Albatross Proposers Day
DATE: 2 October 2024
Registration Deadline: 25 September 2024
The Albatross program seeks to develop effective autonomous aircraft soaring capabilities as evaluated via real-world flight testing. Soaring is the harnessing of atmospheric winds to reduce the input energy required to fly and increase aircraft range and endurance. Types of soaring include static, such as thermal, ridge, and wave, and dynamic, such as across wind shear or through a boundary layer.
The program will develop two significant capabilities. The first capability is a preflight planning tool that provides the operator with an accurate prediction of platform performance with appropriate soaring benefits applied. The tool will provide the operator with multiple options for conducting the flight that directs the aircraft through areas of expected high-density soaring conditions. The second capability is an onboard, real-time soaring guidance and control subsystem for a small, uncrewed aerial system that recognizes soaring conditions and responds
appropriately.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-111
Trenton Proposers Day
DATE: 10 October 2024
Registration Deadline: 4 October 2024
The Trenton program seeks to enable underwater three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP) through the development, refinement, and optimization of printable formulations and fabrication hardware. The overall goal of Trenton is to demonstrate that underwater 3DCP is possible. Trenton’s objectives include the development of additive construction methodologies and chemistries to support the in situ manufacturing of concrete structures underwater in support of various Department of Defense (DOD) use cases, including coastal infrastructure reinforcement and bridge repair.
The Trenton program will require the development and optimization of printing formulations and fabrication methods. Formulation includes all aspects related to the development and optimization of underwater 3DCP material chemistries. Performers are expected to leverage and refine existing
formulations to the maximum extent possible and must be mindful to avoid potentially toxic materials while developing formulations. Fabrication for Trenton will include aspects of hardware development that enable 3DCP from a land-based system into water at the bench scale. Performers are expected to leverage and adapt existing land-based 3DCP for printing underwater.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-108
eXVi Industry Day
DATE: 10 October 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 7 October 2024
The goal of eX Virentia (eXVi) is to use of existing unmodified vegetation as a sensor to identify human activity by utilizing natural plant responses to man-made chemical exposures. The eXVi program will bring together plant biologists with remote sensing and modeling experts to develop and execute a fundamental research program. This research will uncover the internal physical response of plant species to chemical exposure. This will require a) growing of several plant species across genera and family, b) exposing them to chemicals via root and leaf uptake, c) measuring both internal and external responses, d) modeling and predicting the responses and e) scaling predicted responses to similar species across phylogenies.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-113
Switchable Reactives and Energetics (SeREne) Disruption Opportunity Information Session
DATE: 7 October 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 4 October 2024
High-performance energetics are inherently dangerous, which leads to challenges in manufacturing, transporting, and fielding energetic materials for Defense applications. Insensitive (high-safety) energetics, on the other hand, generally have lower performance, requiring the use of larger amounts of material and necessitating specialized disposal of unexploded ordnance. Recent results suggest that it is possible to exploit atomic-scale and nanoscale physicochemical phenomena to engineer switching between high-performance and high-safety states in energetic materials, thus enhancing their safety and utility. The SeREne program will develop energetic materials that can be switched or tuned continuously between a safe state with high insensitivity and a detonable state with high performance.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-116
Human-AI Communication for Deontic Reasoning Devops (CODORD) Disruoption Opportunity Information Session
DATE: 8 October 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 4 October 2024
The CODORD program will create new AI-based techniques for humans to author knowledge about deontics (obligations, permissions, and prohibitions) into an expressively flexible logical language in an automated rather than manual fashion and using only natural language (eg English) rather than only logical language. It has the potential to enable automated deontic reasoning with high assurance, required for compliance with command orders, regulations, laws, operational policies, ethics, contracts, agreements, and strategies/plans. Mechanized deontic reasoning could become a much more widely practical tool for decision support across a variety of crucial military and commercial applications.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-118
Large-Area Photocathodes (LAP) Proposers Day
DATE: 18 October 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 11 October 2024
The objective of the Large-Area Photocathodes (LAP) program is to develop large-area photocathodes suitable for high-power
microwave (HPM) transmission systems. LAP seeks manufacturable photocathode material systems with high quantum efficiency that can be produced in large areas with substantial lifetimes and manageable handling requirements. LAP will develop and produce photocathodes that the government team will incorporate into a subscale high-power microwave transmitter prototype system.
Document: DARPA-SN-24-112
