The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO) is soliciting proposals for LANdroids, a new program to develop intelligent autonomous radio relay nodes that exploit movement to establish and manage mesh networks in urban settings. The goal is to create small, inexpensive, smart robotic radio relay nodes that dismounted warfighters drop as they deploy in urban settings. The nodes then self-configure and form a mesh network – a temporary infrastructure that establishes communications over the region. As the situation changes, the nodes will adapt the network, such as self-healing if nodes are destroyed by the enemy. Through movement and density, the LANdroids will enable effective communications in complex non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments like those found in urban settings – dealing with phenomena like fades and shadows through strategic self-placement and chaining of the relays.

The program will have four tasks to which bidders may propose: LANdroids Control Software, LANdroids Robot Development, and evaluation of each of these. Production cost is a driver in both the Control Software and Robot Development areas. The LANdroids control software must be lightweight – effective but suitable for processors of performance roughly comparable to what you might find in a portable device such as a typical cell phone.

The LANdroids robots, which will consist of a radio, robotic platform, battery, and small processor, will be expendable. Dismounted warfighters must be able to drop and go – benefiting from the infrastructure while it is in place but not being required to move back into harm's way to retrieve the robots.

To encourage appropriate solutions, the target award size for LANdroids software development is $1,000,000 or less, per 12 month phase, per effort, excluding any proposed options. On the LANdroids robot side, the target is to demonstrate a platform that would have a final production cost of $100 per LANdroid at modest volumes (e.g., one thousand units). Recall, the goal is effective communications via small, inexpensive, smart, mobile radio nodes. Multiple awards are anticipated.

The program is envisioned to have three 12-month phases. Subsequent phases will depend on availability of funds among other factors. Proposals must address a single task – proposers that wish to address more than one of the four areas should submit separate proposals for each. See section 2 for task descriptions.

DARPA will host a Bidder's Briefing Day for the LANdroids program on 06 July 2007. For more details and registration information please go to www.darpa.mil/ Additional BAA details follow.