SOW Revision for Resolicitation N00173-24-Q-TL09.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS FOR MOTION CAPTURE SYSTEM

SOLICITATION: N00173-24-Q-TL09

NRL REQUIREMENTS FOR A

MOTION CAPTURE SYSTEM

I. INTRODUCTION:

The Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research, Code 1700 of the Naval Research Laboratory performs research and develops systems that pertain to research in the field of autonomous systems communication and navigation human robot interaction and machine learning. The LASR facility requires a Motion Capture system in order to support the previously mentioned research.

II. SCOPE:

Describes the minimum technical requirements and the minimum acceptable performance standards for a Motion Capture System to be installed by the contractor at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC.

III. INSTALLATION SITE:

The Motion Capture System will be installed in the Autonomous Systems Research Laboratory, Prototyping High Bay at The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC 20375. The Prototyping High Bay is 75' x 150' x 30' high and appx. 3,700 sq. ft. Cameras will be mounted to the walls and ceiling, which can frequently be affected by expansion and contraction, which is caused by both interior and exterior temperature fluctuations. Wall and ceiling vibration, based upon exterior weather conditions, often occurs as well.

IV. INSTALLATION:

IV.A. A combination of wall and ceiling mounting locations are provided by NRL.

Attaching devices are not provided by NRL and are to be included in the proposal.

The manufacturer is responsible for all hardware connections and installation, start-up and demonstration of the complete Motion Capture System.

IV.B. A .pdf file, of the facility architectural drawings, which include the uni-strut wall layout, the ceiling truss layout and a generic truss cross-section, will be provided upon award.

IV.C. A grid of Uni-Strut is provided and mounted to the four walls. The Uni-Strut Grid is made of: P5000 HS – 1 5/8" x 3 ¼" x .105" with holes 9/16" at 1 7 /8" on centers installed around the walls on 4'6" centers as shown in the .pdf file

IV.D. The steel roof truss can be used for mounting at the ceiling. Attachment at the bottom "L" edge would be by "beam clamp" or an equivalent "clamping" device.

No drilling or welding of the roof truss will be permitted.

V. DESCRIPTION:

The Motion Capture System will be utilized for recording, storing and analyzing 3- dimensional movements of robotic systems and human interaction with those systems as well as for real-time control of autonomous systems by researchers from many NRL Divisions. The robotic systems being tracked may be at floor level or flying within the entirety of the high bay simultaneously.

VI. SYSTEM FEATURES

VI.A. The system shall have the capabilities of recording, storing and analyzing 3-dimensional movements of robotic systems and of human interaction with those systems.

VI.B. The system shall have the capability of real-time control of autonomous systems to include unmanned air and ground vehicles.

VI.C. The system must provide an appropriate number of cameras for complete coverage of a 75' wide x 150' long x 30' high High Bay.

VI.D. The camera System must provide pan/tilt capability and/or camera adjustment to obtain uniform coverage of the High Bay.

VI.E. The manufacturer must provide a means of attaching the camera and pan/tilt system to the provided mounting locations as well as attaching any peripheral equipment such as data processors, cables, illumination, etc.

VI.F. The system must be based on near infrared (Near IR) illumination

VI.G. The manufacturer must provide a computer system utilizing MS Windows operating system based environment for user login, operator interface, collection of data, storage of data and processing of data.

VI.H. The system must be capable of tracking a minimum of 50 targets simultaneously.

VI.I. The Prototyping High Bay will be used by many NRL researchers and shall be divided into as many as four different quadrants. The system must include 2 separate computer systems that shall allow a minimum of four users to share equipment and track their own set of targets at the same time.

VI.J. System users will be tracking small UAV's. To allow freedom of target movement the system must use light-weight passive retro-reflective markers, 9mm-20mm in diameter, as well as lightweight active markers. The manufacturer must provide a suitable quantity and selection of sizes of these markers for a minimum of 50 targets to be tracked at once.

VI.K. The system must be capable of differentiating between overlapping Markers

VI.L. The system must provide an active tracking option to be able to create symmetrical and identical configurations of active leads on objects for unique rigid body object tracking.

VI.M. The manufacturer must provide a suitable quantity of active markers for a minimum of 40 objects to be tracked at once

VI.N. The system must provide resolution of position of 1mm or less.

VI.O. The system must provide rotational accuracy of 0.5 degree or less.

VI.P. The system must provide a minimum rate of calculating 6-Degree-Of-Freedom (DOF) for full accuracy of all targets at 120 hertz or greater.

VI.Q. The system must provide a means of calibrating, identifying, locating and orienting each camera during a session and correcting any camera lens distortion automatically.

VI.R. The system shall provide a recurring automatic calibration procedure in order that the system remains optimally calibrated. The system shall include fixed room markers in order to accurately perform this task. This process should require no user actions to perform the function in order to maintain the calibration quality. It should autonomously evaluate the calibration for quality and accuracy degradation. Once degradation is detected the system should automatically perform a recalibration without human intervention.

VI.S. Automatic calibration is defined as follows:

A procedure that occurs immediately upon software start up and runs continuously in the background throughout system usage; monitoring calibration quality;

Utilizes permanent fixed reflective markers mounted in the space only, without the need of active or passive calibration wand; and

Initiates and completes the calibration independent of any operator involvement.

NOTE: The area in which the motion capture system will be installed in the facility is appx. 3,700 sq. ft. at a height of over 30 LF. Cameras are mounted to the walls and ceiling which can frequently be affected by expansion and contraction which is caused by both interior and exterior temperature fluctuations.

Wall and ceiling vibration, based upon exterior weather conditions, often occurs as well. The effects of these conditions cause the motion capture system’s calibration to fail, thus interrupting testing, and creating the need to recalibrate the system prior to test continuation. A system that can provide a reoccurring self-calibration procedure will limit the possibility of failure and allow testing to continue uninterrupted.

VI.T. Given the area to be covered and the expected number of cameras, in order to reduce latency the system must provide a means of on-board processing and real time control with a maximum latency of 7 milliseconds while tracking 50 objects.

VI.U. The system must provide a minimum Gigabit Ethernet connection, or faster connection between the cameras and computer for real-time data flow.

VI.V. The computer system must be network capable and provide simultaneous multi-user access for data processing.

VI.W. The system must be capable of starting data collection manually or automatically via an external Through-The-Lens (TTL) event. The system must be capable of ending data collection by the same means as well as by elapsed time.

VI.X. The system must allow playback of all trajectories

VI.Y. The system must be capable of Application Programming Interfacing (API) with popular third party modeling software such as, but not limited to, Open Scene Graph, WorldViz, Panda3D, Virtools and or LabVIEW.

VI.Z. The manufacturer must provide an additional 16% of operational camera units and all necessary hardware and software in order to create a mobile motion capture setup for off-site experiments. For example: If coverage of the high bay is determined to be 100 cameras, the manufacture would provide an additional 16 cameras, hardware and software to meet this specification. Full setup and training for this mobile setup shall be provided as well. The camera system must be capable of use in outdoor lighting situations for use in off-site experiments. The Manufacturer shall also provide an additional 8 cameras with a wider Field of View and a shorter range for the purpose of a small area close range setup.

VI.AA. The manufacturer must provide system installation and commissioning, operator training and system verification. This must be conducted by a factory trained Field Service Technician and/or a Field Service Engineer.

VII. DOCUMENTATION:

The system must be shipped with one (1) complete set of operation and maintenance manuals printed on plain paper as well as electronic versions (CD, DVD, Thumb Drive, and Video).

VIII. MAINTENANCE & WARRANTY:

VIII.A. The contractor must be provided with a minimum 1-year factory warranty that covers all parts, labor and travel expenses for on-site support/repair of the equipment.

VIII.B. The contractor must be provided standard phone technical support during normal business hours upon government acceptance of the system.

VIII.C. The contractor must be provided support for both service and troubleshooting.

VIII.D. The warranty period begins after the system has been installed, training has been completed and the system has been accepted in ERP by NRL.

IX. OPTIONS (Note, Optional Extended Warranty may not be awarded at time of award, but shall be price in proposal.)

Extended Warranty