October 10, 2025 – Today, the ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute is pleased to announce the availability of the final, public version of our Adaptive Incremental Forming through Optimized Robotic Manufacturing (AI-FORM) Tech Project Call created in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The ARM Institute expects to award approximately $6M to fund projects under this Project Call. Note that the period-of-performance in this Project Call is longer than typical ARM Institute Project Calls with a period-of-performance of around 54 months and projects concluding in September 2030.
Proposals for this Project Call are due on December 3, 2025 at 5:00 PM ET and must be submitted via the ARM Member Community. While our Project Call is publicly available, you must be an ARM Member to submit a proposal. Learn more about membership here.
ARM Institute Project Calls catalyze collaboration between industry, government, and academia to spur keenly needed robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to strengthen US manufacturing and secure the Organic and Defense Industrial Bases. Project Calls provide a key platform for collaboration and innovation, fostering a consortium that works together to lift solutions off the ground that may have otherwise suffered from a lack of funding or technical roadblocks.
About Our Adaptive Incremental Forming through Optimized Robotic Manufacturing (AI-FORM) Tech Project Call
There is a critical need for forged components across all DoD services, ranging from small to extra-large components. The forging supply chain is identified as a critical vulnerability for the DoD due to factors including traditionally high-mix low-volume demands, limited domestic capability for aerospace-quality forgings, a dwindling domestic workforce, and a limited ability for manufacturing surge. These factors lead to significant lead times (up to 36 months) for components resulting in diminished military readiness. In the far term, there exists both an inability for forging component suppliers to meet the increasing demand for quality DoD forgings and to meet wartime surge demands, which could impact operational capabilities.
Incremental robotic forging offers a solution to these challenges. By leveraging advances in automation and artificial intelligence, an industrial robot can act as a skilled “blacksmith”, operating an open die forging system to produce a wide variety of forged geometries using a single system.
This approach:
- Enables arbitrary geometries (traditionally closed-die forged) to be manufactured in an open-die process.
- Could be applied to many traditionally forged alloys.
- Provides an end-to-end solution for insertion at various points along the DoD manufacturing supply chain.
This project will mature an autonomous robotic system for incremental open die forging of bulk metal components. The system’s capability will be assessed on its ability to manufacture forged components of need for multiple DoD services, including the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Defense Logistics Agency.
Project Call Document & Public Webinar on Oct. 21
We will host a public webinar in support of this Project Call on October 21 at 1 PM ET. Can’t join at the scheduled time? Register to receive the recording.
ARM Members also received members-only early access to this Project Call earlier this fall, which included a mini Tech Day at our 2025 Annual Member Meeting.
Download Full Project Call
Register for Public Webinar
Additional & Upcoming ARM Institute Project Calls
This Project Call is part of a full schedule of Project Calls being released by the ARM Institute this fall, including our Maritime Industrial Base Tech Project Call that we issued publicly in partnership with the BlueForge Alliance on October 3, 2025.
ARM Institute Members also have access to our 26-01 Core-Funded Tech Project Call in draft format as a benefit of ARM Institute membership that will be released to the public following the member-only access period. In total, the ARM Institute expects to issue around five Project Calls between October 2025 and January 2026. ARM Members can access our other Project Calls on the ARM Member Community. Email [email protected] for help using the Member Community or to learn more about membership.
In the spring of 2025 alone, the ARM Institute issued three Project calls leading to approximately $4.5M in funding being awarded to ARM Members for a grand total investment of approximately $8.8M across the projects.
Explore other open Project Calls
ABOUT THE ARM INSTITUTE
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique and robust consortium of 450+ members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute leads the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).