Agile Wire Harness Manipulation and Installation for Unmanned Aerial Systems

Context & BackgroundModern Department of Defense (DoD) manufacturing and depot sustainment environments increasingly depend on agile automation to scale up production and maintain rapid operational readiness. While automated assembly technologies have matured substantially for rigid components with predictable geometries, the handling of flexible materials remains a persistent challenge. Specifically, wire harness routing, connector inspection, and insertion operations are ubiquitous across the production lines of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), advanced munitions families, and autonomous collaborative platforms. Currently, these intricate electrical assembly processes represent a bottleneck in UAS assembly operations. Assembly technicians must manually route non-rigid cables through confined structural cavities and execute high-precision connection steps under high-mix, low-volume production conditions. Traditional industrial robotics break down when tasked with these operations because flexible wiring deforms unpredictably during manipulation, completely violating the rigid-part assumptions and fixed, hard-tooled rules of standard automation. Problem, Opportunity, & Unmet Need The complete reliance on manual wire harness installation creates a critical capability deficiency that severely penalizes DoD manufacturing agility and surge capacity. Manual operations are fundamentally non-scalable, meaning production lines cannot dynamically "ramp-to-rate" to meet sudden spikes in theater demand. Furthermore, manual wire routing and insertion introduce human-induced variability, resulting in unquantifiable defects such as partially seated connectors, overstressed wires, or compromised bend radii. These latent defects frequently slip past standard visual inspections and surface as catastrophic electrical or communication failures during critical mission times. Aerospace prime contractors and program offices have identified this manual chokepoint as the largest automation gap in UAS and munitions production. This deficiency creates a major opportunity to implement a flexible automation solution. Resolving this challenge requires a modular, adaptive robotic workcell that handles deformable materials, operates with high positional accuracy in restricted footprints, and can be rapidly retasked between completely different product designs within a single factory shift. Desired Outcome & Technological Improvement The desired outcome of this research and development effort is a fully integrated, single-arm modular robotic manufacturing workcell capable of autonomously handling the core manipulation and installation scenarios for flexible UAS and munitions wiring harnesses. Shifting the technology from manual assembly to adaptive, sensor-driven automation will fundamentally advance the DoD technological state of the art by achieving the following targeted improvements: Deformable Material Control: The platform will combine deterministic offline path planning with adaptive, real-time online sensory feedback (such as tactile, force-torque, and vision monitoring). This closed-loop configuration enables "search and settle" machine behaviors to dynamically correct for micro-misalignments and part variability on the fly. Sub-Millimeter Tolerances: The workcell will successfully execute precise connector insertion and blind-mate assembly steps within tightly constrained geometries to a targeted positioning tolerance of $\le$ 0.5 mm.Rapid Retaskability: The system will break the paradigm of dedicated single-product manufacturing by allowing shop-floor operators to ingest new geometric data and completely retask the workcell to a novel harness family in less than 8 hours.End-to-End Digital Thread: The workcell will generate machine-readable traceability records of every insertion force profile and routing path. This delivers a reliable data audit trail to eliminate quality escapes and predict latent field defects before they manifest in flight.Minimum Acceptable DeliverablesThe following deliverables must be successfully turned over to the government to satisfy the performance requirements of this solicitation:Integrated Single-Arm Robotic Workcell: One fully functional, operational modular automation cell comprising a COTS collaborative arm manipulator, reconfigurable mounting base, interchangeable end-effectors, integrated real-time compute block, and the complete multi-modal sensor stack (vision, tactile, and force-torque instrumentation). Autonomous Software Stack & Executables: Full, unencumbered delivery of the native software architecture, including the offline CAD data-ingestion pipeline, real-time adaptive control algorithms, and localized vision-tactile tracking scripts, along with complete integration documentation.Cross-Program Retasking Report: A documented technical package demonstrating the step-by-step procedures, software tools, and data workflows used to successfully transition the physical workcell between two distinct harness families in less than 8 hours.Comprehensive Technical Data Package (TDP): System layout schematics, wiring diagrams, universal end-effector interface control documents, operational manuals, and interface guides for MES/ERP factory network synchronization. Final Performance & Verification Report: A verified engineering data package from the live prime facility demonstration detailing empirical success metrics. This must validate insertion position accuracy ($\le$ 0.5 mm), insertion force variance curves, production cycle time gains ($\ge$ 2x throughput), labor hour compression ($\ge$ 50%), and a sample data pull of the machine-readable digital thread registry.

Program: SBIR, Phase I and Phase II Agency: Department of War, Air Force Topic number: DAF27BZ01-DV011 Solicitation: 27.BZ Released October 7, 2026; proposals accepted from October 28, 2026 Closes November 25, 2026. Check the official solicitation for the exact due time. Award type: contract, not a grant. Official solicitation: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/ Listed on SBIR.gov: https://www.sbir.gov/topics/13035. SBIR.gov copies agency solicitations and can lag behind them; the official solicitation is the final word.

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