The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $91,928 - Thursday the 11th of October 2012
  Department Of Navy
  OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH
  R&D- DEFENSE OTHER: OTHER (APPLIED RESEARCH/EXPLORATORY DEVELOPMENT)

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• $76,894 - Saturday the 1st of December 2012
  Veterans Affairs Department
  646-PITTSBURG
  IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS - R&D SERVICES FOR ETC GAME

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• $694,519 - Wednesday the 30th of September 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  AMES RESEARCH CENTER
  TAS::80 0125::TAS VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS THE GOAL OF THE VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF FLIGHT-CRITICAL SYSTEMS (VVFCS) PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION TOOLS AND ALGORITHMS FOR COMPLEX FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS. A FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEM (FCS) IS ONE THAT DIRECTLY CONTROLS THE SAFE CONDUCT OF AN AIRCRAFT S FLIGHT. THIS INCLUDES AIR AND GROUND SYSTEMS, AND CONCEPTS OF OPERATION AS WELL AS TECHNOLOGY. FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEM RESEARCH INCLUDES HUMAN PERFORMANCE AS A KEY FACTOR. IN SUPPORT OF THE VERIFICATION OF SOFTWARE-INTENSIVE SYSTEMS EFFORT, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP ALGORITHMS FOR VERIFICATION OF FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS, WHICH WILL ALLOW NASA TO PERFORM VERIFICATION TASKS THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEYOND THE STATE-OF-THE-ART. SPECIFICALLY, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP ALGORITHMS FOR ACCOMPLISHING BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING: 1) COMPOSITIONAL VERIFICATION (DECOMPOSING THE VERIFICATION OF A LARGE SOFTWARE SYSTEM INTO VERIFICATIONS OF ITS SMALLER COMPONENTS), AND, 2) TEST-CASE GENERATION (AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING A SUITE OF TEST CASES FOR A PIECE OF SOFTWARE SUCH THAT THE TEST SUITE ACHIEVES SPECIFIED COVERAGE OF THE SOFTWARE). TO SUPPORT INCREASED AUTOMATION, NEXTGEN FLIGHT-CRITICAL SYSTEMS (FCS) WILL BE SOFTWARE INTENSIVE, AND WILL CONSIST OF SEVERAL INTERACTING COMPONENTS. GIVEN THE SAFETY-CRITICAL NATURE OF NEXTGEN APPLICATIONS, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO PROVIDE EXHAUSTIVE VERIFICATION ALGORITHMS THAT CAN DEMONSTRATE THE DESIRED DEGREE OF GUARANTEES OF SAFETY. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP SCALABLE ALGORITHMS FOR EXHAUSTIVE VERIFICATION OF SAFETY PROPERTIES FOR NEXTGEN FCS. THESE NOVEL ALGORITHMS SHALL BE AIMED AT EARLY MODELS OR PROTOTYPES OF FCS APPLICATIONS, BUT SHALL SPAN THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE OF SUCH SYSTEMS. THE ALGORITHMS THAT SHALL BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED ARE THE FOLLOWING: COMPOSITIONAL VERIFICATION, AUTOMATED TEST-CASE GENERATION, NUMERICAL ANALYSIS TAS::80 0125::TAS

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• $6,660 - Friday the 7th of September 2012
  Energy Department
  NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CENTER
  TUITION

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• $66,000 - Friday the 20th of November 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN RECENT YEARS, MODELING AND SIMULATION TOOLS HAVE ENABLED ENGINEERS TO DESIGN HIGHLY COMPLEX SYSTEMS WHILE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION CONSTRAINTS ACROSS MULTIPLE PHYSICAL DOMAINS (E.G., MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC, THERMAL, OPTICAL, ETC.). WITH THE CURRENT FOCUS ON IMPROVING THE SIMULATION TECHNIQUES, LITTLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID TO DEVELOPING CAD TOOLS FOR MULTIPHYSICS OPTIMIZATION SO FAR. THE NEED FOR POWERFUL OPTIMIZATION IS HIGHLIGHTED FOR INSTANCE BY RECENT EXPERIENCES WITH DEEP-SPACE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE SHOWN COST-GROWTH ISSUES DURING INTEGRATION AND TEST, AND OPERATION. THESE INCLUDE CHANGES IN THE DESIGN LATE IN THE LIFE-CYCLE WHICH OFTEN RESULT IN A RIPPLE-EFFECT OF CHANGES IN THE OTHER AREAS AND CAUSE COST AND SCHEDULE GROWTH DURING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT. THIS IS A KEY PART OF THE SPACE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP TECHNICAL AREA TA11, TECHNOLOGY AREA BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE TABS 2.2.2.2. IN THIS WORK OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SEARCH ALGORITHMS FOR MULTIPHYSICS DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION. WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE NEW STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS THAT COULD BE USED IN A MULTIPHYSICS DESIGN AUTOMATION TOOL. SUCH AN OPTIMIZATION TOOL WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES (SUCH AS SIZE, POWER CONSUMPTION, RF EMISSIONS) ACROSS MULTIPLE COMPONENTS AND FIND GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, ALLEVIATING THE COSTS OF SYSTEM ENGINEERING. WITH RESPECT TO SPACE TECHNOLOGY, THIS WOULD ALLOW SYSTEM ANALYSES TO BE DONE EARLY ENOUGH AND TO BE INCORPORATED INTO VARIOUS SPACE-TRADE EVALUATION PROCESSES MAKING SPACE EXPLORATION MORE AFFORDABLE AND CAPABLE.

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• $66,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  POINTS OF PERSISTENT LIGHT EXIST ON THE RIM OF SHACKLETON CRATER AND AT OTHER POLAR LOCATIONS ON THE MOON, AND PERHAPS MERCURY. THESEDESTINATIONS COULD SERVE AS BASES OF OPERATIONS OR POWER STATIONS FOR EXPLOITATION OF POLAR RESOURCES. WHILE SUNLIGHT IS NOT TRULY ETERNAL AT THESE SITES, THE PERIODS OF ILLUMINATION ARE MUCH LONGER THAN ELSEWHERE ON THE MOON. SOLAR-POWERED ROBOTS CAN EXPLORE THESE LOCATIONS, HIBERNATING THROUGH THE SHORT PERIODS OF DARKNESS OR MOVING FROM ONE OASIS OF LIGHT TO ANOTHER. BUT, FOR POLAR DESTINATIONS, EVEN SMALL ROCKS CAST LONG SHADOWS, AND UNEXPECTED SHADOWS CAN BE MISSION-ENDING FOR SMALL ROVERS. PRECISE KNOWLEDGE OF 3D STRUCTURE ON THE METER-SCALE AND SMALLER IS NEEDED TO PREDICT WHERE SHADOWS WILL FALL. SUB-SURFACE CAVERNS MAY BE THE BEST PLACE ON MARS TO FIND LIFE. THEY MAY BE THE BEST HOPE FOR HUMAN HABITATION ON THE MOON. THEY CAN SERVE AS SAFE HAVENS THAT SHIELD ROBOTS, ASTRONAUTS, AND STRUCTURES FROM RADIATION, MICROMETEORITES, DUST STORMS, AND TEMPERATURE EXTREMES. THEY ALSO PROVIDE WINDOWS INTO A PLANET S PAST GEOLOGY, CLIMATE, AND EVEN BIOLOGY. SKYLIGHTS, FORMED BY PARTIAL CAVE CEILING COLLAPSE, PROVIDE ACCESS TO SUB-SURFACE VOIDS. THEY HAVE BEEN CONCLUSIVELY SHOWN TO EXIST ON MARS AND THE MOON, AND EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THEIR EXISTENCE ON OTHER PLANETARY BODIES THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. BECAUSE SKYLIGHTS ARE SO NEW AND SO UNKNOWN, IT IS MUCH TOO RISKY TO SEND ASTRONAUTS, OR EVEN COMPLEX AND EXPENSIVE ROBOTIC SYSTEMS, TO EXPLORE THESE HOLES AND THE CAVERNS BELOW WITHOUT PRIOR RECONNAISSANCE. SURFACE ROBOTS CAN APPROACH A SKYLIGHT AND SCAN THE WALLS, BUT SKYLIGHT GEOMETRY PREVENTS VIEWING THE FLOOR OF THE HOLE FROM A SURFACE PERSPECTIVE. THIS RESEARCH PROPOSES COMPLEMENTARY FLYOVER AND SURFACE EXPLORATION FOR RECONNAISSANCE OF POINT DESTINATIONS, LIKE SKYLIGHTS AND POLAR CRATER RIMS, WHERE LOCAL 3D DETAIL MATTERS. THIS RECONNAISSANCE IS DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS APPROACHES TO PLANETARY EXPLORATION: IT MUST DETAIL THE GEOMETRY OF HIGH-RELIEF POINT TARGETS PARTIALLY OBSCURED BY TERRAIN, NOT SIMPLY CHARACTERIZE REGIONS. LANDER FLYOVER CAPTURES DETAILED OVERVIEW DATA, AS WELL AS PERSPECTIVES THAT CANNOT BE OBSERVED FROM A ROVER VIEWPOINT. ROVERS CAN CAPTURE CLOSE-UP IMAGES OF THE TERRAIN, AND THEY CAN LINGER TO CAPTURE MULTIPLE VIEWS FROM STATIONARY LOCATIONS, THOUGH ALWAYS FROM LOW, GRAZING PERSPECTIVES. ALTERNATELY, LANDERS CAN ACQUIRE BIRD S-EYE VIEWS BUT WITH LESS DETAIL AND RESOLUTION SINCE THEIR ONE-PASS, ALWAYS-MOVING TRAJECTORIES ARE CONSTRAINED BY FUEL LIMITATIONS. LANDER AND ROVER DATA ARE COMBINED, USING LANDER DATA TO LOCALIZE AND PLAN ROVER PATHS, TO AUTONOMOUSLY CONSTRUCT QUALITY 3D MODELS OF POINT DESTINATIONS. BOTH CAMERAS AND ACTIVE SENSORS, SUCH AS LIDAR (LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING), ARE USED FOR MODEL CONSTRUCTION IN THE PROPOSED APPROACH. ACTIVE SENSING IS NEEDED TO PEER INTO SHADOWED REGIONS, BUT ACTIVE SENSORS DO NOT HAVE THE RESOLUTION THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH CAMERAS AND ARE RANGE-LIMITED BY AVAILABLE POWER. CAMERA AND LIDAR DATA ARE FUSED INTO HIGH-FIDELITY MODELS, BUT THE REAL VALUE IN HAVING BOTH DATA TYPES COMES WHEN LOCALIZING ROVERS WITHIN MAPS BUILT FROM LANDER DATA. DIFFERENCE IN PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN ROVER AND FLYOVER (LANDER OR ORBITER) DATA HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A STUMBLING BLOCK FOR AUTOMATION OF ROVER LOCALIZATION. THIS RESEARCH PROPOSES TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM BY TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF 3D AND VISUAL DATA, BOTH IN MAPS AND IN ROVER DATA. APPROACHES USING BOTH 3D AND VISUAL FEATURES SIMULTANEOUSLY WILL BE EXPLORED, AS WELL AS APPROACHES THAT USE ONE DATA TYPE FOR COARSE LOCALIZATION AND ANOTHER FOR REFINEMENT. TO FACILITATE EXPLORATION EVEN IN COMMUNICATIONS-LIMITED AREAS, AND TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY WITH WHICH EXPLORATION OPERATIONS ARE PERFORMED, A FULLY AUTONOMOUS MODELING APPROACH IS PROPOSED. ROVER PATHS AND VIEWS ARE PLANNED AUTONOMOUSLY, USING NEXT-BEST-VIEW CONCEPTS, TO FILL HOLES AND INVESTIGATE AREAS OF INTEREST WITHIN A LANDER MODEL.

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• $599,996 - Tuesday the 18th of September 2012
  Department Of Navy
  SPAWAR SYSTEMS CENTER ATLANTIC
  ROBOTICS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE OPERATION

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• $597,997 - Tuesday the 17th of January 2012
  Department Of Navy
  OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH
  RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT BIOTECHNOLOGY)

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• $582,816 - Thursday the 25th of February 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO EXPLORE AND MEASURE THE GRADIENTS OF SUBSURFACE LIFE AND HABITATS IN THE ATACAMA DESERT IN A FIELD CAMPAIGN INVOLVING THE FIRST OPERATION OF A DRILL BY AN AUTONOMOUS SURVEY ROVER. OUR GOAL IS TO DOCUMENT SUBSURFACE ECOSYSTEMS THAT DEMONSTRATE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN IN-CREASED ARIDITY, OXIDATION, AND SALINITY CONDITIONS. THE INDIVIDUAL AND COMBINED ROLE OF HYPERARIDITY, HIGH UV HIGH DAILY THERMAL AMPLITUDE, OXIDATION, WIND, AND DESICCATION ON THE SURFACE AND THEIR IMPACT ON SUBSURFACE HABITABILITY, IF ANY, WILL BE QUANTIFIED. OUR INVESTIGATION WILL PROVIDE MISSION RELEVANT, COMPARATIVE, DATASETS BY ASSESSING THE RANGE OF SUBSURFACE HABITABLE CONDITIONS AT DEPTHS EQUIVALENT AND SUPERIOR TO MSL IN AN ENVIRONMENT UNIQUELY ANALOGOUS TO EARLY MARS. OUR RESEARCH WILL ENABLE SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION BY DEVELOPING THE NECESSARY TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ACCESS AND SAMPLING. WE WILL ESTABLISH DRILLING AS A FIELD-PROVEN CAPABILITY FOR SCIENCE ROVERS. A FIELD CAMPAIGN OVER THREE YEARS WILL MAKE SPATIAL AND STRATIGRAPHIC TRANSECTS OF THE DESERT. THE VERSATILE ROVER WILL INCORPORATE A RANGE OF SENSORS FOR BIOGEOLOGIC SURVEY AND A DRILL CAPABLE OF COLLECTING SAMPLES AND MAKING MEASUREMENTS AT VARIOUS DEPTHS TO CHARACTERIZE SUBSURFACE HABITATS. THE ASTROBIOLOGY QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED DURING THE INVESTIGATION ARE: -WHAT ARE THE SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, GEOLOGICAL AND MINERALOGICAL SIGNATURES OF HABITATS? -WHAT IS THE SPATIAL DIVERSITY, GRADIENTS, AND TYPES OF HABITATS AND LIFE ALONG TRANSECTS AND VERTICAL PROFILES? -WHAT ARE THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR SURVIVAL IN THESE HABITATS? NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER WILL PROVIDE LEADERSHIP IN ASTROBIOLOGY AND SCIENCE OPERATIONS. CARNEGIE MELLON WILL INTEGRATE ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGIES, COLLABORATION WITH JPL AND HONEYBEE ROBOTICS, AND WILL LEAD THE FIELD EXPERIMENT. OUR TEAM POSSESSES DEEP EXPERIENCE IN THE COMPONENT DISCIPLINES, BEEN SUCCESSFUL TOGETHER IN PRIOR FIELD INVESTIGATIONS, AND HAS A PROVEN RECORD OF DELIVERING ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OBJECTIVES.

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• $5,724 - Thursday the 24th of July 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
  IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS: COURSE TUITION/COURSE TITLE: INDEPENDENT STUDY

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