Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT)
DARPA seeks proposals to develop radically new inertial sensors and control systems for advanced navigation in tactical and unmanned missions, moving beyond current MEMS IMU technology.
Funder: DARPA - Defense Sciences Office
Due Dates: August 27, 2026: Proposal Abstract due | September 15, 2026: Question submittal closed | September 25, 2026: Full proposal due
Funding Amounts: No specified ceiling; Phase I awards expected for 24 months, with potential for Phase II; multiple award instruments (contract, OT, or cooperative agreement) available.
Summary: Supports innovative R&D in physics and nonlinear control of inertial measurement units (IMUs) for tactical and unmanned missions, targeting breakthroughs beyond current MEMS IMU performance.
Key Information: Abstract submission is mandatory before full proposal; proposals must focus on revolutionary, not incremental, advances.
Description
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is soliciting proposals for revolutionary research in the physics and nonlinear control of inertial measurement units (IMUs), specifically targeting tactical and unmanned missions. The program, Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT), seeks to overcome the decade-long performance plateau of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) IMUs by supporting the development of novel sensor architectures operating in highly nonlinear regimes.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, electromagnetically levitated proof masses, nonlinear resonators, and high-velocity tethered microsystems. The program emphasizes the co-design of sensor hardware and advanced, real-time adaptive control systems. Research that only results in incremental improvements over the current state of the art is explicitly excluded.
Proposals should address a single target application (e.g., precision strike munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles, space operations, or other defense-relevant scenarios) and must articulate challenging performance metrics, a clear technical approach, and quantitative milestones. The program is structured in phases, with this announcement soliciting only Phase I proposals (24 months). Phase II may follow based on Phase I performance and available funding.
