Brand Name Justification Field Rover.pdf

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

MANDATORY TEMPLATE FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENTS UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

1. Estimated Dollar Value: $15,000

2. Anticipated Period of Performance: Delivery completed by 8/3/2023.

3. Does the anticipated Period of Performance include option years? If no, explain. No, this will be a supply purchase order for one robot.

4. Sources Sought Notice posted to Contract Opportunities and attached to this document?

☒ Yes ☐ No

5. Market Research conducted and attached to this document? If not, explain.

Sources Sought posted from 6/14/2023 to 6/20/2023, no responses received. Based on a past procurement in FY21, it is known that no other robot can perform to the specifications the TerraSentia robot by EarthSense can. The commercial market and research literature were reviewed for this procurement with no other options meeting qualifications. The field phenotyping robot for agricultural row crops needs to be manufactured by EarthSense and be the 2023 TerraSentia Robot in order to be compatible with another TerraSentia robot that has already been purchased. Any authorized seller of TerraSentia robot (2023 model) can compete on this requirement.

6. Is this a new requirement or a follow-on to an expiring award?

☒ New requirement ☐ Follow-on to an expiring award

7. Describe the requirement. Please note that the requirement is the minimum acceptable specification or capability, and is not necessarily the best in the industry. Please note whether any additional follow-on work is anticipated in response to the current proposed effort.

The phenotyping rover must be fully integrated, including appropriate software, and functional upon delivery. No assembly or engineering should be needed to make the rover functional. The rover must include the following specifications and sensors:

a) 4 wheel drive body no wider than 20 inches. The rover must be 4-wheel drive and capable of maneuvering in dirty, dusty, muddy environments.

b) Onboard integrated computer that controls the movement of the rover and controls and receives data from the attached accessories described below. Rover must be capable of storing the data gathered from accessories and uploading that data to cloud computing resources over wi-fi or ethernet cable.

c) At least 3 Gimbal Stabilized UHD (or higher quality) cameras with LED illumination (for dark understory imaging). The three cameras must be positioned so as to record data from the front and both sides of the rover and at variable angles (-30 degrees to +60 degrees relative to the plane of the ground the rover is driving on).

d) 2 or more LIDAR sensors. One sensor must be mounted to capture data in front of and on both sides of the rover on the same angle as the plane of the ground. The second must be mounted to capture data on both sides and above the rover at a 90 degree angle to the plane of the ground.

e) Upward facing fisheye camera for recording videos of the underside of the canopy.

f) Integrated GPS with RTK capability for use in tagging video and LIDAR data GPS points.

g) All accessories described above must be mounted and integrated with rover body as well as the computational systems of the rover.

h) Handheld tablet or other means for controlling the rover while driving it in the field.

i) Software for controlling the rover, driving it through the field and recording data at the same time (in an autonomous or semi-autonomous way), and recording metadata manually.

j) Software and Technical Support for minimum of 1 year

k) Minimum 1 year warranty

8. List the proposed vendor and contact information.

Any authorized seller of TerraSentia robot (2023 model) can compete on this equipment.

9. Describe why the proposed product is the only product that will meet your needs.

The TerraSentia robot is necessary to ensure compatibility for the Scientist as another TerraSentia robot was purchased in FY21 and in full use. The robots will be used in tandem, and data must be identical for research consistency.

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

MANDATORY TEMPLATE FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENTS UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

10. Certification:

I hereby certify that the information provided above is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Technical Representative Date

11. CO Certification:

I hereby determine that the circumstances of this procurement action deem only one source reasonably available.

Also, the quoted price is determined to be fair and reasonable as documented on the SAP e-File Checklist and Award Summary.

Contracting Officer Date

12. Level Above the CO Approval:

I hereby determine that the circumstances of this procurement action deem only one source reasonably available.

Also, the quoted price is determined to be fair and reasonable as documented on the SAP e-File Checklist and Award Summary.

Supervisory Contracting Officer Date