Structure, expectations, and boundaries

The CIDAR competition guidelines will be updated throughout the competition period (Fall 2024 – Fall 2025). Please check for updates regularly and send any questions or feedback to CIDAR_Challenge@darpa.mil.

1.1 Terms and conditions

These terms and conditions (“terms”) apply to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Computational Imaging Detection and Ranging (CIDAR) Challenge. Please read these terms carefully as they govern the operation of the Challenge and form a binding legal agreement between you and the Challenge sponsor. As the Challenge Sponsor and owner of this document, DARPA reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to revise the terms at any time by posting an updated version to the Challenge website, with or without notice. These Terms are intended to comply with applicable federal law, regulation, and policy.

Challenge Sponsor: DARPA is sponsoring the CIDAR Challenge under the authority granted in 15 U.S. Code § 3719 - Prize competitions, America COMPETES.

For the purposes of these terms, a “team” is an individual, group of individuals, or organization who is participating in the CIDAR Challenge for a chance to win a prize. Teams may enter under an official affiliation (e.g., a university or corporation). Teams may also have an official set of sponsors. Affiliations and sponsors must be disclosed. Additional requirements are listed under Section 3.1 “Registration eligibility.”

As used in these Terms, “DARPA” refers to the DARPA employees, government contractors, and government partners who are orchestrating the CIDAR Challenge.

Challenge host "Challenge website:" DARPA may make official public communications from time to time on the official website or through other mediums as necessary.

Your submission of an entry in the CIDAR Challenge constitutes your agreement to the Challenge terms and conditions.

View full terms

1.2 Background

The CIDAR Challenge seeks to discover passive imaging algorithms for high accuracy, low latency distance measurements that equal or exceed the performance of today’s active range measurement systems. Specifically, the challenge will extend passive range measurements to 10 km or more with accuracy of ±5 m while minimizing floating point operations to achieve low latency. The Cramer-Rao bound defines the fundamental limit of distance information in images, but passive imaging approaches to range measurements today can only capture 1% of this information. 

The accuracy of range measurement algorithms improves 10-100X when information from a single spatial, spectral, or temporal optical filter is added to the information in unfiltered images. If new algorithms can be developed to integrate information from all optical filters, then we may be able to increase the accuracy of passive range measurements 10-100X further to approach the fundamental limit of distance information in images. If the Challenge succeeds, then we will know active range measurements like laser detection and ranging (LADAR) and laser range finding (LRF) can be performed passively without sacrificing speed or accuracy.

1.3 References

1. Backlund, Mikael P., Yoav Shechtman, and Ronald L. Walsworth. "Fundamental precision bounds for three-dimensional optical localization microscopy with Poisson statistics." Physical review letters 121.2 (2018): 023904
2. Bettinger, Joshua B., Brian Packard, and Steven H. Vogel. "Metric zoom and you: an accurate tomorrow, approximately today." Advanced Optics for Imaging Applications: UV through LWIR IV. Vol. 10998. SPIE, 2019.
3. Simonov, Aleksey N. "Cramer–Rao bounds in functional form: theory and application to passive optical ranging." JOSA A 31.12 (2014): 2680-2693.
4. Michael R. Hawks, Glen P. Perram, "Passive ranging of emissive targets using atmospheric oxygen absorption lines," Proc. SPIE 5811, Targets and Backgrounds XI: Characterization and Representation, (25 May 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.604538
5. Denker, Klaus, and Georg Umlauf. "Accurate real-time multi-camera stereo-matching on the gpu for 3d reconstruction." (2011).
6. Hall, Elise Munz, Daniel Robert Guildenbecher, and Brian S. Thurow. Uncertainty Characterization of Particle Location Using a Plenoptic Camera. No. SAND2017-2745C. Sandia National Lab.(SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States), 2017.
7. Zhao, Chaoqiang, et al. "Monocular depth estimation based on deep learning: An overview." Science China Technological Sciences 63.9 (2020): 1612-1627.

1.4 Challenge structure

1. Challenge initiation: Five participants will receive $200,000 each
2. Semi-final competition: 10, $50,000 progress prize awards
3. Final competition:
   1. First place: $1 million
   2. Second place: $600,000
   3. Third place: $400,000

Notice of the CIDAR Challenge will be published on the System for Award Management (SAM) website. Challenge announcements will be made via the DARPA website, DARPA Connect website, Facebook, and X. Additionally, a live announcement will be made at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington D.C.

The CIDAR Challenge will only have a single track for registration and participation.

As part of the registration phase, small businesses and universities can compete to win five initial funding awards. Five small businesses or university teams will receive $200,000 a piece in initial funding based upon the strength of their initial White Paper submission, as evaluated by DARPA.

All others, or those not selected to receive initial funding, will register with DARPA and proceed without funding. DARPA will allow a maximum of 100 qualified teams to join the competition. All teams will register with DARPA and submit a White Paper describing their approach in order to join the competition.

At Challenge initiation, each team selected to participate in the challenge will be provided the same images with multiple optical filters. Competitors are challenged to create new algorithms that accurately depict the distances in the images.

At the eight-month mark, the semi-final competition phase will be held. Teams are evaluated on the accuracy of their distance measurements. In the case of a tie on the accuracy of the distance measured, then the number of floating-point operations will be used as a secondary scoring criteria to encourage low latency, breaking any tie. The semi-final competition will be hosted both virtually and in-person.

Performance in the semi-final phase determines the ten top-performing teams who will then receive $50,000 apiece in progress prizes. Initial funding selection has no effect on who receives a progress prize. If a team accepts a progress prize, they are required to present their results, but not required to share their technical approach or methodology.

Regardless of performance in the semi-final competition, all teams are allowed to compete in the final competition, which will be held one year after CIDAR Challenge initiation. Upon completion of the semi-final competition, teams will be provided with a new set of imagery with various optical filters. Teams are evaluated on the accuracy of their distance measurements. In the case of a tie on the accuracy of the distance measured, then the number of floating-point operations will be used as a secondary scoring criteria to encourage low latency, breaking any tie.

Winners of the final competition will be awarded as follows: The first-place winner will receive $1 million, the second-place winner will receive $600,000, and the third-place winner will receive $400,000. Winning teams will submit all source code and artifacts needed to build and run their algorithms and provide a research paper describing their technical approach. All prizes are contingent on meeting the eligibility requirements and conditions of the challenge.

Both the semi-final chase and the final competition will be designed and evaluated by DARPA. The Government will provide identical imagery to each team at each phase to evaluate using their proposed approach. Success is measured by how accurately a team estimates the range within the provided imagery using their specific approach. Winning teams will submit all source code and artifacts needed to build and run their algorithms and provide a research paper describing their technical approach.

1.5 Funding and prizes
 

1.5.1 Initial funding

Five small business or university teams will receive $200,000 apiece in initial funding based upon the strength of their initial white paper submission, as evaluated by DARPA. See complete instructions in Appendix A.

1.5.2 Progress prizes

Performance, as described in section 2.5, in the semi-final competition at the eight-month mark determines the 10 top-performing teams who will receive $50,000 each in progress prizes. Initial funding selection has no effect on who receives a progress prize. If a team accepts a progress prize, they are required to present their results, but not required to share their technical approach or methodology.

1.5.3 Final competition prizes

Performance in the final competition determines the ultimate winners of the Challenge. The top three teams will be awarded a total of $2 million prize money with $1 million for first place, $600,000 for second place and $400,000 for third place. Winning teams will submit all source code and artifacts needed to build and run their algorithms and provide a research paper describing their technical approach. All prizes are contingent on meeting the eligibility requirements and conditions of the Challenge.

1.6 Schedule

Competing in the CIDAR Challenge

2.1 Track

The CIDAR Challenge is a year-long challenge that will have only a single track for participation.

2.2 Scoring, judging, and reviewing

For individuals that comprise DARPA (as described above) and who act in a review or judging capacity, the following applies: Before gaining access to any CIDAR Challenge submissions, each individual is required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Upon reviewing contestant names and organizations, each individual will certify that no conflicts of interest exists, or will disclose any potential conflicts of interests. Individuals that comprise DARPA are ineligible to participate in the CIDAR Challenge. DARPA will adhere to the evaluation criteria described in this document, to include Section 2.3, Section 2.5, and Appendix A, which is based on the technical merit of each submission.

2.3 CIDAR registration white paper

To compete in the CIDAR competition, teams will register with a white paper of no more than 5 pages with no smaller font than Times New Roman font size 11, that answers the following questions:

• How can your approach reach the physical bounds of range and accuracy?
• What are the computational and input needs for your algorithms?
• What performance is achievable?

Teams’ white paper should also discuss:

• A justification of feasibility of their concept for accurate ranging. White papers are encouraged to include supporting evidence such as:
  • Publicly available evidence
  • Past work
  • Research results
  • Other relevant supporting evidence
• The technical approach for constructing their concept and developing algorithms for competing in CIDAR, including:
  • Specific objectives and metrics
  • Risks and mitigations
  • A technical plan for accomplishment of objectives

All registration white papers will be evaluated for compliance. Teams that identify as a small business or university and seek initial funding will be evaluated in accordance with Appendix A. It is the sole discretion of the DARPA evaluators to determine whether white papers sufficiently address the requisite questions enumerated in this Section 2.2. Those that do not will not be accepted.

2.4 Execution of the CIDAR semi-final and final competitions

For both the semi-final and final competition, imagery will be available for teams to download from the challenge website. In conjunction with the imagery, DARPA will have a templated form for each team to aggregate their results upon for submission. Upon Challenge initiation, Images for the semi-final competition will be made available to those teams who registered as described in Section 2.3. Images for the final competition will be made available upon conclusion of the semi-final competition.

Both the Semi-Final Competition and Final Competition will have deadlines for submission that teams must meet to have their results evaluated.

For both the semi-final and final competitions, DARPA will aggregate all submissions and identify those teams that were most accurate as described in Section 2.5.

2.5 CIDAR Challenge scoring criteria

For evaluation of submitted results, scoring will be performed based on accuracy. Pertinent details of the aperture used to obtain furnished images will be provided, including aperture size, focal length, and other relevant details. To be considered for evaluation in each phase of the competition, teams must articulate in understandable terms to DARPA how they used the provided imagery and aperture information to reach their distance measurement. The same scoring will be applied for the semi-final competition and final competition and is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Scoring criteria

Competitors must achieve a minimum of 30 points average across all targets to receive a prize. In the event of a tie in terms of accuracy, the number of floating-point operations to achieve the distance measurement will be used as a secondary scoring criteria to determine the winner.

3.1 Registration eligibility¹

For the purposes of these terms, a “team” is an individual, group of individuals, or organization who is participating in the CIDAR Challenge for a chance to win a prize. Teams may enter under an official affiliation (e.g., a university or corporation). Teams may also have an official set of sponsors. Affiliations and sponsors must be disclosed. A team must be comprised of an Entrant Official (U.S. Entity² or Individual), a Team Leader (Individual) and an optional set of team members (Individuals).

CIDAR is open to team members and individuals of all nationalities, ages, academic institutions, and business entities, subject to the caveats below:

• An entrant may be an individual competing alone or a team representing an academic institution, business, or group of individuals. Each entrant must include at least one U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Entrants may enter under an official affiliation (e.g., a university or corporation). Entrants may also have an official set of sponsors. Affiliations and sponsors must be disclosed.
• Only one application per team shall be submitted.
• Each team must identify one entrant official and one team leader. The entrant official and the team leader may be the same individual. The entrant official must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and must speak English. The entrant official will serve as the official administrative point of contact for communications with the CIDAR organizers. The team leader must speak English and will serve as the official technical point of contact for communications with the CIDAR organizers.
• Each team is intended to be a wholly separate entity that does not share members/affiliations or sponsorship (financial interests) with any other team. Individuals cannot be members of multiple teams. Teams may have one or more sponsors. Teams may not collaborate or share their technical approaches and solutions with other teams. Teams who do not comply with these guidelines will be subject to disqualification.
• Teams consisting of individuals who were/are members of the same organization prior to CIDAR may be permitted to compete as long as the teams do not collaborate and do not share organizational sponsorship. Organizations that form to compete in CIDAR may only field one team.
• An entrant shall not be deemed ineligible because the entrant used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees during the contest if the facilities and employees are made available to all individuals and entities participating in the contest on an equitable basis.
• All participants (any individuals who enter the contest) under 18 years of age require written authorization of a parent or guardian.
• For eligibility to win prizes, refer to Section 3.2, “Award eligibility” and Appendix A.

Refer to the table below for more information.

[1] This section specifically refers to eligibility to participate in Competition events; eligibility to receive prizes is based on 15 U.S.C. § 3719.
[2] Within this guidance, a U.S. Entity is defined as a private entity incorporated in and maintaining a primary place of business within the United States; see 15 U.S.C. § 3719(g)(3).

The following individuals and organizations are not eligible to participate in CIDAR competitions:

• Official Government entities (from the U.S. or any other country) are not eligible to participate as entrants, sponsors, or official affiliates. Government employees (from the U.S. or any other country) acting within the scope of their employment are not eligible to participate as entrants, entrant officials, team leaders, team members, or sponsors.
• Individuals acting as CIDAR contest judges are not eligible to participate in CIDAR.
• Government Military members or Civilian employees may be eligible to participate if done so in their personal capacity and if the work performed for the contest is not related to their official government duties. Government members or employees should first consult their supervisors and designated agency ethics officials before participating in the contest. DARPA employees and support contractors, their spouses, dependents, and household members are not eligible to participate.
• Any personnel funded by DARPA to support CIDAR, or otherwise collaborating with DARPA in support of CIDAR, including individuals acting as challenge judges or in an evaluation capacity, are not eligible to participate. This group includes any Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) or Government personnel whose scope of work includes supporting CIDAR.
• CIDAR collaborators, entities that have entered into Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with DARPA for collaboration, support and/or advisement for CIDAR and their employees acting within the scope of their employment, are not eligible to participate as entrants, entrant officials, team leaders, team members, or sponsors.
• The entrant official and team leader cannot be listed on the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control – Sanctions Programs.
• Individuals, organizations, or sponsors that are named in the Specially Designated Nationals list of the U.S. Department of Treasury are not eligible to participate.

Individuals should follow their parent organization’s rules and regulations regarding outside activities.

DARPA, at its sole discretion and if notified prior to the Semifinal Competition submission, may allow teams that registered by the designated registration date, April 2, 2025, to change the structure or role of individuals and entities.

DARPA reserves the right to disqualify a participant whose actions are deemed to violate the spirit of the competition for any reason, including but not limited to, the violation of relevant laws or regulations during participation in the CIDAR Challenge.

3.2 Award eligibility

To be eligible for prizes, teams must first be registered. The award process requires recipients to furnish information that may trace or identify recipients either individually or as an organization (e.g., Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number). The entrant official of each registered team is responsible for providing the award information necessary for prize disbursement. DARPA will reach out by email to the entrant official of each registered team to either confirm their vendor status or request the required forms. DARPA is not responsible for disbursement of prizes to any team members other than the primary contact/organization. Prizes will only be issued in U.S. dollars and require the bank of the prize recipient to accept U.S. dollars.

3.3 Availability of funds

The Government’s obligation for prizes under 15 U.S.C § 3719 – Prize competitions, America COMPETES is subject to the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for prize purposes can be made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment of prizes may arise unless appropriated funds are available to DARPA for such purposes.

3.4 Ownership rights in your submissions

Ownership: Self-funded teams retain all data rights to their submissions. Those that receive any form of DARPA funding entitles the U.S. Government to Government Purpose Rights relating to CIDAR Challenge technology.

DARPA will not disclose the technical briefs or code bases submitted by participants outside the Government except where this information is handled by DARPA support contractors for administrative purposes and/or to assist with technical evaluation. All DARPA support contractors performing this role are bound by nondisclosure agreements.

Sharing your information: Government-funded and self-funded teams may be featured on the DARPA CIDAR Challenge website. We will not disclose your contact information if you do not wish to share it with the public. Photos and text descriptions of Challenge events may be posted on the DARPA CIDAR Challenge and other DARPA-affiliated social media sites.

3.5 Additional information

Questions regarding rules should be sent to DARPA CIDAR Challenge. DARPA may modify the rules in writing at any time and for any reason, including the accommodation of a promising technical approach that would have been excluded by the rules.

DARPA unilaterally reserves the right to cancel or modify the Challenge at its sole discretion.

3.6 Sensor parameters and lens information used for CIDAR data collection

Refer to the tables below.

Small business and university initial funding guidelines

A.1 Overview

The initial funding for small business and university funding to participate in CIDAR is designed to empower innovation and enable small businesses and universities to compete in CIDAR. DARPA will award up to five small businesses with prizes of $200,000 each. Teams that are eligible and registered as a small business or university will compete by submitting a white paper as described in Section 2.3. Based on the scoring of these concept white paper, up to five teams with the highest scores will be awarded initial funding.

A.1.1 Schedule

A.2 Competing as a small business or university for initial funding
 

A.2.1 Eligibility

Small business and university teams seeking initial funding must satisfy all eligibility requirements defined in section 3.1. In addition, the small business and university teams seeking initial funding are subject to the following eligibility requirements. An entrant must be:

• A U.S. entity, defined as a private entity incorporated in and maintaining a primary place of business within the United States; see 15 U.S.C. § 3719(g)(3).
• A small business in accordance with Small Business Administration guidance under 13 C.F.R. § 121.201; or any U.S. entity that meets the requirements of 13 C.F.R. § 121.201 and agrees to register as a small business if eligible to participate in this competition.
• Within the size standard by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541715 as noted in 13 C.F.R. § 121.201.
• Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and have or obtain an active Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code; or agree to register in SAM and obtain an active CAGE code if eligible to participate in this competition.

For general eligibility requirements for CIDAR, refer to Section 3.1.

A.2.2 Registration

To compete for initial funding, they teams must register as an CIDAR Team via the CIDAR Challenge website, as described in Section 3.1.

A prospective CIDAR team that satisfies the eligibility requirements outlined in Section A.2.1 and registers as a small business and university will be considered for initial funding.

Registrants will submit a concept white paper, which will be submitted via CIDAR team registration. For further information, refer to Section A.3.1.

Registered small business and university teams not awarded funding will be considered registered and will be allowed to compete without funding, provided they satisfy all applicable eligibility and registration requirements, as described in Section 3.1. The concept white paper will satisfy the registration paper requirement for the open track registration (refer to Section 2.3). Teams are not required to participate if they are not selected for initial funding can email DARPA CIDAR Challenge if they do not plan to participate if not selected for initial funding.

A.3 Concept White Paper Contest

Section 2.3 describes the required White Paper for all participants, to include the small businesses and universities seeking initial funding. Submitted white papers will be reviewed and evaluated by DARPA. Based on the conclusions of the judging panel, DARPA will identify up to five winning teams to participate in the CIDAR Challenge and receive $200,000 apiece in initial funding money.

A.3.1 Scoring Criteria

Small Business and University team registration white paper submissions will be evaluated and ranked using the following scoring criteria:

• Summary overview – 10%
• Registration white paper – 80%
  • Understanding of the problem – 35%
  • Technical approach – 35%
  • Challenges – 10%
• Proposal quality and completeness – 10%

A.3.2 Judging

The Concept White Paper (refer to Section A.3.1) will be judged by DARPA. Submissions will be evaluated and ranked using the scoring criteria in Sections 2.3 and A.3.1.