20 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense
DARPA aims to apply the power of social networks to research and development via a novel social media platform purpose-built to quicken the pace of U.S. technology development. Polyplexus, which was recently launched as a public platform, is designed to increase access to scientific evidence and accelerate hypothesis development, research proposal generation, and research sponsor engagement. The platform's real-time interactions and functionality are designed to dramatically shorten the time between the emergence of concepts and the submission of worthy proposals.
The platform facilitates connections among experts across academic disciplines so they can propel novel research opportunities together. Beta-launched for academics only in 2018, Polyplexus is now open to the broader research and development community and features an initial offering of research topics for collaboration and potential funding. DARPA seeks participation from anyone who is interested in sharing and learning about emerging science and technology including researchers, practitioners, and even retirees.
“Crowdsourcing on the internet works when the solution exists and can be found,” said John Main, program manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office. “However, no amount of crowdsourcing will ever work if it's a research and development problem that must be solved, because the solution does not yet exist. That's why we built Polyplexus as a productivity platform rather than a crowdsourcing platform.”
Polyplexus is composed of three integrated components: a public information feed where users can promote interesting research and connect it to other research via tweet-like summary statements called micropubs; a private tool for synthesizing new ideas, known as micropub portfolios; and an incubator environment. Incubators allow research sponsors in government and industry to post specific topics of interest and find research and development specialists to address their challenges.
Following a 2018 test phase that was restricted to academic researchers, Version 1 of Polyplexus is now open to the public. Researchers and research sponsors across disciplines and industries are invited to sign up and become “Plexors” at https://polyplexus.com/users/login.
During the Beta test phase, DARPA awarded funding to multiple proposals generated by founding members on the platform. Recipients included researchers from the University of Arkansas, Arizona State University, University of North Carolina, University of Miami, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
With the public launch of Polyplexus, DARPA's Defense Sciences Office intends to fund up to 30 one-year seedling efforts developed through Polyplexus incubators over the next 18 months. These funding opportunities are capped at a maximum of $100,000 each. They will roll out at a pace of approximately two per month.
DARPA just announced the first three Polyplexus incubators focused on Quantum Machine Learning (https://go.usa.gov/xEFpV), Human Learning (https://go.usa.gov/xEFpA), and Strategic Technological Surprise (https://go.usa.gov/xEFpm). To learn more about the incubator topics visit the incubators section on https://Polyplexus.com. Abstracts and proposals resulting from DARPA incubators will be submitted directly to DARPA as specified in the Polyplexus BAA: https://go.usa.gov/xEFpE. Abstracts and proposals are not submitted on the Polyplexus site.
Anyone may create an account and contribute to the public areas of the site. Retired scientists, engineers, and researchers are especially encouraged to continue to share their expertise by engaging as Plexors. Plexors can also contribute suggestions for new features that will be included in Polyplexus Versions 2 and 3, which are planned for development over the next 18 months.
“Polyplexus maintains a balance between public information exchange and protection of private intellectual property,” Main said. “It also creates an avenue for broader participation in DARPA research and development, including by those who aren't looking for a research project but who have knowledge to contribute, such as retirees.”
Researchers should monitor the announcement and evolution of each individual incubator on the platform to fully understand the topic, opportunity, and requirements. Follow @polyplexors on both Instagram and Twitter for updated information.
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Jen Judson UPDATE — This story has been updated to correct the location for ISV production in North Carolina. A GM Defense representative previously misspoke. WASHINGTON — GM Defense delivered its first Infantry Squad Vehicle to the U.S. Army in an Oct. 27 ceremony at its proving grounds and production facility in Milford, Michigan, just 120 days after being chosen to build the new troop carrier. The Army awarded the company a $214.3 million contract to produce 649 vehicles by the end of fiscal 2024. The service is planning to procure a total of 2,065 ISVs. Designed to carry a nine-soldier squad, the ISV was specifically put together to be light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Black Hawk and small enough to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook, to provide maximum flexibility for deployment. GM's design is based off the company's 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck and uses 90 percent commercial parts including a 186-horsepower, 2.8L Duramax turbo-diesel engine and performance race components. It also features a custom rollover protection system. While the first low-rate initial production vehicles — 27 in total — will be built in Michigan, GM has a long-term plan to move its ISV manufacturing to Concord, North Carolina, where it is standing up a facility to manage its higher volume ISV production. The Army first identified a need for a light infantry vehicle in 2015 when its most recent combat vehicle strategy was released, but nothing materialized until Congress forced the Army to launch the competition as part of the FY18 National Defense Authorization Act. The Army awarded $1 million contracts to three teams in August 2019 to develop offerings — GM Defense, a team of Oshkosh Defense and Flyer Defense LLC and an SAIC and Polaris team. “One hundred and twenty days from contract award to delivery is a significant milestone, and I am very proud of the team for this accomplishment,” David Albritton, president of GM Defense, said in a statement. “We're leveraging General Motors' engineering prowess and immense manufacturing capabilities to bring transformative solutions to the military vehicle market. Our initial success with the ISV shows our commitment to our customer and highlights our unique right to win in the military mobility market.” GM Defense has a “very, very talented team," Albritton said during the ceremony, and “their innovation, attention to detail, flexibility when incorporating soldier feedback during testing and a magnitude of other factors helped us to win this ISV contract and gives me great hope for how we will tackle other pursuits in the future.” The first vehicles will be going to the 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, but ultimately 11 IBCTs will be outfitted with 59 vehicles each under the first contract covering the 649 ISVs. The vehicles are slated to go through tests in the coming year, including further analysis of its air-deployable capability, as well as verification the maintenance manuals are complete. The first unit equipped will take the ISV through an initial operational test and evaluation. With the success of the ISV, GM Defense is setting its sights on other opportunities with the Army and other military services. “We have a strong interest in the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Program,” Albritton said. The Army is planning to re-compete for the JLTV and for new Humvees to round out the tactical vehicle fleet. “If you look at the size and scale of this program, obviously, this is closer to a commercial-size vehicle, but as you step up in class and step up in weight, we believe we have a right to win in vehicles sizes of that size,” he added. “That doesn't limit us there, as well. There are only a few ground vehicle programs across the [Defense Department] right now, but we believe that other than doing a fully integrated vehicle like we do on ISV or what we potentially could do on JLTV in partnership with other companies, we can look at programs like the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle for the U.S. Marine Corps, or we can look at the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle," Albritton said. “But if you think about power and propulsion solutions, you think about light weighting, think about cybersecurity, there's other types of capabilities that we can apply in partnership on a variety of platforms as well.” GM spent several recent years helping the Army evaluate a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle using a ZH2 Chevy Colorado and the Army is now taking some renewed steps at getting after an electric vehicles in its fleet to include the pursuit of an electric light reconnaissance vehicle. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/10/27/us-army-gets-first-infantry-squad-vehicle-from-gm-defense/