SBIR & STTR Topics for Robotics & Autonomy Companies in Texas

There are 12 open federal SBIR/STTR topics right now that match Robotics & Autonomy capabilities, across DOD, NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, USDA, and 5 other agencies. Below: the current open topic list, recent Robotics & Autonomy winners headquartered in Texas, the Texas SBDC SBIR contact, and how TopicScout compares to SBIR.gov / Grants.gov / HigherGov / Instrumentl for finding the next topic to apply to.

Open Robotics & Autonomy topics (12)

1. Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit — Geological Survey · closes 2026-06-14
   The U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) seeks to provide financial assistance for a research project to help build a program to use new remote sensing platforms to improve understanding of how southwestern U.S.…
2. NSF Trailblazer Engineering Impact Award — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes 2026-07-24
   The NSF Trailblazer Engineering Impact Award (TRAILBLAZER) program supports individual investigators who propose novel research projects with the potential to innovatively and creatively address new areas of fundamental or applied research,…
3. Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology - Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes 2026-08-07
   The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program provides support to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions (MSIs) as defined in this solicitation’s Eligibility section, through …
4. Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program — National Institute of Food and Agriculture · closes 2026-12-31
   TCRGP focuses on development of research capacity at Tribal colleges, specifically in agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. The program aims to teach leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities that are necessary to prepare st…
5. High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) — National Institutes of Health · closes 2027-06-01
   The High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program encourages applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of high-end, specialized, commercially available instruments or integrated systems. The…
6. Engineering Design and Systems Engineering — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
   The Engineering Design and Systems Engineering (EDSE) program supports fundamental research that advances design science and/or systems science through the creation of new knowledge about the design of engineered artifacts. Engineered artif…
7. Foundational Research in Robotics — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
   The Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program, jointly led by the CISE and ENG Directorates, supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity. For the purpos…
8. Tactical Behaviors for Autonomous Maneuver — Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command · closes ongoing
   **UPDATE 5 APRIL 2024: The proposal submission date has been updated to 24 April 2024. The FOA has been amended to reflect this submission date and include a Question and Answer document based on questions received from interested applicant…
9. Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
   The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program supports innovative research in circuit and system hardware and signal processing techniques. CCSS also supports system and network architectures for communications and sensin…
10. Energy, Power, Control, and Networks — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
    The Energy, Power, Control, andNetworks (EPCN) Program supports innovative research in modeling, optimization, learning, adaptation, and control of networked multi-agent systems, higher-level decision making, and dynamic resource allocation…
11. Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
    The Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes: 1) the Biophotonics program; 2) the Biosensing program; 3) the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program; a…
12. Mind, Machine and Motor Nexus — U.S. National Science Foundation · closes ongoing
    The Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X) program supports fundamental research that enables intelligent engineered systems and humans to engage in bidirectional interaction in a physics-based environment, to enhance and ensure safety, produ…

Recent Robotics & Autonomy SBIR winners in Texas

1. Onconano Medicine, Inc. (Southlake, Texas) — Department of Health and Human Services Phase II 2023, $1,999,999
   Image-guided Surgical Detection of Metastatic Disease to the Peritoneum

How to find SBIR topics: TopicScout vs alternatives

SBIR.gov is the canonical source — every SBIR/STTR topic posts there first. TopicScout's value isn't access; it's the cap-statement scoring + weekly digest so you stop scanning portals by hand. Try the free matcher against your statement — takes a paragraph, no signup.

FAQ

How do I find open SBIR topics for a Robotics & Autonomy company in Texas?

The canonical source is SBIR.gov, which lists every open SBIR/STTR topic across all 11 federal agencies. To filter to Robotics & Autonomy-relevant topics that match your specific tech, paste your capability statement into TopicScout's free matcher — it scores all open topics against your cap statement in ~60 seconds. Texas SBIR firms also get help from the Texas SBDC network and state matching-fund programs.

What's the best SBIR matching tool for Robotics & Autonomy startups?

For solo founders: TopicScout's $29/mo plan covers all 11 agencies with weekly AI-scored digests. For consulting firms supporting multiple clients: TopicScout institutional plan ($500–2k/mo flat) or HigherGov ($500–5k/yr). For nonprofits (not SBIR-eligible): Instrumentl. SBIR.gov itself is free but requires manual scanning.

Which agencies fund the most Robotics & Autonomy SBIR/STTR work?

Based on the current open topic list, the top agencies for Robotics & Autonomy are visible in the topic list above. Historically: DARPA + AFWERX + Navy SBIR for defense-adjacent Robotics & Autonomy, NIH + CDC for health-adjacent, NSF + DOE for foundational R&D.