TACFI FY22

AFWERX · AFWERX TACFI · AFWERX

AI-Readiness Score

12/25

Pathway Speed

4/5

Timeline Realism

2/5

Problem Framing

3/5

AI / ML Fit

0/5

Award + Transition

3/5

Award

$1,790,274

Award ceiling

WILDER SYSTEMS INC.

Awardee

Posted February 21, 2024

Description

Under this proposed TACFI effort, Wilder Systems will continue the research, research & development, and research development test and evaluation (R/R&D/RDTE) effort from previous Phase II SBIR research. The primary Technical Objective is to refine the design concept to address the need for landing gear wash capability by adding a scrubbing capability and freeing the robot arms from fixed rails and mounting them onto mobile bases. The second technical objective is to validate and prove system performance metrics are satisfactory to meet target system cycle times, wash quality, improve operator hazard and ergonomic conditions, and overall value proposition specifically for the landing gear and landing gear bay wash requirements. Demonstration of the new capabilities will take place at Wilder Systems’ facility in Austin, TX, followed by full scale testing at a suitable Global Strike Command (GSC) location or Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG).

Score Rationale

The TACFI instrument is a legitimate fast-track OT pathway, earning a high pathway score, but the problem itself is entirely robotics/mechanical engineering — automated landing gear washing with scrubbing arms on mobile bases — and contains zero AI or ML content, making it a 0 on AI/ML fit regardless of how the hardware is controlled. The unknown response deadline and lack of any described AI component make this solicitation essentially irrelevant for an AI-native startup; the award ceiling (~$1.79M) and implicit TACFI-to-production pathway earn a modest transition score, but the core work is physical automation R&D with no meaningful AI angle.

Source

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