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U.S. DOT FY 2024.1 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A


* * * 2/6/24 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) 2024.1 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 2024.1 Pre-Solicitation period is January 4,2024, through February 6, 2024, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Only questions posted within this period will be 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.

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  1. Select the research topic your question is related to from the drop-down menu that appears when you begin typing.
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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.

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50 results found

  1. 1 vote

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  2. Vehicle access during Phase I execution

    Will the awardee for Phase I have access to test drives in FMCSA-owned vehicles to understand specific/additional details about the kind of vehicle forces/driver behavior that DOT is interested in monitoring?

    1 vote

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  3. Proposer's skillset

    Is the proposer expected to already have a relevant product that will be adapted to this use case? OR is the DOT open to consider applications from companies that have experience in the core technologies involved in measuring and analyzing accelerometer/gyro signals?

    1 vote

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  4. Can you please further describe and clarify the distinction between the device and the product noted in the 24-FH2 topic?

    It is not entirely clear how the final solution developed at the end of Phase II would be a product as opposed to a device. Do you mean that the final deliverable would be the approach to create the carbonated RCA product using existing devices (or slightly modified devices) as opposed to developing a new device? "this SBIR topic seeks to create a device to carbonate RCA or a product of carbonated RCA that could be implemented in a field concrete transportation infrastructure mixture."

    1 vote

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  5. 24-NH6: Should we be expected to come with a pre-existing solution (e.g. design)?

    Does the Phase I allow us to do research and associated investigation into optimal solutions?

    Or are applicants expected to bring pre-existing designs for this problem?

    1 vote

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  6. 241-FT1 EV Battery pack: Improved mitigation or cooling

    Raj Wrote: "Expectation from comprehensive review and analysis is a variety of solutions inside and outside but there is only so much you can tell battery OEMs for internal battery improvement. So, the focus is all solutions, but it might be more about mitigations outside the shell and outside the battery packs. The research should tell us what needs to be focused and mitigations developed"

    To me an EV Battery Pack is a set of cells or pouches, connected together in small numbers with sensors and put into subsystem bandoleers or cans, which are in turn connected to power/control/sensor lines…

    1 vote

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  7. 3) "The algorithm may process data sources from either: (1) real-time data collected from proprietary or commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sen

    3) "The algorithm may process data sources from either: (1) real-time data collected from proprietary or commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sensors selected at their discretion (e.g., Time-of-flight sensors, camera sensors, infrared camera sensors), or (2) pre-recorded data from proprietary or COTS sensors selected at their discretion." Does this mean that where the data is processed is left to the discretion of the DoT or the proposer?

    1 vote

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  8. 2) Does the solution need to include components that address both internal state, e.g., monitoring driver drowsiness, and external state, e.

    2) Does the solution need to include components that address both internal state, e.g., monitoring driver drowsiness, and external state, e.g., detecting surrounding traffic, or are you considering solutions that only address one of these two areas?

    1 vote

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  9. 1) Who are the target drivers, e.g., long-haul truckers, public transportation drivers, ordinary drivers (potentially incentivized through i

    1) Who are the target drivers, e.g., long-haul truckers, public transportation drivers, ordinary drivers (potentially incentivized through insurers)? Do imaging devices already exist on the target platforms?

    2 votes

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  10. GM claims to have these capabilities

    New GM cars have 'driver attention assist' feature that detects drowsy driver. The 'attention alert' feature detects driver's eyes are off the road. What will be new and different in this project?

    1 vote

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  11. Open source modifications

    Do you suggest any specific open-source systems for modification, and what level of modification is expected?

    1 vote

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  12. Is the topic focused on detection, reaction, & suppression independent of root cause or

    The topic describes understanding research into common root causes, followed by a product of software or hardware (or both) that can mitigate thermal runway fires. Certain root causes might be chemistry based, or cell differences in charging, or mechanical such as measured by a *********** test. Do you have a perspective if this topic is focused more on detection, reaction, and suppression independent of root cause such that all causes of a fire are addressed, or if it is focused on trying to identify a single most common cause and working to eliminate that cause?

    1 vote

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  13. SBIR Eligible for Only Internal Computer Vision

    Would the SBIR consider our application if it only satisfies the first objective, detecting indicators of drowsiness, inattention, and incapacitation? We are working on an internal computer vision system, but it will not satisfy detection of surrounding traffic, vulnerable road users, and observable indicators of driving performance.

    1 vote

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  14. Next-Generation Sensing and Communication Technology for Cooperative Driving Automation

    1. What is the desired sensing range for moving vehicles.
    2. Can we use 60 GHz radars for detection.
    3. Can we use 4.9 GHz for public safety.
    2 votes

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  15. Collaboration of laboratory, device companies, and system developer

    The topic understandably describes two phases, the first for exploratory research, and the second for product development and prototyping. Conducting research on battery fires in the first phase could require a laboratory function to initiate cell runaway and measure effectiveness of countermeasures. The second phase of design and build with testing would require skill sets different from a laboratory to build hardware. It could be the case that no single entity has all these functions in-house. Is it desirable to have a collaboration of companies / entities such as a laboratory, a sensor company and a development company to integrate…

    1 vote

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  16. Pipeline Questions

    1) Is this primarily geared toward transporting hydrocarbons?
    2) How corrosive is the environment (are the hydrocarbons likely processed or is a solution for a pipeline that can transport raw hydrocarbons from a well needed – i.e., is a sour service steel grade needed)?
    3) Would it be acceptable to develop models (e.g., collect corrosion data and generate a machine learning or empirical corrosion model) in phase I or does this need to be direct to developing a prototype material?
    4) What level of strength is needed? Is there any value in this application of having stronger steel to reduce…

    1 vote

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  17. Is 24-NH6 open beyond the UMTRI UDIG geometry?

    The SecureRide Coalition is reviewing different geometry and locations beyond the UDIG concept specific to UMTRI.

    The Coalition is developing a wheelchair securement standard that can be applied to personal vehicles, rideshares, public transit, as well as buses, rail and low-speed shuttles. University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) is one of the Coalition members. The Coalition will address the technical solutions for a wheelchair securement standard (such as WC19) and publish test results on various securement systems, i.e. wheelchair tiedowns and occupant restraint systems (WTORS). https://unitedspinal.org/secureride/

    1 vote

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  18. Is 24-NH-4 open beyond the UMTRI UDIG geometry?

    The SecureRide Coalition is reviewing different geometry and locations beyond the UDIG concept specific to UMTRI.

    The Coalition is developing a wheelchair securement standard that can be applied to personal vehicles, rideshares, public transit, as well as buses, rail and low-speed shuttles. University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) is one of the Coalition members. The Coalition will address the technical solutions for a wheelchair securement standard (such as WC19) and publish test results on various securement systems, i.e. wheelchair tiedowns and occupant restraint systems (WTORS). https://unitedspinal.org/secureride/

    1 vote

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  19. Size of Pipeline

    What is the size of the pipes in terms of length and diameter?

    1 vote

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  20. Proposal submission

    Are we required to submit letter of intent or pre-proposal? If so, could you please advise how we can submit this?

    1 vote

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