The NIH, DARPA, NSF, USDA, and DHS are offering a Grant for Robotics Technology Advancement.

1. Is organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, which operates primarily within the United States or which makes a significant contribution to the United States economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor;

Is in the legal form of an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust or cooperative, except that where the form is a joint venture, there can be no more than 49 percent participation by foreign business entities in the joint venture;

Is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States, or it must be a for-profit business concern that is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by another for-profit business concern that is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States, except in the case of a joint venture, where each entity to the venture must be 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States; and;

Has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees.
SBCs must also meet the other regulatory requirements found in 13 C.F.R. Part 121. Business concerns, other than investment companies licensed, or state development companies qualifying under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, 15 U.S.C. 661, et seq., are affiliates of one another when either directly or indirectly, (a) one concern controls or has the power to control the other; or (b) a third-party/parties controls or has the power to control both. Business concerns include, but are not limited to, any individual (sole proprietorship) partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, or cooperative. The SF424 (R and R) SBIR/STTR Application Guide should be referenced for detailed eligibility information.

Scientific interests for this joint-agency FOA include, but are not limited to, research directed towards innovations or advancements in robotic technologies and devices for: Robotics for Home Healthcare, Personalized Care for Special-needs Populations, and Robotic Wellness/Health Promotion; Robot-Assisted Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Behavioral Therapy; High-throughput Robotics Technologies; Better Than Biology Actuators; Patient Mobility and Rehabilitation Robotics; Dexterous Manipulators with Tactile Feedback; Multi-Agent Command, Coordination, and Communication; Robotic Co-Worker Assistive Technologies; robotics to render improvised explosive devices safe; and robotics for cross border tunnels. Specific areas of interests under this FOA are described under the Research Objectives.