. THERE IS ALSO EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THEIR EXISTENCE ON OTHER PLANETARY BODIES THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. DESPITE ASTONISHING DISCOVERIES OF SKYLIGHTS AND CAVE ENTRANCES, AND THEIR INEVITABLE EXPLORATION, THEY DO NOT YET APPEAR IN THE DECADAL SURVEY. SKYLIGHTS AND THE VOIDS BELOW ARE SO UNKNOWN THAT IT IS TOO RISKY TO SEND ASTRONAUTS TO EXPLORE THEM WITHOUT PRIOR ROBOTIC RECONNAISSANCE AND MODELING. WHILE ROBOTIC EXPLORATION OF SKYLIGHTS AND CAVES CAN SEEK OUT LIFE, INVESTIGATE GEOLOGY AND ORIGINS, AND OPEN THE SUBSURFACE OF OTHER WORLDS TO HUMANKIND, IT IS A DAUNTING VENTURE. PLANETARY VOIDS PRESENT CHALLENGING TERRAIN THAT REQUIRES INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ACCESS, EXPLORATION, AND MODELING. THE ROBOTS THAT VENTURE INTO CAVES MUST LEAP, FLY, OR RAPPEL INTO VOIDS, TRAVERSE RUBBLE, NAVIGATE SAFELY IN THE DARK, SELF-POWER, AND EXPLORE AUTONOMOUSLY WITH LITTLE OR NO COMMUNICATION TO EARTH. EXPLOITING THESE FEATURES NECESSITATES A LEAP OF TECHNOLOGY FROM CURRENT PLANETARY MISSIONS, WHICH LAND WITH LARGE ERROR ELLIPSES IN STATISTICALLY SAFE TERRAIN, ROVE SLOWLY AND CAUTIOUSLY ACROSS THE SURFACE, DEPEND ON THE SUN FOR POWER AND LIGHT, AND RELY HEAVILY ON HUMAN COMMANDS. PHASE II DEVELOPS THE ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONTEXT OF SPELUNKER , A PROTOTYPE MISSION CONCEPT TO EXPLORE A LUNAR SKYLIGHT AND CAVE. THE SPELUNKER MISSION SPECIFIES SAFE LANDING ON THE RIM OF A SKYLIGHT, TETHERED DESCENT OF A POWER AND COMMUNICATIONS HUB, AND AUTONOMOUS CAVE EXPLORATION BY MULTIPLE HYBRID DRIVING/HOPPING ROBOTS. IN THIS CONTEXT, THE PHASE II STUDY WILL EXPOSE AND ADDRESS MAJOR FEASIBILITY ISSUES INHERENT IN MISSION ARCHITECTURE FOR SKYLIGHT ACCESS; ROBOT CONFIGURATION FOR IN-CAVE MOBILITY AND SUBSURFACE SENSING; TERRAIN MODELING IN DARKNESS FROM A LIGHTWEIGHT, DYNAMIC PLATFORM; AND AUTONOMY FOR EXPLORING WITH HOPPING ROBOTS. TEAM COMBINES SPACE ROBOTICS EXPERTISE OF ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY WITH EXPERTISE IN SUBSURFACE MODELING AND AUTONOMY FROM CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY. THE PROGRAM DETAILS SUBSURFACE MISSION ARCHITECTURE AND DEVELOPS A TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP TO BRING MISSIONS WITH THIS ARCHITECTURE TO FLIGHT. THREE KEY ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES ARE ADVANCED TO TRL 3: ROBOT CONFIGURATION FOR MOBILITY AND SENSING, SUBSURFACE TERRAIN MODELING, AND IN-CAVE AUTONOMY.

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• $150,000 - Thursday the 11th of December 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOTIC EXCAVATORS ADDRESS THE NEED FOR MACHINES THAT DIG, COLLECT, TRANSPORT AND DUMP LUNAR SOIL. ROBUST AND PRODUCTIVE SMALL ROBOTS ENABLE MINING RICH AND ACCESSIBLE DEPOSITS OF ICE AND OTHER VOLATILES BURIED NEAR CRATERS AT THE LUNAR POLES, DELIVERING RESOURCES TO PRODUCE PROPELLANT, AND THUS MAKING SPACE EXPLORATION SUSTAINABLE. LIGHTWEIGHT EXCAVATORS BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN PROSPECTING AND FULL-SCALE ISRU. A LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOT IS PROPOSED THAT EXCAVATES AND DELIVERS REGOLITH WITH PRODUCTION SO SUPERIOR TO THE STATE OF THE ART AS TO ENABLE REALISTIC LUNAR AND PLANETARY APPLICATIONS. DEMONSTRATION OF LIGHT WEIGHT WILL BE ACHIEVED BY OPERATING A LOW MASS ROBOT IN EARTH GRAVITY REDUCED 5/6 BY OFFLOADING. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED INNOVATION IS AN APPROACH THAT NOT ONLY PERFORMS THE REQUIRED TASKS BUT IS LOW IN MASS (30 KG TO 150 KG). MASS CONSTRAINTS MAKE PRODUCTIVE EXCAVATION CHALLENGING. HOWEVER, INNOVATIVE DESIGNS INCORPORATING TRANSVERSE BUCKET-WHEELS, HIGH PAYLOAD COMPOSITE DUMP BEDS, AND HIGH-SPEED DRIVING ARE GAME CHANGERS, ENABLING REGOLITH OPERATIONS IN LOW GRAVITY. PHASE 1 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOW THAT PAYLOAD RATIO AND DRIVING SPEED GOVERN PRODUCTIVITY OF SMALL ROBOTS. PHASE 2 WILL ELEVATE TRLS FROM 3 AT THE BEGINNING TO AN ESTIMATED 4 OR 5 AT END OF CONTRACT.

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• $150,000 - Thursday the 5th of June 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  A SCALABLE GRAVITY OFFLOAD DEVICE SIMULATES REDUCED GRAVITY FOR THE TESTING OF VARIOUS SURFACE SYSTEM ELEMENTS SUCH AS MOBILE ROBOTS, EXCAVATORS, HABITATS, AND DEPLOYABLES IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT. THE DEVICE IS CAPABLE OF SIMULATING REDUCED GRAVITY OVER AN ARBITRARY TERRAIN INCLUDING SUCH FEATURES AS SLOPES, OBSTACLES, AND VARYING SURFACE CONCAVITY. THE DEVICE CONSISTS OF A LINEAR MOVEMENT SYSTEM, A 2 DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM MANIPULATOR, A PASSIVE FORCE APPLICATION MECHANISM, AND A POSITION TRACKING MECHANISM. THE MANIPULATOR TRAVELS ALONG THE LINEAR MOVEMENT SYSTEM AND IS POSITIONED PERPENDICULAR TO THE LINEAR MOVEMENT SYSTEM'S DIRECTION OF TRAVEL. THE RESULT IS A RECTANGULAR WORKING AREA WHEREBY THE GRAVITY OFFLOAD DEVICE CAN SIMULATE REDUCED GRAVITY IN THE AREA DEFINED BY THE LENGTH OF THE LINEAR MOVEMENT SYSTEM BY THE WIDTH (REACH) OF THE 2 DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM MANIPULATOR. THE FORCE APPLICATION MECHANISM IS PRINCIPLED UPON PRECISION MAINTENANCE OF A PRESSURE IN AN AIR CYLINDER. PRECISION REGULATION OF SUPPLY PRESSURE ENABLES CONSTANT FORCE OVER THE THROW OF THE AIR CYLINDER. VARYING THE REGULATOR SUPPLY PRESSURE TO THE AIR CYLINDER(S) MODIFIES THE FORCE EXPERIENCED BY THE TEST ARTICLE AND THEREFORE ENABLES A GRAVITY OFFLOAD DEVICE TO SIMULATE A RANGE OF GRAVITY FIELDS PROPORTIONAL TO THE ABILITY TO REGULATE PRESSURE.

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• $124,780 - Monday the 10th of June 2013
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE PROPOSED INNOVATION IS A HETEROGENEOUS MULTI-ROBOT TEAM DEVELOPED AS A PLATFORM FOR EFFECTIVE SUBSURFACE PLANETARY EXPLORATION. STATE-OF-ART ROBOTIC EXPLORATION IS BASED ON SINGLE-ROBOT SYSTEMS WITH HUMAN CONTROLLERS AUGMENTED BY LIMITED AUTOMATION. THIS SYSTEM REQUIRES NEAR-CONSTANT COMMUNICATION AND A SINGLE FAILURE RESULTS IN THE END OF THE MISSION. A MULTI-ROBOT SYSTEM OFFERS MORE EFFICIENT EXECUTION OF MISSION TASKS, SUCH AS EXPLORATION AND MAPPING. THE ROBOTIC TEAM CAN RE-CONFIGURE IN NOVEL WAYS TO EXTEND RANGE, INCREASE MAPPING FIDELITY, OR MAINTAIN A COMMUNICATION LINK. INNOVATIVE ROBOT CONFIGURATIONS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF THE SUBSURFACE ENVIRONMENT. THESE CHALLENGES INCLUDE POWER IN THE DARK, COMMUNICATION TO EARTH, AND MOBILITY IN ROCKY TERRAIN. THE ROBOT TEAM WILL IMPLEMENT STATE-OF-ART SOFTWARE DEVELOPED AT CMU TO ENABLE NAVIGATION OF ROUGH TERRAIN, AUTONOMOUS COLLABORATION AMONG LARGE MULTI-ROBOT GROUPS, AND SENSING AND NAVIGATION. SINCE SUBTERRANEAN FEATURES PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM SURFACE HAZARDS, LOW-COST ELECTRONICS MAY BE USED TO REDUCE MISSION COSTS. THE MULTI-ROBOT SYSTEM PROVIDES: PARALLELIZED EXPLORATION OF LARGE SPACES OR TUNNEL NETWORKS AUTONOMOUS TASK GENERATION AUTONOMOUS RECONFIGURATION OF ROBOT TEAM TO ACHIEVE A PARTICULAR TASK SINGLE ROBOT FAILURE DOES NOT RESULT IN END OF MISSION

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• $100,000 - Wednesday the 4th of April 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
  CLIN 1.5 PRELIMINARY DESIGN CHECKPOINT

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