National Robotics Initiative 3.0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-3.0)

National Robotics Initiative 3. 0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-3. 0) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

NRI-3. 0 builds upon the original National Robotics Initiative to support fundamental research in the United States that accelerates the development and use of collaborative robots (co-robots).

NSF 18-518: National Robotics Initiative 2. 0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-3. 0) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Archived funding opportunity This solicitation is archived.

Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements . All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects.

NSF 18-518: National Robotics Initiative 2. 0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-2. 0) Posted: November 21, 2017 Download the solicitation (PDF, 0.

8mb) National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering Division of Information & Intelligent Systems Directorate for Engineering Directorate for Education & Human Resources Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences U.S. Dept.

of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Environmental Management (EM) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Air Force Office of Scientific Research Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m.

submitter's local time): First Tuesday in February, Annually Thereafter Important Information And Revision Notes This solicitation is a revision of NSF 17-518 , the solicitation for the National Robotics Initiative (NRI-2. 0). The significant changes in the FY 2018 NRI-2.

0 solicitation are as follows: The deadline has been revised. The synopsis and program description have been revised to clarify the focus of the program. In particular, the classification of research thrusts has been consolidated to four ( scalability , customizability , lowering barriers to entry , and societal impact ), while the subthemes from NSF 17-518 have largely remained the same.

A research topic on the ethics of ubiquitous co-robots has been added to the societal impact theme. For consistency across participating agencies, the budget range for Foundational proposals was expanded by setting the minimum to $250,000. The solicitation makes more explicit what is expected for evaluation plans in Integrative proposals.

The need to be consistent with NSF formatting requirements has been emphasized. Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) ( NSF 18-1 ), which is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 29, 2018. Summary Of Program Requirements National Robotics Initiative 2.

0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-2. 0) The NRI-2. 0 program builds upon the original National Robotics Initiative (NRI) program to support fundamental research in the United States that will accelerate the development and use of collaborative robots (co-robots) that work beside or cooperatively with people.

The focus of the NRI-2. 0 program is on ubiquity , which in this context means seamless integration of co-robots to assist humans in every aspect of life. The program supports four main research thrusts that are envisioned to advance the goal of ubiquitous co-robots: scalability , customizability , lowering barriers to entry , and societal impact .

Topics addressing scalability include how robots can collaborate effectively with multiple humans or other robots; how robots can perceive, plan, act, and learn in uncertain, real-world environments, especially in a distributed fashion; and how to facilitate large-scale, safe, robust and reliable operation of robots in complex environments.

Customizability includes how to enable co-robots to adapt to specific tasks, environments, or people, with minimal modification to hardware and software; how robots can personalize their interactions with people; and how robots can communicate naturally with humans, both verbally and non-verbally.

Topics in lowering barriers to entry include development of open-source co-robot hardware and software, as well as widely-accessible testbeds. Topics in societal impact include fundamental research to establish and infuse robotics into educational curricula, advance the robotics workforce through education pathways, and explore the social, economic, ethical, and legal implications of our future with ubiquitous collaborative robots.

Collaboration between academic, industry, non-profit, and other organizations is encouraged to establish better linkages between fundamental science and engineering and technology development, deployment, and use. The NRI-2.

0 program is supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

Questions concerning a particular project's focus, direction and relevance to a participating funding organization should be addressed to that agency's point of contact, listed in section VIII of this solicitation. Cognizant Program Officer(s): Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.

For a full listing of agency contacts see Section VIII. of this solicitation. Reid Simmons, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-4767, email: resimmon@nsf.

gov Radhakisan Baheti, ENG/ECCS, telephone: (703) 292-8339, email: rbaheti@nsf. gov Jordan M. Berg, ENG/CMMI, telephone: (703) 292-5365, email: jberg@nsf.

gov Irina Dolinskaya, ENG/CMMI, telephone: (703) 292-7078, email: idolinsk@nsf. gov James Donlon, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-8074, email: jdonlon@nsf. gov Ephraim P.

Glinert, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-8930, email: eglinert@nsf. gov David L. Haury, EHR/DRL, telephone: (703) 292-5102, email: dhaury@nsf.

gov Atul Kelkar, ENG/CMMI, telephone: (703) 292-2162, email: akelkar@nsf. gov Tatiana Korelsky, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-8930, email: tkorelsk@nsf. gov Bruce Kramer, ENG/CMMI, telephone: (703) 292-5348, email: bkramer@nsf.

gov Frederick M. Kronz, SBE/OAD, telephone: (703) 292-7283, email: fkronz@nsf. gov Dmitry Maslov, CISE/CCF, telephone: (703) 292-8910, email: dmaslov@nsf.

gov Wendy Nilsen, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-2568, email: wnilsen@nsf. gov Jack Snoeyink, CISE/CCF, telephone: (703) 292-7178, email: jsnoeyin@nsf. gov Ralph Wachter, CISE/CNS, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: rwachter@nsf.

gov Jie Yang, CISE/IIS, telephone: (703) 292-4768, email: jyang@nsf. gov Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 10. 310 --- USDA-NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative 12.

800 --- Air Force Office of Scientific Research 47. 070 --- Computer and Information Science and Engineering 47. 075 --- Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences 47.

076 --- Education and Human Resources 81. 049 --- Office of Science Financial Assistance Program 81. 104 --- Environmental Remediation and Waste Processing and Disposal Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement or contract vehicles as determined by the supporting agency Estimated Number of Awards: 40 to 60 per year, subject to the availability of funds.

Foundational projects will range from $250,000 to $750,000 in total costs for up to three years. Integrative projects will range from $500,000 to $1,500,000 in total costs for up to four years. Please refer to Section III for agency-specific budget criteria.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $25,000,000 to $35,000,000 per year, subject to the availability of funds. Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members.

Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions. Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.

For USDA/NIFA : Eligible applicants/Principal Investigators (PIs) for the grant program implemented under this subpart include: (1) State agricultural experiment stations; (2) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher); (3) university research foundations; (4) other research institutions and organizations; (5) Federal agencies, (6) national laboratories; (7) private organizations or corporations; (8) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents; and (9) any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through (8).

Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations. There are no restrictions or limits. Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 2 An investigator may participate as PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel in no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation each year.

In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals received within the limit will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.e., the first two proposals received will be accepted and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made. The above limit applies only to proposals to the NRI-2.

0 solicitation, not to the totality of proposals submitted to NSF. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation may not duplicate or be substantially similar to other proposals concurrently under consideration by other NSF, USDA, DOE, or DOD programs.

Duplicate or substantially similar proposals will be returned without review, including those substantially similar to previously declined proposals without revisions to address concerns raised by reviewers. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A.

Proposal Preparation Instructions Letters of Intent: Not required Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not required Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) guidelines apply. The complete text of the PAPPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www. nsf.

gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=pappg .

Full Proposals submitted via Grants. gov: NSF Grants. gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.

gov guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants. gov Application Guide is available on the Grants. gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www.

nsf. gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp?

ods_key=grantsgovguide ). Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: For NSF, PAPPG guidelines apply.

For DOE and DOD, contact the cognizant program officer. See Section VIII for contact information. For awards made by USDA/NIFA: Section 715 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub.

L. 113-235) limits indirect costs to 30 percent of the total Federal funds provided (or 42. 857 percent of total direct costs) under each award.

Similar language may be included in the FY 2018 appropriation; therefore, when preparing budgets, you should limit your request for the recovery of indirect costs to the lesser of your institution's official negotiated indirect cost rate or the equivalent of 30 percent of total Federal funds awarded. See Part V section 7. 9 of the NIFA Grants.

gov Application Guide for further indirect cost information. See https://nifa. usda.

gov/resource/indirect-cost-chart for options. Other Budgetary Limitations: Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m.

submitter's local time): First Tuesday in February, Annually Thereafter Proposal Review Information Criteria National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Additional reporting requirements apply.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. In the future, robots may become as commonplace as today's automobiles, computers, and cell phones. Robots will be in homes and offices; assisting in hospitals, classrooms, and factories; helping to run farms and mines; and exploring in air, on land, under water, and in space.

They will be helping the elderly and people with disabilities in their activities of daily living. They will help in performing mundane or dangerous tasks. They will be among the first responders at natural disasters, rescuing people in need and protecting humans from hazards.

Teams of humans and co-robots, large and small, will reliably and efficiently cooperate, enriching the quality of life and work for individuals and society alike. The NRI-2. 0 program seeks research on the fundamental science, technologies, and integrated systems needed to achieve this vision of ubiquitous collaborative robots .

The NRI-2. 0 program builds upon the original NRI program to focus on ubiquity : the seamless integration of co-robots into every aspect of human society, and beyond. To achieve this goal, the NRI-2.

0 program focuses on research into innovative computational algorithms, designs, modeling, and analytical techniques in four main areas critical to achieving ubiquitous co-robots: scalability, customizability, lowering barriers to entry, and societal impact . In terms of this program, scalability means how robots can collaborate effectively as their numbers increase dramatically.

This includes having robots coordinate with multiple other humans or robots, forming co-robot teams . To achieve scalability, co-robots will require fundamental advances in perception, planning, acting, and learning. Such activities may need to be done in a distributed fashion, and may need to leverage other resources, including the cloud, software agents, or other devices, such as cell phones and the Internet of Things.

For large co-robot teams, innovative approaches will be needed to manage large-scale physical and digital resources. To facilitate acceptability, robot behavior will need to be transparent, explainable, and legible.

It is anticipated that this focus will necessitate new robot designs and new software architectures, especially to facilitate capabilities for inherent safety, safe failure and recovery modes, and self-diagnosis and self-repair. For the purposes of this program, customizability means the ability of robots to easily adapt to new situations and new people.

Customizable robots will be able to achieve a wide variety of tasks, in a wide variety of situations, and for a wide diversity of people, with little, or no, change to the underlying hardware and software. They should be able to learn about their tasks, environments, and human preferences, and personalize their interactions accordingly.

Co-robots will need effective multi-modal communication, with both novices and experts, using verbal, physical and affective communication channels. They will also need to perceive or infer the behavior and intent of others, plan and learn from both human and robot collaborators, and interact with them physically.

Research addressing lowering barriers to entry is aimed at broadening access to co-robots by the larger research community, students, and entrepreneurs. Approaches may include innovative, low-cost, open-source hardware and software, architectures, shareable testbeds, and other resources that can be easily used and augmented.

For remote-access testbeds, where the goal is to share robot testbeds with remote users with varying skills, innovative research is needed in immersive, flexible user interfaces; real-time, low-latency performance; safe reachable states; and design trade-offs to meet various constraints.

Finally, research addressing societal impact of ubiquitous co-robots will bring to the forefront educational, social, economic, ethical, and legal issues.

This program encourages fundamental research to establish and infuse robotics into educational curricula and advance the robotics workforce through education pathways, and to understand the social and economic impacts of robots on our work, our social institutions, and our quality of life.

Pertinent research questions may address the social and economic impact of robots on our work, our social institutions, and our quality of life and work.

Relevant topics include understanding the complexities of the future co-robot economy; how economic and social inequality will be affected by ubiquitous co-robots; what policies could be instituted to ensure that all stakeholder groups benefit from the presence of co-robots in our everyday lives; and how co-robot algorithms can be developed to ensure that co-robot behavior is consonant with ethical and legal norms, thereby promoting responsible research and innovation.

The NRI-2. 0 program seeks to strengthen the robotics research community, fostering innovation and workforce development, accelerating progress, demonstrating novel capabilities, and building ecosystems for innovation. The program seeks to promote research to enable greater adaptability and resilience of robot behaviors, leading to more capable, robust systems.

The program also seeks to promote new approaches to the challenges of accountability, interoperability, and trust, which will doubtless be engendered by the vision of ubiquitous co-robots. The NRI-2.

0 program represents a natural evolution in robotics research and the co-robot perspective that is in alignment with the report to the House Robotics Caucus Advisory Committee of the U.S. Congress, "A Roadmap for U.S. Robotics From Internet to Robotics" ( http://www. us-robotics. us/reports/CCC%20Report.

pdf ), first published in 2009 and updated in 2016 ( http://jacobsschool. ucsd. edu/contextualrobotics/docs/rm3-final-rs.

pdf ). Other informative reference reports include the Office of the Secretary of Defense Unmanned Systems Roadmap (2009-2034) ( http://www. dtic.

mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc? Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc. pdf&AD=ADA522247 ) and the WTEC Panel Report on International Assessment of Research and Development In Robotics ( http://www.

wtec. org/robotics/report/screen-robotics-final-report. pdf ).

Building upon the successes of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), the goal of the NRI-2. 0 program is to support fundamental research that will accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside or cooperatively with people.

Innovative robotics research and applications emphasizing the realization of ubiquitous co-robots is supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The NRI-2. 0 program significantly expands the focus of the original NRI program to focus on ubiquitous co-robots .

This includes themes of: Scalability : how robots can collaborate effectively with teams of humans or other robots; how they can perceive, plan, act, and learn in uncertain, real-world environments, especially in a distributed fashion; and how they can operate safely, robustly, and reliably in large-scale, complex environments; Customizability : how robots can adapt to a variety of tasks, environments, and people, with minimal modification to hardware and software; how they can learn to be personalized in their interactions with people; and how they can communicate naturally, both verbally and non-verbally; Lowering barriers to entry : how the design of the robots' hardware and software can reduce the cost and learning curve related to doing serious robotics research; and how testbeds and other shareable resources can be developed to facilitate robotics research; and Societal impact : how ubiquitous co-robots affect the social, economic, ethical, legal, and educational aspects of our everyday lives.

To achieve the vision of the NRI-2. 0 program, funding will support foundational research in robotics science and technology, including novel approaches, algorithms, designs, representations, and analyses, as well as innovative research in integrated robotic systems. While disciplinary research is important, the NRI-2.

0 program also encourages cross-disciplinary projects. Collaboration among academic, industry, government, non-profit, and other organizations is encouraged to establish better linkages between fundamental science and engineering and technology development and use, through partnerships among researchers, applications developers, users and industry.

International collaborations that enhance and add significant value to the proposed research and education activities will also be considered. While NRI-2. 0 encourages projects that include some aspects of technology development, fundamental research should dominate.

Proposers focused on developmental work are encouraged to consider submission to the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR, https://www. nsf. gov/eng/iip/sbir/ ) or Small Technology Transfer Research (STTR, https://www.

nsf. gov/eng/iip/sttr/ ) programs. All proposals submitted to NRI-2.

0 should support the research themes, listed in Section II. A. 1, that are the primary foci of the NRI-2.

0 program. Section II. A.

2 defines the two classes of proposals – Foundational and Integrative – that will be supported by the program. Proposals to this solicitation may be selected for funding by any of the sponsoring agencies, although all proposals will go through a uniform review process. Proposals of special relevance to sponsoring agencies listed in this solicitation should address the domain-specific interests listed in Section II.

A. 3, Sponsoring Agency Mission-Specific Research. Within NSF, the NRI-2.

0 program is administered jointly by the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Directorate for Engineering (ENG). Supporting directorates include the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE). Within USDA, the program is led by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Within DOD, the program is led by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, and is supported by multiple departments and agencies. Within DOE, the program is led by the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management and is supported by multiple offices and agencies. Contacts for these and related activities at other sponsoring agencies can be found in Section VIII of this solicitation.

Those proposals that are targeting a specific agency sponsorship should indicate so in the last line of the last box of the Project Summary, e.g., "Requested funding agency:" followed by that agency's abbreviated name ("NSF," "USDA," "DOE," or "DOD"), but only if they have previously communicated with a program officer from that agency and received permission or instruction to do so.

Those not so designated will be considered for funding by all of the joint sponsoring agencies. This section presents the main research themes that are fundamental for achieving the overall program goals. While this list of themes and subthemes is not exhaustive, proposers are encouraged to incorporate one or more of the subthemes into their proposals.

In all cases, proposers are reminded that NRI-2. 0 proposals must show a compelling connection to the overall goal of enabling ubiquitous co-robots.

Enable robots to collaborate and coordinate effectively with multiple other agents, either people or robots; Enable robotic systems to reliably perceive, act, plan, and learn, especially in a distributed fashion; Enable shared learning among co-robots and through digital media; Investigate approaches to managing data produced/consumed by robots, especially data shared among agents; Enable transparent, explainable, and legible robot behavior; Investigate designs and controls for facilitating ubiquitous interaction and for making co-robots inherently safe (e.g., soft robots); and Investigate hardware and software approaches to enhance robustness and reliability, and enable robots to fail, recover, and resume safely and gracefully.

Investigate approaches for robots achieving a variety of tasks in a variety of situations, with minimal changes to hardware and software; Enable robots to learn efficiently from direct experience with people or other robots, especially to personalize interactions; Enable natural interaction with users, including use of language and non-verbal communication (e.g., gesture, visual, movement, tactile); Enable effective interaction with experts, including through remote operation; Enable robots to reliably recognize and predict the behavior and activities of others; Investigate social intelligence in robots, including use of mental models, perspective taking, and joint attention; and Facilitate physical collaboration, including physical human-robot interaction and augmentation of human capabilities.

Lowering Barriers to Entry: Develop robust, easy-to-use infrastructure for software, hardware, and systems; Investigate composable hardware or software that supports the development of ubiquitous co-robots; Investigate innovative programming languages/paradigms for robots; Develop techniques that would facilitate shareable physical testbeds, especially techniques to make existing testbeds easily available communally (see also Section II.

B); and Develop shareable resources, such as software and data.

Investigate the impact of ubiquitous co-robots on social and economic equality; Investigate possible economic and governance policies; Investigate ethical and legal issues related to ubiquitous co-robots; Investigate issues of trust with respect to ubiquitous co-robots; Investigate issues related to teamwork and integration, partnerships, and worker training for collaboration with robots; and Develop innovative uses for co-robots in education (see also Section II.

C). Note: while security and privacy are also important issues for ubiquitous co-robots, proposals in such areas should be sent to other relevant NSF programs, such as Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC, https://www. nsf.

gov/funding/pgm_summ. jsp? pims_id=504709 ).

II. A. 2.

Classes of Projects There are two classes of NRI-2. 0 projects, with differing requirements and budget ranges. While there will not be a separate competition for the two classes, they will be evaluated using somewhat different criteria.

Foundational (FND) projects focus on fundamental research into technologies that directly support the vision of the NRI-2. 0 program. Such projects should lead to transformative approaches that address scientific or technology gaps that currently limit the development, use, or acceptance of co-robots in society.

Proposals should clearly explain how the proposed results will further the overall program vision of ubiquitous co-robots. Foundational projects will be in the range of $250,000 to $750,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years. Integrative (INT) projects focus on research in the innovative integration of technologies leading to complete co-robotic systems that support the vision of the NRI-2.

0 program. Integrative projects must include rigorous evaluation on physical robots, preferably in real-world settings. This evaluation should follow the scientific methodology, including statement of the formal hypotheses, controlled experiments, evaluation metrics, and statistical analyses of the results.

Integrative projects should have a longer-term vision, with objectives that could not be attained simply by a collection of smaller projects provided with similar resources. The overall impact to the science of the NRI-2. 0 program should be greater than the sum of each individual investigator contributions.

Integrative projects should include multiple PIs, preferably from different disciplines. Integrative projects will be in the range of $500,000 to $1,500,000 in total budget, with durations of up to four years. II.

A. 3. Sponsoring Agency Mission-Specific Research NSF will consider for funding proposals addressing any of the research themes described above in Section II.

A. 1, as well as those described below and in Sections II. B and II.

C.

DOE/EM encourages robotics research and technology development for: (1) handling of high-hazard, high-consequence materials and waste; (2) tasks that are dirty, dull, dangerous, and/or difficult to perform; (3) easing the performance of worker/operator tasks that are physically demanding on or stressful to human body or are otherwise ergonomically challenging; (4) performing tasks that are beyond human abilities; (5) improving the ability to respond to and recover from unplanned events or operational emergencies; and (6) improving the safety, quality, efficiency, and productivity of facility operations.

DOE/EM's tasks and environments present unique challenges in the integration of robotics systems. Proposals that demonstrate awareness of these challenges and include plans for integrating and/or demonstrating prototype systems in relevant environments are encouraged. Such proposals typically require close coordination and collaboration with government national laboratories and prime contractors.

Robotic solutions that address chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive, and environmental challenges are sought. Those that address operational upsets, off-normal events, emergencies, and disasters are also sought.

Topics and areas of academic, scientific and engineering pursuit for the application of DOE/EM robotics technologies include but are not limited to: Wearable Robotic Devices for Workers: DOE/EM seeks wearable, prosthetic-like, exoskeletal, bionic, and other attachable human assistive robotic devices that can serve the workforce by functioning as (1) smart personal protective equipment (PPE) and/or (2) performance augmentation and amplification devices (PAADs).

Traditional PPE (e.g., hard hats, safety glasses, and steel-toed shoes) is designed to protect workers from external injuries caused by exposure to workplace and environmental hazards.

Wearable robotic devices, on the other hand, can protect workers from internal injuries due to, for example, overexertion, bodily reaction, repetitive motion, hyperextensions, over-rotation, excessive and repetitive vibration, and even the latent effects of aging. The integration of sensing devices provides added protection. Wearable robotic devices also serve as PAADs.

They can enable workers to perform tasks that are physically stressful or demanding, mentally taxing, ergonomically challenging, or even beyond human capability. This allows workers to perform tasks with much greater ease and efficiency as well as with improved safety and quality.

DOE/EM is pursuing robots that provide remote access to areas and spaces that are inaccessible or prohibit direct entry by workers due to: (1) unsafe, unstable, or unknown physical or structural conditions; (2) configurations that are hard to reach or beyond reach without taking extraordinary mechanical measures; or (3) the presence or potential presence of chemical, biological, radiological, or physical hazards that will or may result in unacceptable occupational exposure or increased health or safety risk.

Other workplace conditions that preclude safe worker entry or are otherwise uninhabitable include those that: are oxygen-deprived or have poor air quality; have explosive gases, materials or devices; have extreme temperatures or extreme pressures; have poor or no visibility, no direct line of sight, or are dimly lit; and are submerged or consist of substantially liquid-covered surfaces.

Robotic devices help to keep occupational exposures as low as reasonably achievable. Gloveboxes have widespread use for the handling of radioactive and nuclear materials within an enclosed, hermetically sealed, and controlled environment. Gloveboxes are typically robust, self-standing structures that are not easily moved or adjusted.

Their design features create ergonomic challenges for operators of different heights, torso sizes, arm lengths, and hand sizes. Maintenance can become costly as gloves routinely require replacement. DOE/EM is pursuing advanced robotic technologies that will address challenges associated with doing work within a glovebox.

The integration of robotic arms and hands that can be tele-operated by an operator, for example, can offer increased ability (dexterity, fine motor skills and grip), efficiency (work longer and with more focus), capability (added strength and extended reach), and safety (improved ergonomics).

Multi-Use and Multi-User (MU2) Robotic Technologies: DOE/EM is pursuing dual-purpose robotic technologies that can be used to support normal as well as off-normal operations - that is, MU2 robots that are used to perform routine operations and can also be deployed in response to emergencies.

For example, an assistive robot that is used by a health physics technician for performing routine radiological surveys can also be deployed by a first-responder to screen for the presence of airborne radioactivity prior to entering an area. For many DOE/EM applications, including some of those described above, robotics systems that have some degree of radiation tolerance and/or can be decontaminated are of interest.

Proposals that address radiological tasks and/or environments should consider those unique challenges. Proposals that specifically address robotics for radiological and other extreme environments are also of interest. The USDA/NIFA encourages robotics research, applications, and education to enhance agricultural production, processing, and distribution systems that benefit consumers and rural communities.

These robotics efforts address USDA goals ( www. usda. gov/documents/usda-strategic-plan-fy-2014-2018.

pdf ), including: protecting agricultural health to ensure access to safe, plentiful, and nutritious food (Goal 4. 4), increasing agricultural opportunities by supporting a competitive agricultural system (Goal 1. 1), contributing to clean and abundant water by protecting and enhancing water resources (Goal 2.

3), and ensuring that U.S. agricultural resources contribute to global food security (Goal 3. 1). The USDA/REE Action Plan is also supported through the following goals ( http://nifa.

usda. gov/resource/ree-action-plan ): sustainable intensification of agricultural production, sustainable use of natural resources, and education and science literacy. Furthermore, NIFA Science goals are supported, including ( http://nifa.

usda. gov/about/pdfs/strat_plan_2014. pdf ): advancing our Nation's ability to achieve global food security and fight hunger, optimizing the production of goods and services from working lands while protecting the Nation's natural resource base and environment, and ensuring the development of human capital, communities, and a diverse workforce.

In the process, it is expected that projects will engage academia, industry, stakeholders/users, students, and other organizations to identify fundamental research needs and to conduct both basic and applied research, while providing training for the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists.

Projects involving the following topics are particularly desired, although other robotics topics will be considered: Scalable Robotic Technologies .

Examples include the following areas: Automated systems for planting, scouting, spraying, culturing, irrigating, and harvesting plant crops (including forests) to decrease costs, improve efficiency, or reduce inputs of water, fertilizer, or chemicals; Improved robotics for inspection, monitoring, culturing, sorting, and handling of plants and flowers in controlled environment facilities and nurseries, or for managing or studying (e.g., monitoring, inspecting, sorting, vaccinating, deworming)