N251-026 TITLE: Passive Position Sensing and Navigation for Small Crafts and Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) in Global Positioning System (GPS) Denied Environments

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Trusted AI and Autonomy

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a passive device or system that allows a Small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV) or other small craft to develop and maintain awareness of its location on the earth’s surface in a Global Positioning System (GPS)-degraded or -denied maritime environment.

DESCRIPTION: Current naval navigation systems are heavily reliant on GPS, which is a highly accurate all-weather source of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). However, GPS utilizes weak radio frequency (RF) signals from distant satellites that may be subjected to intentional and unintentional interference. GPS signals may not be available or reliable in a degraded/Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environment. In recent years, the ability to compromise GPS has been demonstrated by adversaries using jamming techniques that interfere with military mission execution. Additionally, RF transmissions, including use of a surface search or navigation radar, can disclose a vessel’s location, as can use of a fathometer or depth finder. To mitigate these challenges, the Navy is seeking affordable passive navigation technologies for improved PNT on sUSVs or small craft when GPS is degraded and/or unavailable.

Inertial navigation systems (INS) and precision clocks may extend the PNT solution for short periods, but both are subject to drift errors. An alternative real-time PNT solution—utilizing complimentary PNT sensor data and networks—is required to maintain an accurate and reliable navigation solution by bounding the drift errors without GPS dependency.

The proposed system footprint should be no larger than 4 inches by 4 inches and no taller than 4 inches. The system should weigh less than 10 lbs. and total system power consumption should be less than 100W. Objective performance requirements are a positioning accuracy requirement of less than 10 meters, less than 3 meters/second velocity error, and better than 20 nanosecond time transfer. With respect to affordability, each system should cost less than $125,000.

Older electronic navigation systems such as Long-Range Navigation (LORAN) and Omega have been retired, and other satellite-based systems such as Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the European Union’s Galileo have the same disadvantages as GPS. This SBIR topic does not seek optical line-of-sight algorithms (e.g., visual positioning systems [or camera-based positioning solutions] or sextant-based solutions). Optical line-of-sight algorithms can be utilized to assist in bounding the solution from other PNT sensor solutions. The PNT sensor solution should be an "all-weather solution" not dependent upon cloud cover. This topic seeks a novel system, an improvement over existing methods, and/or a combination of methods to achieve the stated accuracy goals. Systems may use visual, gravity, magnetic, bathymetric, relative navigation, signal of opportunity, and/or other technological applications. Use of a fathometer is discouraged but not prohibited. The final product should be a fully integrated system that interfaces with the sUSV’s autonomy or craft’s electronic display panel by passing a stream of latitude, longitude, time, and confidence fields. The final product should be able to take an input from an onboard inertial navigation system that provides a "dead reckoning" solution to previous fixes and in turn, provides heading information to the ship.

This system will meet critical Navy needs by allowing sUSVs and other small craft to safely navigate without revealing their locations to adversary forces. The product will be validated and tested ashore for compliance with the Navy-provided Interface Control Document (ICD). Once validated ashore by the Navy, it will be qualified and certified during Navy Sea trials in at least three different geographical locations, e.g., Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean, and in a variety of conditions. These conditions will include near-shore and all open ocean conditions, daytime and nighttime, and all-weather conditions including clear visibility and foggy. Depending on the technology used, tests will be selected that provide results from a diversity of conditions having an impact on the solution.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and NAVSEA in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

PHASE I: Develop a conceptual design for a Passive Position Sensing and Navigation system that meets the requirements in the Description. The concept design must define a system that can consistently operate within the established navigational rules, and include any modeling and simulation, studies, or prototypes in support of concept risk reduction. Demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concept through modeling, simulation data analysis, and concept demonstrations.

The Phase I Option, if exercised, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype solution in Phase II.

PHASE II: Develop and deliver a prototype system based on the requirements in the Description. The prototype systems will be evaluated at sea in both near-shore, and open-ocean and all-weather conditions to verify and validate the performance regarding position and navigation accuracy.

Participate in a Critical Design Review (CDR) during which the system’s necessary interfaces, dependencies, and risks are identified and presented. After a successful CDR, refine and build a prototype system. prototypes will be integrated into Navy-provided systems ashore as described in the Navy-specified ICD. After integration, the prototype will be tested ashore in a laboratory environment to verify that it meets the ICD requirements.

Final Testing and certification of the prototype system will consist of performance Verification and Validation (V&V) tests for both ashore and at-sea tests on a vessel of opportunity. The overall performance V&V tests of the system will also include hardware-in-the-loop testing on a vessel of opportunity provided by the Navy. Prepare a Phase III commercialization/transition plan.

It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see the Description for details).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Long-term accuracy has been a challenge for all Navigation sensors and technologies due to bias instability (going from hours to days). The final product from this effort will be a Navigation system, for use at all open sea and weather conditions, which provides an accurate position with minimal bias drift when GPS is degraded or denied during operation. Ultimately, it will be validated, tested, qualified, and certified for Navy use.

Support the Navy in transitioning the technology to Navy sUSVs or other small craft in order to maintain awareness of their locations on the earth’s surface. The technology can also be transitioned for use in commercial small craft or boats.

REFERENCES:

1. "IEEE Standard for Inertial Systems Terminology." IEEE Std. 1559-2009, vol., no., pp.1-40, 26 Aug. 2009. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5226540

2. Mount, Lauren A. "Navigation Using Vector and Tensor Measurements of the Earth's Magnetic Anomaly Field." Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: Air University, 2018. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1056198.pdf

3. Cozman, F. and Krotkov, E. "Robot Localization using a Computer Vision Sextant." Proceedings of 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 1, pp. 106:111 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric_Krotkov/publication/2593290_Robot_Localization_using_a_Computer_Vision_Sextant/links/5506d5f30cf26ff55fb010b/Robot-Localization-using-a-Computer-Vision-Sextant.pdf

4. "National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual (NISP), 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq. (1993)." https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-B/chapter-XX/part-2004

KEYWORDS: Global Positioning System (GPS); Small Unmanned Surface Vessel (sUSV); Small Craft; Navigation Sensor; Position, Navigation and Time (PNT), Bias Drift

TPOC 1: Thanh Tran
(540) 653-1296
Email: [email protected]

TPOC 2: Jeffery Smith
(757) 472-754
Email: [email protected]

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