JOFOC_80TECH22Q0021_PR801625-Redacted_Redacted.pdf

Revision: A

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Langley Research Center (LaRC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For High-Speed Phantom Camera TMX-7510

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center:

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is Langley Research Center.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award a sole source contract to for the acquisition of the

Phantom TMX-7510 Camera.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the

Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

The Phantom TMX-7510 is a high-speed camera that can provide a framing rate of 76,000 frames per second at a resolution of 1280-by-800 pixels with sufficient on-board memory necessary for sufficiently long recordings of high-speed flow visualization and laser experiments while also providing 10 Gb ethernet interface allowing offload speeds up to 450-800 MB/s. This high-speed camera will be supporting the use of other Phantom cameras existing at Langley Research Center for high-speed stereoscopic or tomographic flow visualization experiments for the Advanced Measurement and Data Systems Branch.

The Phantom TMX-7510 has an estimated value of $ with weeks ARO.

For the high-speed camera listed, the following requirements are applicable:

High-speed camera with 1280-by-800-pixel resolution at 76,000 frames per second, with a back-side illuminated sensor for high sensitivity.

The camera shall use an un-intensified, monochrome, 12-bit sensor.

The camera shall be capable of acquiring image sequences at a frame rate of at least

76,000 frames per second while using at least a 1-megapixel active area on the sensor.

The camera shall be capable of a frame rate of at least 1.75 million frames per second when using an active area of at least 40,000 pixels on the sensor.

The camera shall have a minimum exposure setting of less than 100 ns.

The camera shall have a minimum interframe time of less than The camera shall have at least 256 GB of on-board memory with a separate removable 2 TB non-volatile memory drive that will be used to store the full 256 GB of image data from the on-board memory.

Data transfer to an external computer shall be provided by a high-speed 10 Gb ethernet interface.

This camera shall be compatible with other Phantom cameras already owned by Langley for high-speed stereoscopic or tomographic flow visualization experiments and must have compatibility with Phantom camera controlling software.

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

Authority for the Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is provided by 41

Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements (10

). This justification is based on being the only responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This JOFOC

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

(1) is is the sole source provider for this requirement as described below.

is the primary distributor of Phantom cameras for NASA Langley Research Center. This specific Phantom camera is the only commercially available high-speed camera that can provide a framing rate of 76,000 frames per second at a resolution of 1280-by-800 pixels with sufficient on-board memory necessary for sufficiently long recordings of high-speed flow visualization and laser experiments while also providing a 10 Gb ethernet interface allowing offload speeds up to 450-800 MB/s. Further, this camera will be used with other Phantom cameras already owned by Langley and for high-speed stereoscopic or tomographic flow visualization experiments and must have compatibility with proprietary Phantom camera controlling software. This exact brand and model of camera is required to achieve the framing rates, record lengths, data offload rates, and compatibility with other Phantom cameras and Phantom operating software.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

This requirement will be synopsized and posted on beta.sam.gov in accordance with FAR

5.201. Synopsis results will be included in the official contract file. Based on the authority cited in paragraph 4, it is concluded that our minimum needs are only reasonably available from the selected source. NASA will continue to look for opportunities to open up competition for this requirement and will monitor the marketplace for potential competition in the future.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

Before making award, the Contracting Officer will determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable based on one of the techniques identified in Federal Acquisition Regulation

- – Award Documentation. This procurement is for a commercial item. Thus, the price can be determined fair and reasonable based on a comparison of the established market price, historical pricing, and current price lists. NASA has historical contract information from previous awards with and there are no anticipated issues that would circumvent a fair and reasonableness price determination. The Contracting Officer will determine price reasonableness during the proposal evaluation process prior to contract award.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted:

The goal is to execute a combined Synopsis/Solicitation to see if there are any other vendors capable of providing these commercial products. Several researchers at NASA Langley Research Center, who are subject matter experts and routine users of ultra-high-speed cameras have been keeping tabs on the technology developments of ultra-high speed CMOS cameras for the last few years. Until the Phantom TMX series cameras were introduced in 2021, the fastest cameras for long-duration recordings (1000+ frames per recording) were the Photron SA-Z (1024x1024 pixels at 20 kHz), the Phantom v2512 (1280x800 pixels at 25.7 kHz), and the Phantom v2012 (1280x800 pixels at 22.5 kHz). Although the Shimadzu HPV-X2 camera is capable of 5000 kHz with the full sensor, the sensor itself is limited to 400x250 pixels and only 256 images per recording are possible due to the camera architecture. The Phantom TMX series has been a revolutionary improvement in ultra-high speed camera technology and all three cameras released in the series TMX-5010, TMX-6410, and TMX-7510 are better than the previous best-available cameras on the market. Among these, the TMX-7510 is the best camera on the market as it is able to perform 75 kHz imaging at the full sensor size of 1200x800 pixels, compared to 65.9 kHz for the TMX-6410 and 50.7 kHz for the TMX-5010 at the same full sensor size. Overall, product offerings from other manufacturers do not meet the compatibility or requirements with existing cameras and software already located at NASA LaRC and therefore cannot be considered.

is the only vendor that can provide a camera that is compatible with the already existing NASA LaRC phantom cameras. High Speed cameras from another source would not seamlessly integrate with the existing Phantom camera controlling software/hardware and may experience operational issues such as: inability to provide sufficiently long recordings of high-speed flow visualization and laser experiments with the correct offload speeds simultaneously with the existing Phantom cameras, a mismatch in quality of offload speeds and framing rates and an inability to use one common controlling software to conduct synchronous frame capturing. In addition, purchasing a second software control product would add a substantial duplication of cost from: Training for the new product; and recurring (and redundant) software maintenance, operating and administrative costs. Overall, it would take substantial duplication of resources and time for another source to provide the required hardware and firmware updates, and this additional expense is not expected to be recovered through competition.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

The proposal from is a fair cost estimate based on previous estimates of procurements completed for ultra-high speed phantom cameras at NASA LaRC under contracts and .

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

As is the manufacturer and only provider of the Phantom TMX-7510 camera, there are no other sources of this product.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

No subsequent acquisitions are planned at this time.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Langley Research Center (LARC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

For Phantom High Speed Camera TMX-7510

SIGNATURE PAGE

I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

Robert Quinn Technical Representative

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

Andrea Ross Contracting Officer

ROBERT QUINN Digitally signed by ROBERT QUINN Date: 2022.06.22 06:33:01 -04'00'

ANDREA Ross Digitally signed by ANDREA Ross Date: 2022.06.27 13:50:29 -04'00'

(Insert name of program/project and acquisition identifier)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

[Use the following signature authority for proposed actions over $700,000, but not exceeding

[Technical Representative:] I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

(Insert name) Technical Representative

[Contracting Officer:] I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

CONCURRENCE:

Procurement Officer

APPROVED:

Competition Advocate, (Insert Center name)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

[Technical Representative:] I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and

Technical Representative

[Contracting Officer:] I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the

CONCURRENCES:

APPROVAL:

Head of Contracting Activity, (Insert Center name)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

[Technical Representative:] I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and

Technical Representative

[Contracting Officer:] I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the

CONCURRENCES:

Head of Contracting Activity, (Insert Center name)

Agency Competition Advocate

APPROVAL:

Assistant Administrator for Procurement