Sources Sought for Freight Mobile Robot.docx

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This Sources Sought Notice is intended for information and planning purposes only at this time; and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Because this is a Sources Sought announcement, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. No solicitation exists. Therefore, do not request a copy of a solicitation.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VISN 4, Network Contracting Office 4 (NCO 4), is seeking information and potential qualified sources capable of providing Freight mobile robot base research platform and charging station or equivalent item. The equipment will be delivered to Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System, located in Pittsburgh, PA 15240.

Background Human Engineering Research Laboratories (part of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System) needs a Freight mobile robot base research platform and charging station. This is the main system platform that will be used in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a remotely operated assistive mobile manipulator that is the focus of our VA center grant’s Remote Caregiver Telerobotic Project. This model incorporates the sensing, processing, and modular software and hardware components necessary to create a feasible platform for testing within the project’s limited two-year timeline.

Deliverables/Requirements Freight100 Mobile Robot Research Base Brand Name or Equal Models:

· 900-00163: FREIGHT100 Research Robot v2

· 900-00015: Fetch Robotics, Charging Dock for Freight100 Base Robot, for use with Standard or Commercial Robot

· 900-00182: 2 Year Maintenance Block Per Robot Salient Characteristics

· Base Footprint: 528mm (20.8 in) wide, 573mm (22.6 in) long

· Payload: 10 KG (220 lbs.)

· Max Speed: 1.5 m/s (3.4 mph)

· Turning in place radius

· Battery

· Nominal Continuous runtime: 9 hrs

· Charging: Autonomous Docking

· Charge Time: 3 hrs. to 90%

· 2d Laser Sensor

· 3D Depth Cameras

· Processor: Intel Core i7-9700E

· RAM: 32 GB

· Hard Drive: 256 GB SSD

· Wireless

· Side Interface Panel: DisplayPort, 2x USB 3.0, Ethernet

· Audio: 4x Speakers, 10W per channel

· Traversable Aisle: 95 cm (37.4 in)

· Traversable Gap: 15 mm (.59 in)

· Torque for M5 Mounting Points: 3.6 N-m (31.9 in-lb.)

DOCUMENTATION

· Accompanying Documentation for API and control interface.

· Documentation for hardware/sensors.

REQUIREMENTS

· Highly extensible Modular system that allows the addition of mobile manipulator on the base (mounting points) (Technical Specs attached separate).

· Opensource software packages for facilitating quick development.

· Supported opensource simulation for facilitating testing/debugging.

· Laser Sensor for Mapping environment

· Ability to add display (display port)

· Indoor platform

Responses to this Sources Sought Notice should include company name, address, point of contact, phone number, and point of contact e-mail, Unique Entity ID, Cage Code, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 333998, All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing, size standard is 700 employees.

Please answer the following questions:

(1) Please indicate the size status and representations of your business, such as but not limited to: Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), Hubzone, Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Small Business (SB), Large Business, etc.)?

(2) Is your company considered small under the NAICS code identified under this notice?

(3) Are you the manufacturer, distributor, or an equivalent solution to the items being referenced above?

(4) Is the product you are providing information about made by a small business manufacturer or a large business?

(5) Is the product you are providing information about manufactured in the United States? If not, please provide the country where the unit is manufactured.

(6) If you are a large business, do you have any designated distributors? If so, please provide their company name, telephone, point of Contact and size status (if available).

(7) If you’re a small business and you are an authorized distributor/reseller for the items identified above or an equivalent solution, do you alter; assemble; modify; the items requested in any way? If you do, state how and what is altered; assembled; modified?

(8) If you intend to subcontract any work on this contract, what portion of the total cost will be self-performed/will be performed by your organization? Please provide estimated detailed percentage breakdowns related to subcontracted work and completion of job.

(9) Does your company have an FSS contract with GSA or the NAC or are you a contract holder with any other federal contract? If so, please provide the contract number.

(10) If you are an FSS GSA/NAC contract holder or other federal contract holder, are the items/solution you are providing information for available on your schedule/contract?

(11) General pricing of your products/solution is encouraged. Pricing will be used for the purpose of market research only. It will not be used to evaluate for any type of award.

(12) Please submit your capabilities regarding the salient characteristics detailed above to establish capabilities for planning purposes.

(13) Please review salient characteristics/statement of work (if applicable) and provide feedback or suggestions. If none, please reply as N/A.

(14) Please provide your Unique Entity ID.

This Sources Sought Notice will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received via e-mail to william.macdougall@va.gov no later than, 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on June 20, 2024. This notice will help the VA in determining available potential sources only. Do not contact VA Medical Center staff regarding this requirement, as they are not authorized to discuss this matter related to this procurement action. All questions will be addressed by the Contracting Officer, William MacDougall.

All firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice are advised that their response is not a request for proposal, therefore will not be considered for a contract award.

If a solicitation is issued, information will be posted on the Contract Opportunities website for all qualified interested parties at a later date and interested parties must respond to the solicitation to be considered for award. This notice does not commit the government to contract for any supplies or services. The government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this Source Sought Notice. Information will only be accepted in writing by e-mail to Contracting Officer, William MacDougall at william.macdougall@va.gov

DISCLAIMER

This Sources Sought Notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this notice that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this notice.