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U.S. DOT FY 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A


* * * 2/3/23 Update: The Pre-solicitation is now closed. Topic questions are no longer being accepted. * * *

This U.S. DOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum provides small businesses an opportunity to submit clarifying questions on the topics published in the U.S. DOT Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation. Questions will be answered by the Technical Experts/Topic Authors at the U.S.DOT Operating Administrations during this period. Questions shall be limited to improving the understanding of a particular topic's requirements and should not share proposal ideas nor proprietary information.


The U.S. DOT’s FY 2023 Pre-Solicitation period is January 4, 2023, through February 3, 2023, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Only questions posted within this period will be responded to.

How to Use the SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum:

Register: Anyone can view questions but registration is required if you wish to post a question and receive a notification when it is responded to.
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Search: Browse the existing questions by category to find the topic you are interested in and to see if your question has already been addressed. If you see a question you are also interested in, you can add a vote to the question, or leave a comment.

Post: If your question has not already been posted, use the “Enter your idea” box at the top of the page to enter your question.
  1. Select the research topic your question is related to from the drop-down menu that appears when you begin typing.
  2. You may add more detail in the Description box(optional). Do NOT attach any files. The U.S. DOT shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.
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  4. When finished, select “Post idea.” If you registered, you will be able to track responses to your post. Please include only one question or comment per post to help us keep the forum organized.
Please note, all comments will be public information. Potential offerors shall not include in the question(s) or comment(s) any information that they do not wish to be made public. Telephone inquiries or meeting requests will not be addressed and may be removed. The U.S. DOT shall not respond to requests for advice or guidance on any offeror’s solution to any SBIR topic, and shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.

Thanks for joining our SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum.

If you experience technical difficulties, please contact us at DOTSBIR@dot.gov.
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10 results found

  1. Relationship to law enforcement career learning curriculum

    When would this training be presented to officers? Experienced officers or early recruits? Is the hope that this system will be available for career-long learning? (as opposed to a class they pass and never go back to)

    2 votes

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  2. Relationship with current training and task emphasis

    1. Is this VR trainer intended to supplement/add to or replace current training?
    2. Are there any tasks/specific aspects of current training they hope this VR system will improve?
    2 votes

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  3. VR accessibility

    Is there expectation that the final VR training product should be accessible primarily in VR headsets or should it be accessible on tablet and/or computer hardware as well?

    2 votes

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  4. Impairment detection stage

    Is the topic interested in detection of impairment while a vehicle is driving down the road only (looking at driving behavior), after the stop (ala a field sobriety test looking at physiological behavior), or both?

    3 votes

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  5. Desired hardware specs?

    What are the desired hardware specs for the SBIR developed prototype, and for any field-implemented device?

    2 votes

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  6. Can you provide insight on the DRE SME expectations?

    For the statement below, can the subject matter expertise be via a contracted consultant(s) or do you envision the team working with a training organization that has DRE experience / SMEs?

    To achieve this, it is expected that subject matter expertise in the areas of drug-impaired driving enforcement will inform the training approach and material. Ideally, these subject matter experts (SMEs) should be drug recognition experts (DRE); drug recognition expert instructors; or drug recognition expert state coordinators who are familiar with the content and application of the DECP.

    1 vote

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  7. The topic mentions virtual. Is the use of augmented reality of interest?

    What is the interest in AR, if any? The team would like to know if there prioritized targets for how the training/course is deployed to users.

    2 votes

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  8. Topic Clarifications

    For Phase I, is there an expectation that filming for the training program take place or just the curriculum build?

    1 vote

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  9. VR driving simulation

    Our company designs driving simulators with VR.
    Would it be of interest to train law enforcement officials to recognize erratic driving? I welcome collaboration with folks who have expertise in impaire driving. helensloeb@gmail.com

    1 vote

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  10. 1 vote

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