9110-04-P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket Number USCG-2024-0383]
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement: Payload Incorporated with
Computer Vision and Machine Learning
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is announcing its intent to enter into a Cooperative Research
and Development Agreement (CRADA) with AeroVironment, Inc. to evaluate payload(s) that
can accelerate autonomy to fielded assets and uncrewed platforms, and automated overhead
imagery analysis tool software. The Coast Guard is currently considering partnering with
AeroVironment, Inc. to investigate their payload that seamlessly integrates with current
AeroVironment UAS in use by the Coast Guard and solicits public comment on the possible
participation of other parties in the proposed CRADA, and the nature of that participation. While
the Coast Guard is currently considering partnering with AeroVironment, Inc., we are soliciting
public comment on the possible nature of and participation of other parties in the proposed
CRADA. In addition, the Coast Guard also invites other potential Federal participants, who have
the interest and capability to bring similar contributions to this type of research, to consider
submitting proposals for consideration in similar CRADAs.
DATES: Your comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or before
[INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL
REGISTER].
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-2024-0383
using the Federal portal at https://www.regulations.gov. See the “Public Participation and
Request for Comments” portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for

further instructions on submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about this notice of
intent, call or email Ms. Shelly Wyman, U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center;
telephone 860-271-2600, email RDC-info@uscg.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Table of Abbreviations
CRADA
DHS
MDA
U.S.C.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
Department of Homeland Security
Maritime Domain Awareness
United States Code

II. Background and Purpose
The Coast Guard Research and Development Center (R&D Center) is the Coast Guard's
sole facility performing research, development, and test and evaluation in support of the service's
major missions. The R&D Center supports the evaluation of feasibility and affordability of
mission execution solutions. When appropriate, the R&D Center collaborates with relevant
professionals in the public and private sectors on technology evaluation and/or technology
advancement.
Persistent surveillance can be defined as a collection strategy that emphasizes the ability
of some collection systems to linger on demand in an area to detect, locate, characterize, identify,
track, target, in near or real-time. Persistent surveillance requires an operationally focused
surveillance approach that uses a full range of strategic, operational, and tactical collection
methods to dwell on and revisit a target.
In the Coast Guard Strategic Plan, rapidly advancing technologies, including those in
uncrewed platforms, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning need to be
harnessed for possible use in mission execution. The ability to detect, locate, characterize,
identify, and track people or objects in the water in near or real-time and to apply that technology
to Coast Guard sensors and systems has the potential to improve mission support to meet the
needs of the Coast Guard today and in the foreseeable future.

In the Coast Guard Strategic Plan, two major goals are to direct efforts to encourage
developing innovative ways to increase delivery and efficiency of mission support functions; and
to strengthen or expedite acquisition process to adopt new technologies that will enhance
frontline operations. The ability to enhance our existing systems to incorporate innovative track
processing capabilities that may incorporate computer vision and/or machine learning technology
for search and rescue missions may greatly increase mission performance on select platforms and
improve Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
III. Public Participation and Request for Comments
We request public comments on this notice. Although we do not plan to respond to
comments in the Federal Register, we will respond directly to commenters and may modify our
proposal in light of comments.
We encourage you to submit comments in response to this notice of inquiry through the
Federal Decision Making portal at https://www.regulations.gov. To do so, go to
https://www.regulations.gov, type USCG-2024-0383 in the search box and click "Search." Next,
look for this document in the Search Results column, and click on it. Then click on the Comment
option. In your submission, please include the docket number for this notice of intent and
provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. If your material cannot be submitted
using https://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate instructions. To view
documents mentioned in this notice of intent as being available in the docket, find the docket as
described in the previous paragraph, and then select “Supporting & Related Material” in the
Document Type column. Public comments will also be placed in our online docket and can be
viewed by following instructions on the https://www.regulations.gov Frequently Asked
Questions webpage. We review all comments received, but we may choose not to post off-topic,
inappropriate, or duplicate comments that we receive.

We accept anonymous comments. Comments we post to https://www.regulations.gov
will include any personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and
submissions in response to this document, see DHS’s eRulemaking System of Records notice (85
FR 14226, March 11, 2020).
IV. Discussion
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) are authorized under 15
U.S.C. 3710a.1 A CRADA promotes the transfer of technology to the private sector for
commercial use, as well as specified research or development efforts that are consistent with the
mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party or parties agree with one or
more non-Federal parties to share research resources, but the Federal party does not contribute
funding.
CRADAs are not procurement contracts. Care is taken to ensure that CRADAs are not
used to circumvent the contracting process. CRADAs have a specific purpose and should not be
confused with procurement contracts, grants, and other type of agreements.
Under the proposed CRADA, the R&D Center will collaborate with one non-Federal
participant. Together, the R&D Center and the non-Federal participant will evaluate payloads
and software incorporating computer vision and machine learning systems designed for
autonomous detection and tracking to determine their potential for search and rescue planning
that may greatly increase mission performance on select USCG platforms and improve MDA
capability.
We anticipate that the Coast Guard’s contributions under the proposed CRADA will
include the following:
1. In conjunction with the non-Federal participant(s), develop the demonstration a test
plan to be executed under the CRADA;

The statute confers this authority on the head of each Federal agency. The Secretary of DHS’s authority is
delegated to the Coast Guard and other DHS organizational elements by DHS Delegation No. 0160.1, para. II.B.34.
2. Provide access to and coordinate the use of necessary Coast Guard facilities, surface
assets, and R&D Center equipment to facilitate assessments and ensure that all necessary
approvals have been obtained before the execution of the test plan;
3. Collaboratively collect and analyze demonstration test plan data; and
4. Collaboratively develop a summary documenting the findings, conclusions, and
recommendations of this CRADA work.
We anticipate that the non-Federal participants’ contributions under the proposed
CRADA will include the following:
1. Provide and integrate the payload and imagery software equipment to conduct the
demonstration described in the demonstration test plan;
2. Provide engineering support, including all required operators and technicians to
conduct the demonstration
3. Provide shipment and delivery of all payload and software equipment required for the
demonstration;
4. Provide travel and associated personnel and other expenses as required; and
5. Assist with compiling the results of the demonstration(s) with the R&D Center that
documents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations under this CRADA
The Coast Guard reserves the right to select for CRADA participants all, some, or no
proposals submitted for this CRADA. The Coast Guard will provide no funding for
reimbursement of proposal development costs. Proposals and any other material
submitted in response to this notice will not be returned. Proposals submitted are expected to be
unclassified and have not more than five single-sided pages (excluding cover page, DD 1494, JF12, etc.). The Coast Guard will select proposals at its sole discretion on the basis of:
1. How well they communicate an understanding, of and ability to meet, the proposed
CRADA’s goal; and
2. How well they address the following criteria:

a. Technical capability to support the non-Federal party contributions described, and
b. Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party contributions described.
Currently, the Coast Guard is considering AeroVironment, Inc. for participation in this
CRADA. This consideration is because AeroVironment Inc. has a solution in place that is
designed for seamless integration with existing R& D Center systems with potential for
increased mission performance. However, we do not wish to exclude other viable participants
from this or similar CRADAs in the future.
This is a technology assessment effort. The goal of the Coast Guard for this CRADA is to
evaluate new payloads on current systems in conjunction with software tools using computer
vision and machine learning models to determine how they can be utilized in the field, while
providing user feedback and use cases in a maritime environment. The software tools can not
only utilize AV optical sensors but also pull additional input from other optical sensors across
multiple platforms that have feeds with different inputs and resolutions, as well as connect
everything to a common operating picture. The ability for the equipment to locate, characterize,
identify, and track objects in the water in different scenarios will be tested. Special consideration
will be given to small business firms and consortia, and preference will be given to business
units located in the U.S.
This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a).
Dated: June 20, 2024.
M. P. Chien,
Captain,
Commanding Officer,
U. S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center.
[FR Doc. 2024-13926 Filed: 6/25/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/26/2024]