At iRobot, moving way beyond the Roomba

by Daniel Terdiman

I have seen the future of military robotics, and it is autonomy. 

I've come here to visit the headquarters of iRobot, the company probably best known for its famous Roomba vacuum cleaners. But while it has sold more than 5 million of those cute household devices, it has also developed a reputation as one of the world's leaders in designing battlefield-ready robots capable of things like detecting and extracting explosive devices, search-and-rescue, and much more. 

And though iRobot could probably rest on its laurels, and keep making profits for the foreseeable future with the Roomba and military-grade robots like the PackBot or the SUGV--the small unmanned ground vehicle--it is at the same time looking to set the pace for the robots that will man--so to speak--the battlefields of the future. 

Naturally, iRobot is also looking for ways to advance its home consumer line of robots, and in that realm, it believes its path to down-the-road profits will depend heavily on health care and care giving. But I'll get to that later. 

The techie admiral

I've come to iRobot as part of my Road Trip 2010 journey through the American Northeast, in search of a clear picture of what one of the few successful, large-scale robotics companies thinks the future looks like. Of course, I've also come to see a bit of the company's history, and during my visit, I got a really nice look at both. 

One of my stops during the visit was with a gentleman who definitely isn't from Massachusetts--Joseph Dyer, iRobot's president of government and industrial robots division. Dyer, a genial Southerner with a discernible if not thick accent, is currently in his "second career" after years spent in the Navy, where he retired as a vice admiral. But thanks to his focus in the military on tech and how it can help the military achieve its goals, he became known as the "techie admiral," I'm told. 

Dyer doesn't mince words about why he came to iRobot: "I wanted to find the 2000s equivalent of Apple in the '80s," he tells me as we sit down for an information-packed 15-minute talk. 

With the PackBot, the SUGV and other devices that have been in the field for years, iRobot has already made a difference to a lot of people, and Dyer said that is established all the time with the arrival of postcards from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who, based on those devices' ability to sniff out threats like improvised explosive devices (IEDs), frequently write things along the lines of "You saved lives today." 

"If you're looking for gratification for coming to work," Dyer says, "it doesn't get any better." 

Admittedly biased, Dyer said that he sees robotics as the next big American field of innovation after a century of success in areas like agriculture, automobiles, information technology, and more. 

But how can iRobot and other companies in the industry take a field in which these small devices are already capable of helping to find and destroy explosives, do search-and-rescue missions and much more? To Dyer, the answer is in solving one of the key bottlenecks that to date has limited the full range of what's possible with robotics in the battlefield. 

Until now, he explained, there has always been a one-to-one relationship between the robots and the soldiers who operate them in the field. But that ratio is about to change dramatically, Dyer predicted. "The one word answer to why," he said, "is autonomy." 

He likened today's robots to the state of fighter planes 35 years ago, when limitations in electronics and other technologies meant that a pilot had to devote 80 percent of his or her time to attending to the plane's airframe, engine, and navigation, leaving just 20 percent to their mission. But over time, thanks to significant advances in fighter technology, those numbers are almost entirely reversed, Dyer said. 

Similarly, with today's telepresence robots, about 80 percent of the operator's time is spent focusing on the technology, while just about 20 percent is available to focus on the mission. But thanks to things like Moore's Law, he predicted, it will take far less than 35 years to reverse that ratio, meaning that within a few years, the technology will exist to make it possible for a human operator in the field to focus almost entirely on the task at hand and not have to worry much about the practicalities of getting their robot to do what they want. 

Indeed, Dyer said that he expects the first major shift in this area to take place later this year, with the delivery of the first truly autonomous robots to soldiers in the field. 

To be sure, these robots won't be that much more advanced than what is out there today, but Dyer said they will feature autonomous communication technologies known as "retro-traverse" that will allow them, for the first time, to navigate out of trouble if they lose communications connection with their human operators. 

Today, he said, if a robot loses communications, soldiers are required to take the time and the personal risk to go find it, something that is entirely counter-productive considering that the robot is meant to obviate soldiers putting themselves in harm's way. 

But the new generation of robots should be smart enough, Dyer explained, to figure out that if they lose communications, they should back-track far enough to where they can once again pick up the signal. 

At the same time, the new robots will also feature cruise control, which will mean that they can automatically maintain course and speed. That may not sound like much, but to a soldier who currently has to take care of those elements manually, it could be a major shift forward. 

2015

Looking further down the line, Dyer said that by 2015 or so, soldiers should be getting their hands for the first time on so-called "robot wingmen." 

The idea here, he explained, is for a robot to be able to autonomously take on task assignments for things like getting through closed doors. The robot won't have full artificial intelligence, but based on a programmed mission profile, it should be designed to attack a task and generally figure out how to complete it. Even better, if it encounters problems, it won't simply stop working, it will be smart enough to ask for help. 

That might mean that if a robot is assigned to get through a door "peacefully," but finds that the door is locked, it can inquire--by voice, or even by text message--how it should proceed. 

And, human operators may also be able to give instructions to robots simply by making hand gestures--something that could free up a lot of attention that is currently spent manually handling controllers. 

Finally, Dyer said, the more autonomous robots are deployed in the field, the more that will free up already-taxed communications networks since it requires a great deal of bandwidth to maintain connectivity between soldiers and their robots. 

"6-1 money"

According to Chris Jones, iRobot's head of research, a significant percentage of the forward-looking work that the company does, especially on the military side, is funded by what is known as "6-1 money." This funding comes from DARPA--the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency--and is essentially defined as very early stage, or "basic" research. In other words, work done to figure out what's possible, not necessarily what to do with it. 

With that in mind, iRobot's research division focuses on four main areas: Autonomy--which Dyer obviously sees as a big part of the company's future; Human-Robot Interaction, which will, in part, utilize autonomy to help users more efficiently control their robots; Collaboration--which could mean single users can simultaneously control multiple robots; and New platforms. 

As an example of the last one, Jones demonstrated a new project based on "6-1 money:" the so-called "Chemical Robot." This is a project with no specific known application, and looks nothing like any robot you've seen before. In fact, it looks more like a blob of soft plastic. 

But what it is is a collection of soft material that can, on demand, be expanded or retracted, all with the idea that it can be rolled somewhere and then squeezed under or through very small spaces. It may be the size of a softball in its full form, but could theoretically get through a hole the size of a quarter, Jones predicted. 

While there are no specific tasks in this device's future, it's thought that search-and-rescue is a major possible application. 

Generally, there are no known timeframes for the productization of technologies like this, Jones added, but said that the point is first to prove they are viable, and then what to do with them. 

Similarly, as iRobot works on new-style versions of the PackBot that are smaller and, thanks to better sensors and technology, more autonomous, the answer to when they are deployed in the field may have more to do with military culture than technology. 

Care giving

My last stop of the day was with iRobot founder and CEO Angle. For some time, we talked about his company's history, and how he came to develop the Roomba and its successor, the floor-cleaning Scooba. 

But Angle also had a forward-looking message. To him, iRobot's commercial future is centered on health care and care-giving. He explained that over time, as humans live longer, the number of people available to take care of the elderly--family members and friends, mainly--is shrinking due to major cultural and demographic shifts. 

And since most elderly people want to stay away from nursing homes, that means there's a huge opportunity for a company like iRobot--and its competitors--to develop robots that can fill the resulting gap. 

And that means that if iRobot or other companies can come up with home-based robots that can do things like proactively remind elderly people to take their medications, or to get out of bed, go to the bathroom, or any of many other possible tasks, it could make a huge difference in people's lives. 

That might not be intuitive to the average robotics fan, but it's crucial to the industry, Angle said.

"The industry as a whole has always had a weakness in that robots are so cool that people have always been excited" by their futuristic possibilities, Angle said. "What the industry needs is people solving real problems."

Military business helping DSM Dyneema sales

By Frank Esposito

DSM NV’s Dyneema-brand high-performance polyethylene fiber unit is having a solid year so far in 2010.

Earlier this year, the business landed a large contract to produce material for use in add-on armor on the Stryker combat vehicle, which is used extensively by the U.S. Army. The Stryker vehicle “continues to be one of the more successful platforms in the operating field in Afghanistan,” DSM officials said in a recent news release.

Stryker vehicles, along with the M-ATV combat vehicles, “are considered to be the workhorse platforms in the fight against terrorism,” officials added.

Stryker armor system components using Dyneema will be made by TenCate Advance Armor USA, a unit of Dutch conglomerate Koninklijke Tencate NV. DSM is based in Heerlen, the Netherlands, and maked Dyneema there as well as at a plant in Greenville, N.C.

Dyneema is made from ultra-high molecular weight PE and can protect against a range of projectiles, from handgun ammunition to antitank weaponry and mines. DSM completed a $50 million expansion of Dyneema production in Greenville in 2006.

Also this year, DSM introduced Dyneema for use in vests, helmets and inserts used by German law enforcement officers. Those products are based on Dyneema’s Hard Ballistic (HB) and Soft Ballistic (SB) systems. German officials also are using Dyneema in mandible (jaw) guards, where the material offers protection against blunt force impacts.

Outside of military/law enforcement markets, Dyneema is being used in huge slings for loading wind turbine piles onto barges at a port in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. Two of the slings are used to lift individual piles weighing more than 1.4 million pounds each onto barges for delivery in London, where they’ll be used on a massive wind farm.

DSM officials said the slings are just as strong as slings made with steel wire, but have only one-seventh of the weight. Using the slings also trims a full day off of the unloading process, yielding daily savings of more than $70,000.

The Dyneema slings are sold under the Ultralift brand name and are made by Technotex in Coevorden, the Netherlands.

U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center Awards Lockheed Martin Contract to Perform HULC™ User Testing

Lockheed Martin has received a $1.1 million contract from the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center for test and evaluation of its next-generation HULC™ advanced robotic exoskeleton, designed to augment Soldiers' strength and endurance, as well as reduce load carriage injuries. 

Under this contract, the U.S. Army will test Lockheed Martin's advanced ruggedized HULC design.  The upgraded HULC system includes optimized control software, extended battery life and human factors improvements for quicker and easier sizing to each user.  Lockheed Martin is also exploring exoskeleton designs to support industrial and medical applications.

"The tests performed on Lockheed Martin's HULC system will help us assess the current state of the technology," said David Audet, U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, which awarded the contract.  "Exoskeletons have the potential to reduce stress on the body from heavy loads."

Dismounted Soldiers often carry heavy combat loads that increase stress on the body, leading to injuries and exhaustion.  HULC is designed to transfer the weight from heavy loads to the ground through the robotic legs of the lower-body exoskeleton, taking the weight off of the operator.  An advanced onboard micro-computer ensures the exoskeleton moves in concert with the operator.  HULC is an un-tethered, battery powered, hydraulic-actuated anthropomorphic exoskeleton capable of performing deep squats, crawls and upper-body lifting with minimal human exertion.

"We recognize the importance of perfecting the exoskeleton technology to redefine what is possible for our Soldiers," said Rich Russell, director of Sensors, Data Links and Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.  "HULC will meet Warfighters' future mobility and sustainment needs.  Working with the Natick Research Center to evaluate the system will further enhance our ability to meet our customer's needs and requirements."

Researchers at Natick Soldier Center will evaluate how the HULC affects Soldiers' performance. 

Additionally, biomechanical testing will measure the energy expended by a Soldier when using the HULC.  The laboratory testing will also assess how quickly users learn to use the HULC system when carrying various loads and moving at various speeds.  The contract includes options for field trials to test the system's utility in operational environments.

Military avionics connectors, reduced in size and weight, could change mil-specs

Posted by John Keller

Unmanned systems, military and commercial avionics systems, and solder-mounted applications require power and data connectors that are lighter and smaller than ever before, yet well-entrenched military specifications do not account for these reduced size and weight requirements especially regarding standard military circular connectors that link electronics boxes to other boxes or devices.

These mil-spec MIL-DTL-38999 circular connectors resist the effects of shock and vibration, salt spray, dust and dirt, as well as moisture and humidity, yet increasingly they are too large for some of the military's smallest platforms.

"Most mil/aero people not in the connector business take a look at systems electronics, and all they see are these big, honkin' circular connectors, which weigh enormous amounts," says John Binder, military and aerospace industry manager at connector designer Hypertronics Corp. in Hudson, Mass.

"Those circular connectors do have great shock-and-vibe capability, but you are using up so much weight and real estate that eventually those will have to be replaced," Binder says. "You need to design to mil standards, but how do you change the mil standards?"

Binder points to the newest generations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as prime examples of today's military applications that are driving electronic and electro-optical connector technology.

Unmanned vehicles are where it starts to change," Binder says. You don't want a lot of hardware to keep these in place, like thumb screws and bolts, but the mindset of the manned aircraft engineer hasn't hit that yet. This whole process of where UAVs are going is really going to change dramatically how aircraft are built in the future."

Institutional change in the military connector industry will come slowly, he cautions. "It won't happen overnight; this has been the standard for about 50 years," Binder says. "In five years we might see it. That will be the direction we tend to go, as an industry."

Hypertronics specializes in small, rugged connectors that link components inside subsystems boxes. Its flagship product is a hyperboloid contact shaped like a basket of wires. Each wire is a conductor, and together these wires grab and hold connector pins to prevent problems from shock and vibration.

The company also is designing larger box-to-box connectors based on the hyperboloid approach that Binder says may help drive changes in connector mil-specs in the future.

The military's growing need for small, lightweight, and rugged connectors also is driving developments at Fischer Connectors in Alpharetta, Ga. The company has introduced the Fischer LandForce connector as part of the company's UltiMate military connectors. These devices withstand nuclear, biological, and chemical environments are designed for soldier systems where size and weight is critical.

These devices also have relatively short plugs to make them small, easy to handle, and useful for applications in tight or restricted spaces. These connectors may help revolutionary the future soldier's uniform by enabling military contractors to focus on further down sizing and reducing the dimensions of the equipment they design, company officials say.

When it comes to power connectors, one company is trying to re-invent the aircraft interconnect to reduce the potential for mis-connects and other reliability issues. Custom Electronics Inc. in Oneonta, N.Y., is using bus-bar interconnects to replace hundreds of power connectors on military aircraft.

On the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft alone, bus-bars from Custom Electronics have replaced from 200 to 260 conventional power connectors, says Ken Brandmier, director of product development at Custom Electronics. "We can apply a really durable bus bar installation with fewer connection points," he says.

A bus bar is a conductor with powder coatings. Heating activates them and causes a cross-linking action. "It's difficult to mis-wire a bus bar," Brandmier says. This approach can reduce life cycle support because unlike traditional wire connectors and wire harnesses, the bus bar does not move around under stress to cause cracks or breaks.

DARPA wants electronic warfare systems that learn from their mistakes to keep pace with the latest communications technology

Posted by John Keller

Jamming RF signals in electronic warfare operations is getting a lot harder these days. It seems the ability of many military wireless communications devices like cell phones, battlefield radios, and command-and-control networks are developing the ability to adapt automatically to their environments to maintain the highest-quality signals possible.

This phenomenon is called adaptive communications -- or the notion of communications devices able to change quickly in response to conditions in the environment to make sure their signals get through. That presents a problem to the electronic warfare guys -- those whose job it is to jam the bad guy's signals to prevent them from getting through.

Unfortunately, today's adaptive communications technology seems to be outpacing electronic warfare. That means -- for the U.S., at least -- that the bad guys can change their communications faster to keep information flowing than the electronic warfare systems experts can tweak their electronic jammers to keep pace. Now DARPA is trying to change all that with the Behavioral Learning for Adaptive Electronic Warfare program.

This program -- BLADE, for short -- seeks to develop machine learning technology to enable future electronic warfare systems to adapt their jamming techniques just as quickly as the adversary adapts his communications.

Imagine that: an electronic warfare system that sniffs around for changes in the communications patterns of the enemy, learns his system, and sends out the appropriate jamming signals in response. In other words, fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice, shame on me. Sounds like DARPA is on the right track.

It worries me, though, that commercial off-the-shelf communications technology seems to be able to turn inside developments in electronic warfare technology, but that's fodder for a future blog.

Harris to Supply US Army With Falcon-III PRC-117G Radios

Harris Corp recently received a basic purchasing agreement contract worth up to $419 million to supply the US Army with Falcon III AN/PRC-117G [data sheet, PDF] multiband tactical manpack radios, and vehicular power-amplifier adapter systems. The initial delivery order under the contract is valued at $165 million. Radio systems from this order will be deployed by the Army for missions worldwide to provide next-generation, high-speed tactical satellite and voice-and-data communications.

The AN/PRC-117G manpack radio is about half the size of currently fielded multiband systems, and has a frequency range of 30 MHz – 2 GHz. The radio supports streaming video, imagery, biometrics, logistics and other data-intensive applications. The Falcon III-R AN/PRC-117G-C is a JTRS-approved manpack radio that incorporates the Harris Advanced Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2) for mobile ad-hoc networking, which provides secure IP data to the tactical Internet at on-air rates up to 10 Megabits per second (Mbps). This high data rate is joined with mobile ad-hoc networking, automated network establishment and maintenance, and integrated security. In addition, the AN/PRC-117G-C and its software-defined architecture offers interoperability with currently fielded radios, incorporating SINCGARS, Havequick II, and the High Performance Waveform (HPW), as well as MIL-STD-181B Tactical Satellite (TACSAT) capability. For encryption, the AN/PRC-117G-C uses the Harris Sierra II software-programmable encryption module. In January 2008, Harris announced its NSA certification, and the PRC-117G was part of a 10-day Army exercise in December 2007 that focused on integrating new networking technologies with the Patriot Missile System.

Boeing taps hydrogen for Phantom Eye UAV

by Jonathan E. Skillings

 Boeing recently unveiled a potential new eye in the sky, this one powered by hydrogen fuel.

The Phantom Eye, an unmanned aerial vehicle from the company's Phantom Works division, is expected to make its first flight early next year. Boeing is pitching the demonstrator UAV as a "first of its kind" aircraft that "could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications." 

A decade into the 21st century, surveillance drones are nothing new considering the now long-running successes of aircraft such as the Predator and the Global Hawk. What sets the Phantom Eye apart is the hydrogen propulsion system. Although hydrogen has been bandied about for some time as an alternative energy source, it has yet to progress much beyond the novelty stage.

Boeing, understandably, accentuated the positive. "The hydrogen propulsion system will be the key to Phantom Eye's success," Drew Mallow, Phantom Eye program manager, said in a statement. "It is very efficient and offers great fuel economy, and its only byproduct is water, so it's also a 'green' aircraft."

But the propeller-driven Phantom Eye is no muscle plane. It'll have a pair of 150-horsepower, 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engines. Boeing says the UAV, with a 150-foot wingspan, will be able to cruise at about 150 knots and carry a payload of up to 450 pounds.

It is expected to fly at an altitude of 65,000 feet for up to four days. The initial flight in early 2011, however, is expected to last only about four to eight hours. Between now and then it will undergo a series of ground and taxi tests.

At the unveiling Monday, the engines were not mounted on the Phantom Eye. The prototype and its various component will be heading to the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California for final assembly.

Among Boeing's partners on the project is Ford Motor, which is contributing to the engine efforts. The cooperation between Boeing and Ford on hydrogen engines goes back to at least 2007.

Meanwhile, Boeing's Phantom Works has a similarly named but distinct UAV project under way called the Phantom Ray. That flying-wing design, which uses a turbofan engine and is expected to fly at better than 600 miles per hour, is set to make its debut flight in December.

Lockheed Martin Successfully Completes Critical Design Review for U.S. Navy's Communications at Speed and Depth Program

A Lockheed Martin led industry team has completed a successful critical design review for a system that will give U.S. Navy submarines real-time, two-way communications without requiring platforms to proceed to periscope depth.  The review clears the way for the team to begin producing hardware and to deliver engineering design models in early 2011.

Currently, submarines must come to periscope depth to communicate with other ships, aircraft or shore facilities. This increases the submarine's detection vulnerability and may result in a large delay in tactical communications. The new system, which can be installed on all classes of submarines, is called Communications at Speed and Depth (CSD).  

"The CSD program fills a major gap identified in the Undersea Dominance Roadmap," said Brent Starr, the Navy's CSD principal acquisition program manager. "Successfully completing this review is a key indicator that we have designed a robust family of systems."  

Lockheed Martin will deliver three types of two-way communications buoys and associated equipment for installation aboard submarines and ashore.  Two tethered expendable communications buoy systems -- for Iridium satellite and ultra high frequency communications -- will be launched from submarines. The third is an acoustic-to-radio-frequency gateway system that can be launched from submarines and aircraft. The $35 million contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in January of 2009 and includes the production of buoys for development tests and operational assessments.

"The CSD systems will keep submarines connected to the Global Information Grid far beneath the water's surface, helping submariners remain safe and hidden from enemy radars," said Rod Reints, Lockheed Martin's senior program manager for CSD. "Submarines are most vulnerable when they must surface to use communication systems. This program eliminates that vulnerability."

The Lockheed Martin-led CSD team includes; Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems and ERAPSCO, a joint venture between USSI, Inc. and Sparton Corporation.

Snapshot: US Military Combat Boot Orders

Combat boots remain one of the infantry’s most important and least-appreciated pieces of gear. Unless you’ve served in the infantry, of course. After decades of “Army boots” being used as a term for old-fashioned, heavy, uncomfortable items worn by serving soldiers and the mothers of childhood antagonists, modern professional militaries have begun to get smarter about footwear. Their new aim is to leverage civilian advances in design and materials, in order to build or buy new boots that are more comfortable, longer lasting, and support the efforts of troops in the field, rather than acting as a limiting factor. The US military has been following this path for some time now. Other nations like Britain are also coming on board with the trend.

A set of contracts were issued in 2007, with future option years to follow. This article tracks those specific contracts, and is meant to be representative, not a comprehensive look at all US military combat boot orders. Participating firms and orders include:

Contracts

Flightline boot

Unless otherwise noted, the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA issues the contracts. The original proposal was web solicited, with 9 responses.

July 8/10: Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Co. in Belleville, IL received a maximum $24.3 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Belleville, IL and in Arkansas. This contract is exercising the 3rd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/11 (SPM1C1-07-D-1518).

July 8/10: Altama Footwear in Atlanta, GA received a maximum $19.8 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Puerto Rico and Tennessee. This contract is exercising the 3rd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/11 (SPM1C1-07-D-1519).

July 8/10: Wellco Enterprises, Inc. in Morristown, TN received a maximum $14.8 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Puerto Rico and Tennessee. This contract is exercising the 3rd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/11 (SPM1C1-07-D-1522).

The company also received an $18.3 million order for temperate weather Air Force boots that same day (SPM1C1-10-D-1040), which we note as an example of an American combat boot contract that’s outside the specific set covered here.

July 8/10: Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc. in Nelsonville, OH received a maximum $6.2 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Puerto Rico and Ohio. This contract is exercising the 3rd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/11 (SPM1C1-07-D-1523).

July 10/09: Belleville Shoe Mfg. Co. in Belleville, IL received a maximum $22 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Belleville, IL and in Arkansas. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/10 (SPM1C1-07-D-1518).

July 10/09: Altama Footwear in Atlanta, GA received a maximum $19.4 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Atlanta, GA, Puerto Rico and Tennessee. Using services are This contract is exercising the second one-year option period. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/10 (SPM1C10-07-D-1519).

July 10/09: Wellco Enterprises, Inc. in Waynesville, NC received a maximum $14.5 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in in Waynesville, NC and in Puerto Rico. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/10 (SPM1C1-07-D-1522).

July 10/09: Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc. in Nelsonville, OH received a maximum $6.15 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Nelsonville, OH and in Puerto Rico. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/10 (SPM1C1-07-D-1523). 

May 15/09: Small business qualifier McRae Industries, Inc. in Mt. Gilead, NC received a maximum $21 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, total set aside contract for US Army hot weather combat boots. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to May 16/10 (SPM1C1-07-D-1521).

July 2/08: Belleville Shoe Mfg., Co. in Belleville, IL received a maximum $23.9 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract for hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Belleville, IL and in Arkansas. This contract is exercising the 1st one-year option period, and runs to July 9/09 (SPM1C1-07-D-1518).

July 2/08: Altama Footwear in Atlanta, GA received a maximum $19 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Atlanta, GA and in Puerto Rico. This contract is exercising the 2nd one-year option period, and runs to July 9/09 (SPM1C1-07-D-1519).

July 2/08: Wellco Enterprises, Inc. in Waynesville, NC received a maximum $14.25 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Waynesville, NC and in Puerto Rico. This contract is exercising the 1st one-year option period, and runs to July 9/09 (SPM1C1-07-D-1522). 

July 2/08: Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc. in Nelsonville, OH received a maximum $6 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, partial set-aside contract of hot weather combat boots for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Nelsonville, OH and in Puerto Rico. This contract is exercising the 1st one-year option period, and runs to July 9/09 (SPM1C1-07-D-1523). 

May 16/08: Small business qualifier McRae Industries, Inc. in Mt. Gilead, NC received a maximum $20.6 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, total set aside contract for US Army hot weather combat boots. This contract is exercising option year 1, though McRae industries did not feature in the 2007 DefenseLINK announcements. The date of performance completion is May 16/09 (SPM1C1-07-D-1521).

July 10/07: Belleville Shoe Mfg. Co. in Belleville, IL received a maximum $25.2 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps hot weather combat boots. Work will be performed in Belleville, IL and in Arkansas. The original proposal was web solicited with 9 responses. Date of performance completion is July 9/08 (SPM1C1-07-D-1518).

July 10/07: Altama Footwear in Atlanta, GA received a maximum $20.4 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps hot weather combat boots. Work will be performed in Atlanta, GA and in Puerto Rico and Tennessee. The original proposal was web solicited with nine responses. Date of performance completion is July 9/08 (SPM1C1-07-D-1519).

July 10/07: Wellco Enterprises, Inc. in Waynesville, NC received a maximum $15.1 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps hot weather combat boots. Work will be performed in Wayensville, NC, and in Puerto Rico. Date of performance completion is July 9/08 (SPM1C1-07-D-1522).

July 10/07: Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc. in Nelsonville, OH received a maximum $6.4 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps hot weather combat boots. Work will be performed in Nelsonville, OH and in Puerto Rico. Date of performance completion is July 9/08 (SPM1C1-07-D-1523). 

This article can be found here.

Small-biz definitions put hurt on midsize contractors

By Matthew Weigelt 

For a long time, Kim Nguyen has felt a growing pressure in the federal information technology marketplace, and there’s been no let-up.

Pragmatics Inc., where Nguyen is vice president of special programs, has developed into a successful, midsize IT company with annual revenues reaching $145 million. However, it’s stuck between two strong and growing forces in the marketplace: Small businesses and big corporations. He said he fears the effect on his business and other companies that are similar in size, which, experts say, is a key component of a well-balanced market. Nevertheless, experts also foresee little chance of change.

Pragmatics’ annual revenues have increased beyond the federal government’s $25 million revenue threshold for small businesses. At the same time, its revenues are nowhere near the annual revenue of the top IT corporations. In that position, he said he’s being pinched out.

“The government is best served by having a spectrum of business in the industrial base,” Nguyen said.

On one side, government officials are pushing agencies to break up large bundled contracts and award more individual contracts that are set aside solely for small business. Some policy-makers even have proposed boosting the overall federal small-business contracting goal from 23 percent to 30 percent.

In fiscal 2008, agencies spent $93.3 billion with small companies, an increase of nearly $10 billion since 2007. That dollar amount represented 21.5 percent of total contract spending that officials are driving agencies toward.

Meanwhile, the top 10 federal IT integrators gathered $71.3 billion in fiscal 2009, while the Top 100 IT companies received a total of $129.9 billion in prime contracts, according to Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list. In fiscal 2008, the government awarded $119.6 billion in prime contracts to the Top 100 companies, $68.5 billion going to the top 10 companies, based on WT’s 2009 Top 100 list.

Looking more broadly, middle-tier companies received 44 percent of the total value of federal professional services contracts in 1995. By 2004, though, the midtier companies got only 29 percent of that value, according to a 2006 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Business executives and groups, such as the Professional Services Council, have talked to policy-makers and various congressional committees. Government officials have listened to the concerns, but nothing has happened.

In a statement, the Small Business Administration said it’s not an issue that falls under its jurisdiction.

Executives with midtier companies and their supporters have proposed reviewing the small-business size standard or expanding the North American Industrial Classification System code for IT services. Some have proposed that federal officials create a particular code specifically for government contracting because it’s a much different world than the private sector.

Executives know their situation, though.

“The chances of anything happening about this are very small and would take a lot of time,” even though it's a major concern, said Shiv Krishnan, president and CEO of Indus Corp.

Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, said that although new policies might not come, the government can do some smart, logical things to help the midtier companies thrive. He suggested that contracting officers keep a market perspective as they make awards. They need to understand how their decisions can have deep effects on the market.

For instance, task orders placed against multiple-award contracts can decrease opportunities for midtier companies, Soloway said. As agencies continue to turn to task orders, the largest companies tend to bid on more of them, while in the past, they would have been less likely to invest in them. Furthermore, agencies demand more from companies that want a place on a multiple-award contract. Agencies expect a lot of expertise in a wide range of areas. Midtier companies are expected to have the resources that the large companies have to compete, he said.

For the rest of this piece, click here.

Air Force Aims to Launch 'Spy Pigeon' Drone by 2015

by Sharon Weinberger

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials often had to rely on grainy satellite photos to decide whether facilities on the ground were intended for producing weapons of mass destruction. Now imagine that instead of overhead satellite imagery -- or even high-flying unmanned aircraft -- they could send in a flock of microdrones that could actually fly right over, or even inside, such facilities.

Even better, these drones -- equipped with chemical sensors that could pick up possible weapons work with near certainty -- would resemble typical birds, like pigeons, making them nearly impossible to spot. 

This high-tech spy vision is precisely what Air Force researchers are trying to build, and they believe such a microdrone is not only possible, but could be ready to fly in just five years.

"Ideally, it'll be a bird-sized UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle], with the current goal being a pigeon," Dr. Leslie Perkins, the lead for micro air vehicles at the Air Force Research Laboratory, told AOL News. The "birdlike" UAV would also be able to operate with minimal pilot intervention for up to a week at a time, she said.

The scenario that the Air Force envisions for its would-be spy pigeon is a cross between the high-tech military thrillers of Tom Clancy and the science-fiction novels of Isaac Asimov. It would fly with almost no human interaction and be equipped with advanced sensors capable of detecting nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

To date, the prototype hasn't progressed much beyond the world of RadioShack, which sells a variety of animal-inspired toy planes, such as a flying bat. The Air Force Research Lab recently displayed a prototype of its bird, built by Ohio-based Theiss Aviation, at a trade show in Florida.

Though the bird is supposed to eventually have flapping wings, the current model has fixed wings with a pusher propeller in back; it has flown for about half an hour in a test facility.

Air Force researchers hope that in a few years, however, the bird will look and fly like a real pigeon -- and even perch inconspicuously on power lines to recharge. While there are a number of universities and companies working on micro air vehicles, the Air Force Research Lab has laid out a specific goal to field a bird-inspired drone by 2015, and then one based on an insect by 2030.

As part of its research, the Air Force Research Lab in May officially opened a $1.5 million testing facility, called the micro AVIARI, dedicated specifically for micro air vehicles. Perkins, who helps coordinate researchers' work across the lab's various locations, says everyone knows that they are pushing the envelope on technology.

Among the challenges faced with micro air vehicles, for example, is finding a power source that is small yet powerful enough to provide the drones with endurance. Though a number of private companies build micro air vehicles, like AeroVironment's WASP drone, they can typically only fly for less than an hour.

The Air Force Research Lab, by comparison, wants its micro air vehicle to operate for a week at a stretch. "When you talk with private firms, they don't necessarily laugh, but they do realize that's a holy grail," Perkins said.

The pigeon drone builds on a growing interest in biomimetics, which draws on nature to inspire technology. In the case of robots and drones, this means studying everything from spiders to hummingbirds to understand how they move.

At Brown University, aerospace engineer Kenneth Breuer has been studying bats, which are able to fly flawlessly through complex obstacles and tight spaces, such as in a cave. Breuer is looking at ways to better understand the physics and dynamics of the way bats fly, including their ability to flip themselves upside down to land.

"They do pretty remarkable things and we're interested in understanding how they do it," Breuer told AOL News.

Though Breuer thinks bat (or bird) flight may hold lessons for engineering, that doesn't mean that animal- or insect-inspired flight would necessarily always make for the best sort of drone. "[Living things] are optimized for evolutionary survival, not for a particular engineering mission," he said.

Mark Lewis, an aerospace engineer at the University of Maryland and former Air Force chief scientist, agrees that biomimetics, though good science, may not always trump traditional engineering and says it's wrong to assume that just copying nature is always the right answer.

"Nature," Lewis said, "never evolved a spinning rotor."

Threats loom for government contractors

By Nick Wakeman

By nearly any measure, the government services market has been on a roll for the past decade.

The explosive growth was fueled first by the uptick in homeland security spending and the global war on terrorism after the 2001 terrorist attacks, and then by the rise in the outsourcing of government work to contractors.

The charts that accompany this feature tell the financial side of that story and how publicly traded companies – arguably the barometer for the industry as a whole – have posted strong results as they’ve taken advantage of growing markets. 

There are three points you should take away from this feature. One, the government services industry has probably completed a run of success unmatched in its history. Second, today’s numbers remain strong but are returning to more traditional levels.

And, third, tough times lie ahead as the government attempts to deal with rising deficits.

First, the good news.

Growth rates among the publicly traded government IT services company have slowed, but not because of a poor economy or underlying weaknesses in the market, said Larry Davis, managing partner with the investment bank Aronson Capital Partners. Aronson did the analysis that is the basis of the charts featured in this story. 

"Growth has reverted back to the normal growth in the federal sector after several years of outsized growth," he said. 

From 2005 to 2008, annual growth rates among the public companies topped 20 percent, including organic growth and growth from acquisitions, according to Aronson’s data. The rate has returned to the 10 to 15 percent range for 2010 before dropping to just over 5 percent in 2011. 

Another bright spot have been margins, which have held steady at over 8 percent over the last five years and have not eroded significantly in recent quarters. 

“The common thinking is that margins will come down, but we haven’t seen that in the numbers yet,” Davis said. 

The availability of credit and the ability to raise capital also remain strong for government contractors. In 2002, the publicly traded contractors raised over $1 billion. So far in 2010, the figure stands at over $4.5 billion, according to Aronson’s data. 

“There has been a real flight to quality,” said Jean Stack, director of the aerospace, defense and government group at the investment bank Houlihan Lokey. 

She expects to see more government contractors file for initial public offerings of stock, bringing even more capital into the government market. Booz Allen Hamilton filed in mid-June, but “others are lined up behind them,” she said. 

The influx will help fuel another bright spot in the market: mergers and acquisitions. 

More deals are getting done, but valuations have come down to the levels of four or five years ago and there are fewer blockbuster deals, Davis said. 

Companies are not so much interested in acquiring bulk as they are in trying to acquire technical skills or customer sets. “There is a lot of portfolio shaping going on right now,” he said. 

Most of the higher-priced deals are coming in the market segments that are seen as high government priorities: cybersecurity, intelligence, command and control, training, energy, and health care. 

These are the markets where the government is expected to increase spending, so these areas likely will be protected from budget cuts. 

But beyond those hot markets, tough times are ahead for government contractors. 

“I have serious concerns about the viability of the government services market outside of those four or five areas,” said Bob Kipps of the investment bank KippsDeSanto. 

Kipps can recite a litany of complaints he hears from companies: The government is moving slower. Procurement shops are broken. Insourcing is rising. There is more oversight. 

“There is a lot of volatility in the market right now,” he said. 

The big concern is the deficit and the actions that the government will have to take to get it under control.

“You’ve got pressure on the amount of dollars that these agencies can spend, so you’ll have less growth and more competition for fewer dollars,” Davis said. “The federal deficit has been looming for years, but it looks like policies are starting to develop to cut budgets so it is going to get tighter.” 

Revenue growth and profit margins likely will be the first metrics where you’ll see the impact of tighter spending, he said. 

According to Aronson’s analysis, growth rates among the publicly traded companies are expected to remain in the single digits for several years to come. 

Although the economy may bounce back in a year or two, the “deficit is not a short-term issue. It is going to take years,” Kipps said. 

For companies that want to weather these times, Kipps said the focus needs to be on factors such as being selective of the kind of business they pursue, staying in the upper end of the food chain, having strong customer relationships and a strong management team, and picking market areas that are sustainable. 

Differentiating your company from its competitors is crucial. “That can be from a specialized tool you are providing your customer, or a proprietary technology or something else, because this is a hugely competitive market,” Stack said. 

She also recommended picking customers carefully, not just those in the hot growth markets, but “customers that value your differentiation and ascribe to the concept of best value not just lowest cost."

Davis is careful not to focus on too much gloom in the market. “It’s been a healthy market for a long time and you’ll always see cycles,” he said. 

Growth is moderating, but “you still have some fast currents underneath this broad ocean where you will see above-average growth,” he said. “And there are some areas where you won’t see eye-popping growth but are fairly well protected. IT systems will still need to be maintained.”